Few places consistently offer the quality whitetail bucks available in northeast Alabama’s Jackson County. (Shutterstock)
October 22, 2024
By Frank Sargeant
If you’re a deer hunter who also enjoys bass fishing, consider a trip this fall to Scottsboro, the county seat of Jackson County, Alabama. That’s where the Appalachian Mountains begin and thousands of acres of mostly public lands are inhabited by imposing whitetail deer. Meanwhile, the Tennessee River and Lake Guntersville offer superb fishing for largemouths of equally impressive size.
A hunt I had here last fall during archery season on 67,000-acre Martin-Skyline WMA was typical. Long before daylight, I parked my truck at the Cave Springs entry just south of the Tennessee line, unloaded my e-bike and headed out on the steep, rutted and often muddy trace that passes for a road. By first light, I had parked the bike just off the trail and hiked another quarter-mile to a rock bench, a flat spot in the otherwise vertical terrain, where a stand of cane had found a foothold and where a deer trail passed through. I hoped I might see one coming home to bed.
I set up on the upper edge of the bench, about 15 feet higher than the trail and 20 yards away. Within an hour, I had watched two armadillos, a jake turkey (not legal here in fall) and a young coyote all pass within range—but no deer.
Just about the time I started thinking about how early I had gotten up and how much I’d like another cup of coffee, a buck materialized. Not a trophy but a nice, fat 6-pointer—great by my archery standards. I made a decent shot, and 30 minutes later I found the whitetail a couple hundred yards down the mountain. I texted a couple of husky, young hunting buddies with my location, and about the time I had him field-dressed, they arrived to help me drag him out. (Unless you’re built like Travis Kelce, you’ll want to plan on having help to get your deer out of here.)
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WHERE TO HUNT It’s tempting to hunt off County Roads 42, 53, 54 and 55 because you’ll see deer in the agricultural fields there, but this is where pressure is greatest. Hunting off C.R. 117 on the east side provides fewer easy-access points, but if you park and walk or bike in—way in—your chances improve considerably.
Hunters willing to tackle the challenging terrain and separate themselves from others stand a better chance of bagging a buck. (Frank Sargeant) There are a lot of rocky benches on some of the mountains, relatively flat land that may be 100 feet wide before the terrain drops down again. And if you set up on the edges of one of these, where a trail runs on the flat below, patience is likely to reward you.
There are numerous seeps or springs in these mountains, too, and if fall is dry, as it often is here, setting up near one of these little oases can prove a good strategy. Keep in mind that there are also quite a few deep, rocky sinkholes, and some are hard to see, so don’t walk off the trails without your flashlight.
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Take along a GPS and a compass.These woods are big enough that you can get lost for a while if you stray from the trails, which is easy to do on a foggy or cloudy day, or if you’re walking out after dark. You probably won’t have cell service, so you won’t be able to call for help unless you’re up on a mountain top.
As when hunting any large plot of wild land, it’s a good idea to carry enough water and food to overnight, plus fire-starting materials and a space blanket. Also, watch your step—there could be rattlers and copperheads still out in early fall.
If you have an e-bike, this is a great spot to put it to work. Just follow the worst, steepest and most impassable trails to the end (there are some where even four-wheel-drive vehicles have trouble), then park and lock the bike and walk another half mile. That will make your probability of success a whole lot better than that of guys hunting closer to the road.
E-bikes can make it easier for hunters to access desirable sections of the vast and rugged Martin-Skyline WMA. (Photo courtesy of Quietkat) If hunting will be the focus of your visit, you could stay in the crossroads town of Stevenson. The WMA starts just minutes outside the northern city limit, and there are several affordable motels and plenty of fast-food restaurants. Big Daddy’s Sporting Goods, a few miles north in Bridgeport, can fill any holes in your gear inventory. Another option is Cumberland Mountain Outdoors at the crossroads of Highway 146 in Skyline (within the WMA’s span), a convenient spot to gear up and also arrange for deer butchering when you find success.
The deer hunting around these parts can be particularly good during archery season when the woods are not heavily hunted. Gun season, on the other hand, can be busy. Once you’ve bagged your deer, be sure to sample the bass fishing in the area. It is truly legendary.
