They moved pretty good in PRV today, saw several young bucks running crazy, my old man missed a good one and we saw 2 giants on the way in this morning. Figured this week will be awesome...while I'm at work

So Skyline is going to be like Bankhead except for the big deer part. I looked at the log book at the check in station and the one over on Jacobs MT. 15 deer killed less than 80 lbs. Seen 2 guys with bucks that might weigh 100 lbs.Countless small bucks killed. I wonder what was killed and not logged in or shot but OPPS it aint got 4 points on one side and left laying. What's sad about it is, it's probably the same people saying "we ain't seeing anything" The game warden up there needs to get off his aZs and actually do some work. Been up there almost every hunt and have yet to see him.

Why would you state something so asinine?

I had high hopes for this season at Skyline, but I have high hopes for every season. I hunted Skyline 6 times this year for the gun hunt weekends and all but the last was Zone A. I saw 3 does together on the first gun hunt and 3 more together in mid Dec when I was able to shoot one of the does. It might have been the same group of does. After that, nothing. I was getting frustrated and concerned about the numbers at Skyline and still am.

However this past weekend, a buddy from work and I took a chance and braved the snow, low temp and wind to hunt Zone B. We parked almost a mile away from Hwy 79 and then walked off the bluff another mile (that was rough coming back up), so we were well off the beaten path. The wind and temp were killer and it snowed until late morning. We didn't see any deer, but I saw a ton of tracks in the snow, and I mean a ton. The area where I sat had tracks in the snow running literally in every direction. I got up at noon to meet up with my buddy, but headed the long way around to get to him and walked probably a half mile out and then back to him and I continued to see a lot of tracks. So that means in the time since the snow started, deer were in the area and were plentiful. I think this late in the season and with the weather last weekend, the deer had us hunters dialed in and knew where not to be. I think they were up on top and sides of the mountains overnight, but headed down in the morning to the deep bottoms to get away from hunting pressure and the wind. We only heard one shot all day long.

For me and the public land I hunt, I think I saw so few deer because of the hunting pressure, unusually warm weather until Jan, and proximity to main roads as I don't have a truck and/or 4-wheeler to get me deep in the woods. I was encouraged by the number of tracks but discouraged by only seeing deer twice this season. It sure does seem like the numbers at least in Jackson County are down based on what others are saying. I guess I am really uncertain in how I feel about this season and the outlook for the future, at least in Jackson County.

Hey John, just out of curiosity....if you felt that the deer numbers were low in the area you were hunting, why would you shoot a doe? I'm not bashing you for it, i'm just curious.

If he's anything like me he really doesn't have a choice ... Take a doe or be 00 for the season

No offense rocket but you do have a choice. I spend a substantial amount of money every year on leases, planting etc and I have killed 1 doe in the past 7 years one only 3 bucks in that time period.

Sometimes not shooting deer is the best thing for a property, whether that be public land or private land. The whole "I gotta shoot X number of deer per year" mentality is part of the current problems.

I seen the tracks in the snow as well. Also seen human tracks as well. Got an idea, people need to park their azs and hunt and quit walking around.

Just because you can shoot deer don't mean you should everytime. We are sterwards of the land whether it is private or public. Went on a central WMA last year on gun hunt. Had three does come near me and one large momma doe within bow range on a gun hunt. Watched these deer for almost an hour. Doe numbers are down bad there and I had a doe permit could have shot largest with bow if I had it she was so close. When hunting becomes were you got to shoot every deer you see it is time to find another sport. They will give out those either sex permits all day on some WMA's regardless it seems IMO!

There are some rude a88holes on here. If a guy wants to shoot a legal doe and mention it on here, he shouldn't be run down for it.

No offense taken but I respectfully disagree with you. People like me aren't the problem at Skyline. I've averaged 1 doe per season there ... 3 does in 3 years.

I know of folks that camp at Little Coon with trailers outfitted like a processor and take one a day just about every day of the season. Other folks I've known that don't camp there IV known to take 6 to 8 does per season.

I think the problem at Skyline ( at least on the little coon side) would be remedied with a simple tag system ... Allow each hunter a single doe or so per season for a few years and the population would rebound fast. So much land and so much food, it would happen fast

No one really beating anybody up about shooting a doe. Just lead to a great topic in the conversation. Some areas in WMA's need population control on deer others areas need to let a few go. Same for private land. A deer has a certain area to roam shoot all the does you don't have any. Don't take no wildlife bioligist degree either to figure that out just common sense.

First off, how I feel now might not be the same as how I felt early in the season. After seeing so little during the season, I feel differently than I did in early December. Secondly, I doubt that the problem at Skyline and other areas are guys like me who hunt a handful of times during the season and take one doe if they even see anything at all. Yeah, I'm sure it's intermittent weekend hunters like me that's the problem.


I'm 49 years old and have taken 3 deer in Alabama in my lifetime. In those years, I have probably hunted less than 15 of them, so even 3 deer in 15 years of hunting is not that big of a ratio that would lead one to characterize me as "I gotta shoot X number of deer per year". To be honest, for all of the January hunts this season I told my wife I wasn't going just to shoot anything, I was looking for a buck and something bigger if at all possible. I only have a small chest freezer and can really only justify paying for processing for 1-2 deer a year. In actuality, my concerns are about the lack of seeing deer.


I take very seriously encroaching or disturbing other hunters and dislike it when it is done to me. Last Saturday, I knew with a very high degree of certainty that we were the only two hunters in the area because of the remoteness and elevation. The wind was blowing so hard and the temperature was such that there was nothing moving. The deer had obviously moved out of the area to bed and get out of the wind. Plus with the snow on the ground and wet duff underneath from the soaking rain before the snow, it was very quiet walking. It wasn't like I was stomping through the crunching leaves with no concern for my actions. Additionally, I would respectfully suggest you research "stalk hunting" to add to your repertoire of hunting skills and also research grammar and spelling to polish your snarky repartee. /sarcasm

In general, if you fully read my post you will see that I was frustrated about low deer sightings and concerns about herd numbers. However, you will note that I was surprised by the abundance of tracks in the snow proving there are a lot of deer there. It's just I was not seeing them and what factors may have contributed to it.

We thought it was bad 3 years ago.😳 It looks like the powers to be finally realized it and greatly reduced the number of either sex rifle hunts. I’ve spent days scouting between rifle hunts and it’s nothing short of pitiful.

Social media is the problem as well......

BINGO. I think we are getting a lot of new guys from that facebook page that ask the most stupid questions.

When you hunt daylight to dark for 2 days and hear 4 shots it’s not a people problem.There isn’t anything to wipe out anymore.

ive never been on skyline but ive hunted a lot of other public land in the state and its the same all over. the deer left on alot of wmas are in isolated pockets

Way too many doe days not seeing hardly any deer in the valley

The pic in above post is part of the problem misleading folks into thinking there is one of those bucks behind every rock. I met 2 guys that came up from Florida to hunt. The feller asked me what to expect buck wise or deer sightings I told them to count his hunt a success if they saw a deer. Sad!!