Chad Morgan of Moulton, Alabama, has the luxury of rolling the dice whenever he gets the deer hunting jones. He either drives westward to his hunting club near Russellville, or he'll head to the much closer and sprawling Bankhead National Forest, which he's hunted for 13 years.
The 36-year-old medical instrument machinist chose the latter on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, the second day of Alabama's special five-day muzzleloader season - the only time he carries a blackpowder rifle.
The Bankhead National Forest encompasses 181,230 acres in Lawrence, Franklin and Winston counties. The state-run Black Warrior Wildlife Management Area lies within it.
Chad scouted a remote portion of the Bankhead at the beginning of the 2016 bow season. In two trips, approaching from different directions, he discovered a solitary buck bed at the foot of a ridge and several presumable doe beds on another. He also found some chest-high rubs and two springs.
Like most of the Southeast, Alabama was experiencing a severe drought last fall, so he regarded the water source as a potential hub for activity.
"There were a couple of 3-foot puddles, obviously springs," he said. "Lots of tracks showed deer were passing through there regularly."
Chad wanted to bowhunt the area badly, but the breeze was never right when he could venture afield. The perfect wind came during the second afternoon of the short blackpowder season, which was established to give muzzleloader hunters a jump on regular riflemen.
The hike to the remote ridge was about a mile, and it took him nearly three and a half hours to reach it, since he was taking only a few steps between pauses. When he reached his destination, he strapped his chair to a tree and decided to eat some beef jerky and drink some sweet tea.
"I hadn't even sat down when I saw the deer about 75 yards away," he said.
He knew it was a buck after he glimpsed one side of its thick rack, which was impressive. The mass registered immediately.
"I sat and watched the buck come closer for probably 10 minutes, waiting for a clear shot," Chad said. "It was quartering slightly to me. When I squeezed the trigger, I was aiming behind the shoulder. But I wound up hitting it in the neck."
The .50-caliber slug rang the 240-pound deer's bell, and it dropped like a stone.
The public land buck is Alabama's new No. 1 Typical in the BTR's blackpowder category. Its composite score is 190 1/8 inches.
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