GUNTERSVILLE BASSIN’ Nearby Lake Guntersville’s 69,000 acres have undergone a renewal in recent years, and the waterbody is again producing tons of 4- to 5-pound bass—as well as some larger specimens.Action picks up in the fall as fish head to the grass beds to feed.
October and November is when anglers cash in on the annual “frog bite,” tossing weedless, topwater offerings in much of the lake. That is soon followed by the “Rat-L-Trap bite,” when the fish slam lipless crankbaits until the first freeze.
The potential for trophy fish, and an abundance of 4- to 5-pounders, make Guntersville a bass mecca. (Shutterstock) It’s possible to stay in Scottsboro and fish the prime North Sauty and South Sauty sections of the lake. You could also stay at Goose Pond Resort, with cabins right on the lake. Waterfront Bait and Tackle on Highway 79 is where everybody stops for gas, extra lures, the latest fishing intel and ginormous hamburgers. They also offer cabins with covered boat ports, and there’s a ramp across the street. By the way, the water right in front of Goose Pond is one of the best spots in the lake because so many bass caught during tournaments are weighed in and released here that it’s constantly restocked with sizable fish.
Guntersville’s fall froggin’ pattern simply entails working weedless lures around floating moss and grass that has turned the color of a well-baked cheese pizza. The Snagproof Frog and the Spro Bronze-Eye Frog are local faves, but my go-to is the Z-Man Goat ToadZ rigged on an extra-long 5/0 wide-gap hook with a dot of super glue so it stays put.
An alternative, preferred by well-known local guide Jimmy Mason and others, is an inline spinnerbait, which will run through grass and duckweed better than a classic spinnerbait or buzzbait. The venerable Hildebrandt Snagless Sally is a personal favorite, but the Picasso All-Terrain Weedless Inline and the Lunkerhunt Wire Arm Finesse are also popular here.
Guntersville also offers exciting fishing for school bass from late September through Thanksgiving. Anywhere you see gulls on the water or whirling above the surface, you are likely to find schooling bass chasing shad to the surface. Feeding frenzies can break out at any time of day, though there are definite bite peaks around sunrise and sunset.
Anglers staying in Scottsboro will find Lake Guntersville’s prolific bass waters at their doorstep. (Frank Sargeant) Topwaters like the Heddon Tiny Torpedo and Rapala Skitter Vee are the most fun, but you’ll catch more on a lipless crankbait like a Rat-L-Trap, Spro Aruku Shad or Strike King Redeye Shad.
Folks with forward-scanning sonar can scope the schools and put suspending lures in front. Lightweight jigs with 4-inch TPE tails are hard to beat, but suspending jerkbaits also work well.
Another proven tactic, developed by local guide Mike Carter, is slow-cranking big Catch Co. Bucca Shad floaters over bars adjacent to the main river channel at dawn and dusk. These baits cast a wake like a muskrat, and bass coming out of deep water just smash them.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO The skinny on local lodging, goods and guides The city of Scottsboro’s website (cityofscottsboro.com ) makes it easy to plan a visit. It provides listings for local events and attractions (including area boat ramps), as well as places to eat and stay.
Waterfront Bay, offering cabins and cottages right on Lake Guntersville, along with a decently-supplied grocery and tackle store, and Goose Pond Colony Resort, with lakeside cottages and a waterfront campground, a restaurant, a full-service marina and two 18-hole golf courses, are two of the best options for lodging.
Should you want gear or guidance from local experts, contact Cumberland Mountain Outdoors (256-244-0907) in Scottsboro or Big Daddy’s Outdoors (256-495-9225) in nearby Bridgeport, or reach out to Capt. Jimmy Mason (256-762-0014) or Capt. Mike Carter (mcguideservice@yahoo.com).
The 2024 deer seasons for Zone A, which covers Jackson County and most of northeast Alabama, include archery (Oct. 14 through Feb. 10), muzzleloader (Nov. 13 to 17), a buck-only gun season on public lands (Nov. 18 through Dec. 8) and an either-sex gun season on private lands (Nov. 18 through Feb. 10). For more details and the latest hunting regulations, visit outdooralabama.com .
This article was featured in the October 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .