HuntGuide.com visits Blackbelt Hunting Lodge in Alabama
Shawn's 130 class Whitetail
Although many areas of the United States experience the whitetail rut in November and December, there are a few regions that begin as late as January. Alabama holds one of those regions. On this trip, Denny Latsha and I were fortunate enough to catch the early stages of the pre-rut. We were hunting in the famous Black Belt region of Alabama, known for its rich soil. Although cotton, peanuts and soybeans are a mainstay crop for farmers in the area, hunting is fast becoming a second livelihood for many who live in the Black Belt region due to improvements in game management by landowners. Based on the outcome of our hunt, it certainly appears that Blackbelt Hunting Lodge is one those landowners who know how to manage their deer.
Denny and I hunted for four days with Blackbelt Hunting Lodge, from January 10th to the 13th. The lodge and hunting grounds are located near Sardis, Alabama. The outfitting business is owned and operated by brothers Fielding and Billy Webb. Although Blackbelt Hunting Lodge has been in business since the year 2000, they have been intensely managing their property for quality deer since 1980. Blackbelt Hunting Lodge has access to 2700 private acres, 2200 of which are in one continuous block. The brothers are able to maintain quality deer herds on their property because the neighboring 65,000 acres around them are also managed for quality deer. Billy and Fielding have over 30 stands across their property, consisting of box blinds, ladder stands and tripod stands. All the stands are within a 10 minute drive of the lodge, which make it very convenient.
At present, the lodge can accommodate up to 6 hunters at one time. The accommodations and food were excellent. During our stay, we enjoyed full course meals. If you walk away hungry, it’s your own fault. We enjoyed meals such as fresh caught batter fried fish, spaghetti & meatballs, baked ham and Ribeye steaks. The bedrooms provide plenty of space to store your hunting equipment. The “great room” provides an open area to relax and watch TV or just chat about your day in the field.
Keith Thompson's Buck
A typical day of hunting begins at 5:00am. We would grab a quick breakfast, and be out the door on our way to the stand by 5:30am. The length of the morning hunt is entirely up to the individual, but we decided to quit around 10:00am. Once back at the lodge, we would eat a large brunch, then either watch TV or grab a quick nap. The afternoon hunt would start around 2:00 pm and wrap up once legal shooting hours ended at dark. After eating dinner, we would shower, relax and prepare for the next day.
For the four days that Denny and I were booked to hunt, Black Belt Lodge allows the hunter to harvest 2 buck and 4 doe. My main interest was finding a mature buck, so harvesting doe was not my primary objective. Before heading to the field, Billy and Fielding also make it a point to review the lodge rules for harvesting deer. They have strict guidelines around their deer management program to ensure only mature bucks and does are harvested. For example, bucks must have an inside spread of 14 inches or larger and button bucks should not be harvested. It requires the cooperation of both outfitter and hunter to ensure quality deer are managed and maintained for future seasons.
On the first day, both Denny and I saw deer throughout our morning and afternoon hunt. As would be the case throughout our stay, we typically hunted crossings and large fields in the morning and food plots in the afternoon. For the first day, Denny saw the most deer. He saw 17 different deer, 5 of which were buck. He saw one of the bucks during the morning hunt, but couldn’t get a good luck at the antlers. He knew it looked like a mature buck, but didn’t want to risk taking the shot without knowing the size of the antlers. The other 4 bucks that he saw during the afternoon were younger deer.
Hunting Stand
On day two of our hunt, we were joined at the lodge by three gentlemen from Georgia. They must have brought some good luck along with them, because one their party, Keith Thompson, harvested a mature 5 point the first evening of their hunt. Keith’s buck was one of the largest 5 point bucks I’ve ever seen. With heavy mass and long main beams, it had unusual characteristics. On our second day, Denny and I continued to see deer during our morning and evening hunts. Again, we each saw young bucks, but no shooters. In addition, Denny saw two different flocks of turkeys. One flock had 18 birds and the second flock had 21. Spring turkey hunts are also offered at Blackbelt Hunting Lodge, and it certainly appears they have healthy flocks of turkeys.
On day 3, my luck was about to change. Although I have never had much luck using scents but knowing we were going to be hunting in the pre-rut season, Denny convinced me to use a few scent products he picked up for our hunt. One of the products I decided to use was called “The Buck Bomb”. After using this product and witnessing the results, I guarantee you that I will be using this product again on future hunts.
Billy dropped me off at my stand location well before daylight. I would be sitting in an elevated tripod stand that overlooked a large cotton field. There was a thick wooded area on the far side of the cotton field where Billy told me the deer typically traveled in and out. Before climbing into my stand, I released the Buck Bomb “Doe Estrus” aerosol spray into the air. I was in the stand about 30 minutes when I saw a large deer step out of the wood line on the other side of the cotton field. I pulled my gun up and could see it was good buck. I was preparing to take the 150 yard shot, when all of a sudden the buck turned directly toward me and trotted right over to my stand. It was obvious he caught the scent of “The Buck Bomb” and came looking for the hot doe. In all my years of hunting, I had never seen a buck react to a scent like this one did. An easy 15 yard shot and I had harvested a beautiful 8 point. The buck weighed 190 pounds and scored in the mid 130 class for B&C. The matching stickers on both G2’s are what make this buck unique. To say the least, I was excited and thrilled to harvest such a nice buck.
Unfortunately, after I shot the buck on day 3, hunting got more difficult, primarily due to a change in weather. Daytime temperatures reached into the 70’s on the last two days of our hunt and it definitely affected deer movement. Although Denny wasn’t able to harvest a deer, he had an enjoyable trip. The other two gentlemen from Georgia were each able to harvest a doe.
Blackbelt Hunting Lodge offers several types of hunting packages. Alabama holds a 5 day modern muzzleloader season for deer the week before Thanksgiving and Blackbelt Hunting Lodge can provide a fully guided hunt. The fully guided rifle hunts for deer begin in mid November and run through the end of January. Although many hunters have a mind set that the January rut is the best time to hunt Alabama, Blackbelt Hunting Lodge has excellent success in December. If archery hunting is your preference, they offer semi-guided hunts from October through mid November. On a semi-guided archery hunt, Billy and Fielding will provide you a place to stay, provide advice on where to hunt on the property and help you setup your stand. You will need to provide your own food and cook it(at the lodge). In addition, you will need to bring your own stands. Last, they offer spring turkey hunts from mid March through the end of April. You will be hunting eastern turkeys on this fully guided hunt. For dates and rates on hunting packages, see the Blackbelt Hunting Lodge website at www.blackbeltlodge.com.
Denny and I had an enjoyable trip to Alabama and Blackbelt Hunting Lodge. If you’re looking for a fun, affordable fair chase hunt, I would highly recommend contacting Fielding. When you talk him, let him know you saw this article on Huntguide.com.
Shawn Klinger
Huntguide.com Prostaff
