People fall out of trees. At least some people do, which is why Robert Pitman, owner and manager of the White Oak Plantation near Tuskegee, Alabama, instructs all his clients to wear their safety belt when they are in the ladder tree stands while hunting white-tailed deer at the plantation.

I never fell out of one of their tree stands, but I did shoot my first whitetail buck from one of White Oak's stands. Most American hunters take their first whitetail sometime during their youth. I never had the privilege. Until last fall I had never hunted whitetails, although I have hunted throughout this country and overseas, and grew up in a hunting family.

Federal Ammunition had invited me and a dozen other gun and hunting writers to the White Oak to introduce their new ammunition and to hunt white-tailed deer. The hunt would be an opportunity to field test some of the new ammunition Federal was introducing. We could hunt with whatever gun we wanted to bring and Federal would supply the ammunition. I planned to hunt with a Marlin .30-30 because I had never hunted with that caliber before.

Managed for Big Deer

The White Oak Plantation is owned by Robert Pitman and his family, and it is one of the premier whitetail hunting lodges in the South. Unlike many lodges which rely only on mother nature and her whims to provide a healthy deer population, Pitman and his family have developed the White Oak into a deer hunter's dream lodge. The lodge area consists of two well-designed, rustic structures overlooking a large pond and the surrounding woods. Rooms in the buildings are comfortable with private showers and baths, and for guests who really need to communicate with the outside world there is a phone in the main lodge.

Although comforts are the amenities which make a good experience even better, in the shooting sports what happens in the field is what makes a good hunting experience great, and unforgettable. Pitman planned the White Oak's layout to meet the needs of outdoor enthusiasts by developing a full spectrum of opportunities. The lake has trophy bass fishing, and a short walk from the lodge is one of the South's finest sporting clays courses. Around the lodge there is ample room on the grounds for organized group activities--from a company picnic to a family reunion--and all of it set in a shooting sports environment.

But hunting is the main business at the White Oak . I've seen a lot of whitetails in my travels, including many that would make respectable trophies, but I've never been in a position to hunt them while the deer season was open. When I went into the Gathering Hall of the lodge for the first night's seminars with the Federal staff, I had to look twice at the whitetail trophies on the wall. They were huge!

The trophy deer at the White Oak are products of Robert Pitman's dedication to management of the land to produce big white-tailed deer and at the same time produce timber for harvesting, outdoor recreation, and habitat for other wildlife.

When Pitman acquired the White Oak plantation in 1983 he immediately set out to develop what he envisioned a sportsman's paradise should be. He started with only 530 acres and has expanded the plantation to 3,613 acres and has leased another 12,000 acres for the hunting.

Over the dozen years he has owned the plantation, Pitman and his family have replaced diseased trees, cleared out inferior grasses, and replaced them with high protein grasses and clovers that support big deer development. To maintain a prime wildlife environment Pitman has created streamside management zones, and around the pine tree areas of the plantation he has planted hardwood trees to provide cover and mast crops for the wildlife. He has built 150 wood duck boxes and set up 50 bluebird boxes that are scattered around the plantation.

Serious Trophy Hunting

Our first night at White Oak included an introduction to Pitman's management policy that insures big deer. When a hunter signs up for a hunt at White Oak his fee includes a trophy whitetail buck, and a doe each day of the hunt. The operative word here is "trophy" buck. Hunters are limited to taking only an eight-point (eastern count) or better buck. Or, if the outside spread of the buck's antlers is an inch to either side of his ears, the buck is considered legal.

Smaller bucks carry trophy fees, or as Pitman called them, "speeding tickets." Every hunter coming onto the ranch must agree to the program; it is the only way Pitman can guarantee his guests trophy whitetail hunting. A seven-point buck will cost the hunter who shoots it an additional $500, money which Pitman puts into managing the trophy buck program.

The "speeding ticket" program is an insurance program that allows Pitman to maintain control over what deer are taken off the plantation. Eastern hunters, who are familiar with hunting whitetails and counting all the points on the buck's rack, usually don't have any problem with the program. It is people like me who stumble over it. In the West we count only one side of a deer's rack, and very seldom count the brow tines as a point because brow tines are not on all mule deer bucks.

My first morning out I was put in a hunting "house," with another hunter. The two of us moving around in the house was enough to keep the deer away. I also underestimated the South's ability to produce cold weather. To get to our "house" we waded through ankle deep swamp water. I hadn't planned for it. My feet were wet, I was cold, and we didn't see any deer.

That afternoon I was put in a different house, and an hour after I was dropped off I started seeing deer. Not a few deer, but lots of deer. Big deer. When one big buck ambled toward my blind, and I was able to put my binoculars on him I counted only six points. Disappointed, I leaned back to watch, hoping that another deer, one with eight points, would come into range. Nothing did and that night when I was describing the deer's rack one of the other hunters reminded me that the brow tines count as points. The deer had been eight points and would have been a great trophy.

The next morning was another dry hole but in the afternoon in another blind I watched several does and fawns around the blind, but didn't shoot because I was waiting for a buck. I laid my rifle down to relax for a few minutes and glanced behind me. Three huge bucks were standing less than 50 yards away and the biggest was way over the 16-inch rule and had extra points on each side. I reached for my rifle, scraped the bottom of the hide, and watched the deer disappear.

My last morning out was more of the same, but in the afternoon I was sitting in a tree stand when a buck came into the open. Although it was not a big deer, it was a whitetail. I counted three points on each side and the way he was holding his head I could see the brow tine on one side. What whitetail would only have one brow tine? I raised the Marlin, put the cross hair on the buck's chest and fired. One shot and he was down. When I went to take pictures of my first whitetail my heart sank. He only had one brow tine.

Before leaving the White Oak I left a check for my "speeding" ticket with Pitman. Those are the rules of the hunt and they are fair.

Federal's hunt gave me the opportunity to take my first whitetail, and test Federal's new loads in several different firearms at the White Oak Range. I also learned a lot about hunting white-tailed deer. I was able to see for myself that it is possible to grow trophy whitetails. My short hunt planted the seeds for a return trip to hunt the big White Oak Plantation whitetail deer. I'll be there in December and I'll pay more attention to the points. My mistake was costly but I learned about whitetail, I did get my first whitetail deer, and the trophy deer I saw and didn't get a shot at still haunt my memories. I know I will take one on my next hunt at White Oak.

If you would like more information on hunting trophy whitetail deer at the White Oak Plantation write: Robert Pitman, White Oak Plantation, Dept. GLG/AO, Rt. #1, Box 25, Tuskegee, AL 36083. Or phone 205-727-3411.