Finally drawn for my first deer hunt.. cedar creek mid Jan.

PM to you Pwyse

How is oak mountain??

How is oak mountain??

Fred t Simpson 1/23 bow hunt. Anyone hunted there? Worth the trip?

My wife got drawn for the Primitive weapons hunt at portland 11/19

We are not going to be able to make it. It is in the middle of the week.


I will make someone here a damn good deal:

If you are the alternate for this hunt, reach out to me. I will decline the hunt and you can take it on the condition that you give me your word that you will take me as your guest.

I have a camp very close to Portland that i will even offer up as lodging and a side by side we can drive around on during the hunt. Hell, if you don't have a muzzleloader, I will even give you mine and I will bowhunt.

205.908.7455

I got blanked again on 10 hunts I put in for.

Wow, I put in for 62 this time, I usually put in for 60-70 each year. I figure the more I apply for the better chance I have!

Anyone do the Geneva dog hunt previously?
Looking at the rules for the adult hunts, im reading any youth you bring have to be 8-15yo
Was hoping to bring my 4 year old to just sit with me. He’s the main reason I even applied for it.

I did Geneva last year, it was a fun experience but can’t imagine it being fun for a 4 year old. They are very strict (and rightly so) that you cannot leave the hunt area for the whole time of the hunt (about 3+ hours) and must stay within 25 yards of your marked spot. So you’d just be standing on a road for 3+ hours with a 4 year old two times a day. I can’t imagine that would be a fun experience for a kid that young. I’m honestly surprised they’d let a 5 year old there. I’d think that would be more of an 8+ year old kind of hunt.

I did Geneva last year, it was a fun experience but can’t imagine it being fun for a 4 year old. They are very strict (and rightly so) that you cannot leave the hunt area for the whole time of the hunt (about 3+ hours) and must stay within 25 yards of your marked spot. So you’d just be standing on a road for 3+ hours with a 4 year old two times a day. I can’t imagine that would be a fun experience for a kid that young. I’m honestly surprised they’d let a 5 year old there. I’d think that would be more of an 8+ year old kind of hunt.

I got denied again, and I have 65 points!! I guess you have to be one of Chuck's buddies to make the cut!

I got denied again, and I have 65 points!! I guess you have to be one of Chuck's buddies to make the cut!

You have to be one of Coosa's buddies and promise to take him.
I haven't seen him post anything.

Has anyone received the confirmation emails yet? I got blanked on Portland and Cedar but got Blue Springs dog hunt. I am paranoid now because I got screwed on alligator permit for small print. Seems like last time I got the confirm email the next day. Wasn’t sure since Blue Spring is not SOA. Thanks guys.

A dog hunt at Blue Sping is a draw hunt now? I used to just climb a tree and listen for the dogs.

School me on points. I have put in for hunts last 2yrs and have 2 points how does someone get 65 points?

I don’t get it either. I’ve put in for hunts since the beginning for both turkey and deer. I got chosen to deer hunt in 2021 and I think I had around 60 some odd points. I went in this time with a whopping 9 points. I’ve put my wife in every year as well. She got chosen to deer hunt last year but had to decline at last minute. She went in this time with 126 points and was drawn as an alternate on 3 hunts. It makes zero sense to me how a first time applicant gets drawn and someone who’s put in for 5+ years doesn’t. SMDH.

Also I don't really know how much the points actually matter because I had 65 and know people with 28 and even 9 who drew more hunt options than I did.

The SOA's use what would be more correctly classified as a "Bonus Point" system, I don't know why the state insists on calling them "preference points" when that's not the system they're using.

In a bonus point system, you can think of each point as another entry in the drawing, or name in the hat so to speak, this increases your odd of drawing each year but doesn't guarantee a draw even at the highest tier.

