Deer

• The Alabama deer hunting season is 108 days long in the fall and early winter, much longer than most states around the country. Deer hunting is the most popular type of hunting in the state.
  
  There are an estimated 1.75 million deer in the state, thanks to careful herd management by state wildlife officials.
  
  Deer hunting is popular all over the state, and the eastern part of the state claims to have some of the largest deer anywhere. However, the fields of western Alabama make for a lot of deer, and many of them are in the trophy class.
  
  

Hunter Education, Licensing

• Alabama requires anyone born after 1977 to take and pass a hunter safety class before buying a hunting license. Hunter safety certificates are honored from other states. The class is 10 hours of instruction that includes classroom and field instruction, as well as a test that must be passed.
  
  A person may hunt without a license for three days in a program that allows people to hunt under the supervision of an adult licensed hunter.
  
  Licenses are required for anyone between the ages of 16 and 64. Nonresidents 65 or older must have a license. Residents on active military duty do not have to have a license. Deer and duck stamps are required.
  
  

Promotion

• What started as the West Alabama Hunting Trail has now become simply the Alabama Hunting Trail. The program was started in Tuscaloosa to promote hunting in the state, and to promote Alabama destinations for hunting in other states. The program has grown since then to include other cities in the state, and other entities interested in hunting.
  
  

Types

• Deer season is the best of Alabama hunting, but there is a lot more to be hunted in the state. With miles of open fields used for farming, there is great quail habitat, and that leads to great quail hunting. Ducks are also beneficiaries of farming areas, and along rivers and lakes, there is great duck hunting in West Alabama. Boar and turkey hunting are also very popular in West Alabama.
  
  

Where

• Alabama maintains 786,000 acres of public land for hunting on nearly 50 wildlife management areas. Some state parks also allow hunting and may have special regulations for each individual park. Private land is also available to some degree. A hunter may give permission, and there is a state program that encourages landowners to allow people to hunt on their land.
  
  

Special hunts

• Alabama has another hunting trail for disabled people. There are several parks and areas around the state that are set aside for disabled people to hunt, fish and shoot guns. They must still have a license. A non-disabled person may accompany them and hunt as well. There are special youth hunts, and special ladies hunts at various times around the state.
  
  

Alligator hunting

• In 2006 the state began having controlled alligator hunts since the population had reached an acceptable level. Hunting is in defined areas of Mobile, Baldwin and Barbour counties, and licenses or permits are by random draw. The season is the third and fourth weekend of August.