By Zack Glover

Wild turkeys with a Southern drawl are the toughest birds on the planet to hunt. And late season Dixie deer are fast becoming even wilier than their feathered friends are.

If I've heard it once, I've heard it asked hundreds of times. Where do all the whitetails go in December? It's as if someone is running around at night with deer legs, planting tracks all over the place, just to make us believe that our favorite hunting ground is overrun with the critters. Yet we never actually see the bucks.

This isn't to say that a deer can't be found during the weeks leading up to and immediately following Christmas. But for the most part, the rascals have seemingly gone underground - a habit responsible for the "December Doldrums" most of us experience.

Still, the proverbial rotund lady doesn't even take the stage to sing until mid-January. This is the month during which the rut peaks in many counties. Even in those places that saw rutting activity much earlier, the flip of the calendar signals the last waltz for the does that weren't partnered during their first time or two at the dance.

Additionally, in January there is very good news for those of you who don't have access to private or leased land. While more than half of the Heart of Dixie's wildlife management areas open their gates to gun hunters an average of four days in January, three tracts welcome riflemen at least two, if not three, days a week, for the entire month.

There is even a special place for bowhunters who want to see and experience new ground that hasn't been hammered day after day since mid-October.

Here is a closer look at four fabulous public hunting opportunities awaiting Alabamians this month.

Seven Mile Island WMA offers a very underutilized archery season in the month of January. Photo by Zack Glover

The Jemison couple should be easy to spot. Aside from their blaze-orange caps, they will be towing a trailer to which David has mounted a hydraulic-powered scissor-lift - a 26-foot-tall crow's nest that has replaced the climbing and ladder stands they once carried afield.

The contraption practically is a fixture at the 6,400-acre public tract north of Prattville, and 35 miles from the Gallets' home. Even before they retired and began hunting there on Wednesdays as well, David and Elizabeth have spent countless Saturdays trying to rid the tract of some of its whitetails.

While most full-fledged, state-run wildlife management areas offer limited opportunities for riflemen, Autauga is open every Wednesday and Saturday during the general firearms season. The few bowhunters who show up have run of the place every other day.

The Autauga tract also differs from other CHAs like West Jefferson in that it has a check station, which is a mile north of Posey Crossroads on County Road 57, and a resident biologist. All hunters must check in on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All deer must be checked as well. In general, unlike on WMAs, there are no food plots or managed hunts on CHAs. As their name implies, they are simply places for hunters from the community to get into the woods.

The Gallets know the drill. They've been hunting the place for all but two of the years it's been in existence. They missed the first couple of seasons there because David didn't like the looks of the property, which was almost entirely clear-cut and devoid of deer tracks.

Even today, the land is managed for timber production. Aside from a few streamside management zones, it is dominated by loblolly and some longleaf pine stands, ranging in age from 1 to 20 years old.

"The only reason we even tried it is that Elizabeth looked at the calendar wrong one year, and we missed a hunt at the Coosa Wildlife Management Area." David explained.

Then Elizabeth suggested they give someplace else a try, and a tradition was born.

The pair has since traveled the state, hunting at least a dozen Alabama WMAs. But they're not apt to miss a day at Autauga. Other places might have more and bigger deer, but this one is close, familiar and special. A lot of people in Montgomery, Chilton and Autauga counties share the feeling, and the locals know where to go to see deer.

"We're not greedy," David says. "We'll only shoot 6-points or better, maybe two or three a year. It's not exactly a hotspot."

The best buck the Gallets have taken off the tract was a 9-pointer, though Elizabeth once shot a 6-point buck that almost rivals it. Several 8-pointers have been hauled back to Jemison from there as well.

They used to carry climbing stands to the woods, and then they tried ladders, until one was stolen. Now - a knee, ankle and three hip surgeries later for him, and a bad back for her - they spend their days afield in the crow's nest.

David, a retired construction mechanic, found a deal on a scissor-lift and mounted it on a trailer. When they get ready to hunt, husband and wife climb into it and hit the hydraulic switch, which lifts them well above tree level.

Of course, other folks hunt the area more conventionally.

"Most folks go to the clearcuts," said Brett Abbott, who has been the resident biologist at Autauga for 16 years. "I'd say that the majority come from the tri-county area. If they can find a tree big enough, they'll hang a climber. If not, they'll set up a ground blind."

Although 80 acres of food plots have been planted, young clearcuts are as much a magnet for deer as they are for hunters.

"On an average Wednesday, we'll have about 35 folks; between 50 and 60 on Saturdays. But lots of them are gone by 9 a.m.," Abbott continued. "I try to tell them you need to stay until lunchtime, at least. The deer here have learned, and they move later in the morning."

Abbott said the best deer to come off the tract last year was an 8-pointer that scored almost 145 inches of antlers. It was only 3 1/2 years old, too, but it had nearly 5-inch bases and 10- to 11-inch tines.

All total, hunters harvested 58 deer there during the 2003-04 season - 40 by gun; 15 by bowhunters, who could take a deer of either sex; and three during the weekend set aside specifically for muzzleloaders. That's about the same number of whitetails brought to the Autauga station the previous year.

Season-long archery deer permits and maps are available at the check station, which opens by 5 a.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They can also be obtained at the probate office in the Autauga County Courthouse, at Posey Crossroads General Merchandise, and at the White City Market. Gun hunters not only need the permit/map, but they're also required to pick up a daily permit at the check station.