Hunting camps incorporate a lot of things. Though “hunting” may be the first word in the name, it’s primarily a justification for the setting where that and everything else goes on. It’s a scenario that combines the right amount of isolation with a good balance of camaraderie. Excellent hunting with a reasonable chance to see game is a top-shelf bonus. The location should be a friendly, comfortable spot. The fellow residents should be cordial enough without growing tedious, and the food should be the sort of indulgence we reserve for ourselves to enjoy on our best days of the year. If there’s a place you know that combines all of this in a family-friendly environment, one where youngsters are not only welcome but can be free to thrive, chances are good you’re thinking of Bent Creek Lodge, near Jachin, Alabama, roughly 20 miles east of Meridian as the hawk flies.
Bent Creek specializes in readily-accessible whitetail deer hunts in the winter and fall, and some of the most exhilarating turkey hunting to be found anywhere in the east come spring. They hunt some 30,000 acres of timbered hollows and hills. Hunters have access to more than 200 greenfields while occupying hand-built shooting houses. This vast array of options allows the lodge to rotate hunters among fields without making the deer feel pressured, while still being able to hunt effectively no matter which way the wind may blow.
Their property includes more than five miles of frontage along the Tombigbee River through an area known in America’s hunting conservation lore as Dean Swamp. In fact, key cogs on the gears that helped kickstart and drive the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation were founded there. A century ago when whitetail deer, wild turkeys and a number of other species had been driven dangerously close to extinction, guidelines and restrictions on public use of game were enacted nationwide. Commercial exploitation was curtailed, license fees and excise taxes on hunting equipment were enacted to fund oversight, and America’s hunters have successfully led the way in caring for the species they hunt ever since. Deer and turkey populations in many areas of the country had been depleted beyond the point of reasonable recovery though, so breeding stock was trapped and relocated to those areas from key pockets of bounty. One of the foremost of those was the game-rich territory of central and southern Alabama. The legacy descendants of those critters remain abundant there still.
Bent Creek’s hunting prices are profoundly reasonable and are all-inclusive, excepting a hunter’s personal gear, rifle, ammo and license, the latter of which is easily available over the counter or online. There is no point system or draw.
Bent Creek’s guides deliver hunters to their stands and pick them up. They skin, quarter and debone the game and are all knowledgeable, personable and professional in every regard. To a man they’re the kind of guys you’d like to hunt with on your own place or in your own club. In this instance, Bent Creek’s standing opportunities afford hunters the opportunity to visit a club where the work is already done.
“We want our guests to feel just like family,” said Leo Allen. He and Dr. Johnny Lanier founded Bent Creek in 1982 on what had historically been their family hunting land.
At one time, they leased hunting rights on their land, but grew dissatisfied with the results and began marketing and selling hunts on their own. Now, more than 40 years along, they’ve built a following and a stable of repeat customers from all across the Southeast and around the nation.
“Meeting people, developing all the friendships that have come to be over the all the years has been the most rewarding part of it to me,” Allen said. “When they’re here, we want them to enjoy themselves and be right at home, just like family.”
That family feeling is promoted especially well three times a day at Bent Creek, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals are prepared on site by local cooks who bring decades of family-style kitchen performance to bear in Bent Creek’s commercial-grade facility. Homemade fried chicken, pork chops and catfish are common centerpieces. The green beans, butter beans, mashed potatoes and cornbread are all first class, and any stay’s steak night is in a category of its own and defies description. It’s the kind of indulgence that requires diets and food-related resolutions be put on hold or deferred to later. And that’s before anyone even mentions dessert.
The hunting opportunities and the lodge itself are both very kid-friendly. Stands are easily accessible and are ideally situated for an adult to help a young or inexperienced shooter manage their rifle and take a carefully-controlled shot.
“They come with their dads and they fit right in,” Allen said. “We have children and grandchildren ourselves, and the young hunters are just a part of it too.”
Ultimately, the Bent Creek experience is one of friendly, mutual respect in a relaxed hunting, eating, laughing, memory-making environment.
“We treat people just the way we’d want to be treated ourselves,” Allen said. “People like that and it seems to have worked.”
To learn more about the location, visit www.bentcreeklodge.com.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