If it were a true preference point system, then no one with 65 points would be drawn until everyone with 126 points got a tag and so on. this makes it easier for planning purposes, but this is what has led to lots of the seemingly unattainable draw hunts out west. many take 10-20 years at minimum to draw and some are predicted that if you just started applying now, you would never accrue enough points to get ahead of the creep. Some western states with a preference point system now allocate something like 10-25% of the tags to a random draw, so that regular folks still have a small chance of drawing.

a bonus point system is better for a program where you have a very limited number of hunts, and a large number of applicants.

Also I don't really know how much the points actually matter because I had 65 and know people with 28 and even 9 who drew more hunt options than I did.

So the points go up exponentially by cubes and you always have the plus one point that you start with on year one.
Year 1 : 1 point
Year 2 : 1 point + 1³ = 2
Year 3 : 1 point + 2³ = 9
Year 4 : 1 point + 3³ = 28
Year 5 : 1 point + 4³ = 65
And so on...

But don't/aren't your points supposed to go to (0) zero once you are selected and participate in a hunt.

Yeah they get reset to 1 when you accept a Hunter spot

That's the way I thought it would work and why I was asking. I thought that you drew on multiple hunts last year? If so, how were you still carrying 65 points this year? It sounds like based on a lot of the comments in this thread of people missing their points, that the point system is not heavily audited by or maintained, by the Chuckie minions, for the correct application of points or failure to properly assign points each year.

I go on a few SOA hunts every year, yes. But I have not accepted a deer hunt that I have drawn in several years. I've got a good group of buddies and between them, my dad, and my wife I usually manage a hunt or two each season while saving my points to hopefully draw a really good one and pay one of them back as my guest.

It sounds like the Oak Mtn hunt doesn't start until after the noon orientation on Monday...is that right?

Also, one of the administrative rules (220-2-.140) referenced in the hunt guidelines says that all 4 deer allowed may be harvested in the same day. Does that jive with what has been said at the orientation? There is a new rule for this year that requires a doe to be harvested prior to the one allowed buck.

I will say this though, when the SOAs first started (before they did pref points) I got drawn and went every single year for probably 4-5 years in a row. I've hunted Stimpson section 12 like 5 times lol

I will say this though, when the SOAs first started (before they did pref points) I got drawn and went every single year for probably 4-5 years in a row. I've hunted Stimpson section 12 like 5 times lol

Correct. You’ll have the orientation and then turned loose for that evening’s hunt. Multiple deer a day is allowed. Let me know if you get unit 3, I can share intel.

Dang Pwheezy you drew a Portland hunt and you say I’ve got it good? I’ve never drawn Portland

How is hunting in Simpson? I drew the archery hunt in January.

That makes sense. I'd really like to see the numbers on the hunt applications. Like how many people apply for each particular hunt every year.

Any info about Portland Landing for the October 24 hunt.

Thanks for the explanation on points, I think I am headed in the right direction and hopefully in another year or two, I will get selected for one of the ones I always register for......if so, I will definitely take my wife as my guest to get her a good opportunity on a good one.....

I got drawn for stimpson and I haven’t heard a peep

Saw something yesterday that we’ll hear info next week.

Got unit 10 for Stimpson! Coosa, what do you know? I know you know

did your email say when the scouting day(s) are?

Drew unit 3 @ Fred t stimpson. Anyone have any info?

When is your hunt? I had it about 3 years ago end of December.

Jan 23

Drew area 14 for stimpson youth dec 7.

Buddy drew unit 1 at little river

Anyone have any luck this weekend. I’m headed to Portland landing this coming weekend

Got moved to hunter at Cedar Creek unit 7&8 today. I missed the scouting day, anyone have intel to share?

Got moved to hunter at Cedar Creek unit 7&8 today. I missed the scouting day, anyone have intel to share?

When you hunting it? My buddy and I got those units 12/27.

When you hunting it? My buddy and I got those units 12/27.

1/7

I scouted and put some cams out. Remind me before your hunt and I’ll give you whatever intel I have.

Hunted those units in 2021. Killed a big 9 point and we killed a couple does. Send me your cell and ill share some pins.

Any reports from Oak Mountain? Headed there in a couple weeks.