Alabama Black Belt’s Big Gobbler Photo Contest returns for 2024
The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association (ALBBAA) is asking hunters again this year to submit their best turkey hunting photos as part of its 12th annual Big Gobbler Photo Contest.
The ALBBAA promotes and encourages ethical hunting and fishing practices. The annual photo contest is designed to further educate the public on the abundance of natural resources found in Alabama’s 23-county Black Belt region.
“As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, turkey hunters will again take to the woods throughout the Black Belt in search of a long-beard gobbler,” said Pam Swanner, ALBBAA director. “The Black Belt offers some of the very best hunting available anywhere, as well as stunning natural beauty.”
The winner of this year’s contest will receive a Black Belt Strutter turkey call package, including a custom Alabama Black Belt Adventures edition glass pot call, made from Demopolis mock orange wood, and an Otis Elite universal gun cleaning kit, courtesy of Black Belt Strutter. The prize package is worth about $300.
Alabama’s 2024 spring wild turkey season began Monday, March 25, in most areas of the state and runs through May 8. Alabama has one of the longest wild turkey seasons in the country.
This year’s Big Gobbler Photo Contest, conducted online on the ALBBAA website, also began March 25, and voting runs through May 15 to allow additional voting time for any photos submitted near the end of the hunting season.
To enter the contest, hunters must upload, through the ALBBAA website, a photo of a turkey harvested during the 2024 spring wild turkey season within the 23-county Black Belt region. The winner of the contest is selected exclusively through online voting.
Entries can be submitted and votes cast online on the ALBBAA website.
Participants are allowed one entry and must complete all information on the online form, including the person (or persons) in the photo and the county where the gobbler was harvested.
Visitors to the contest webpage are restricted to voting once a day, per email, per IP address. In the case of any dispute, the decision of ALBBAA officials is final. Photo contest winners from the last two years are not eligible to compete this year.
ALBBAA reserves the right to approve or disapprove of a submitted photo. Causes for disqualification of a photo can include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The photo content presents the subject in an unethical or disrespectful manner.
- The photo content is perceived to cast a negative perception of hunters and their contribution to the management of wildlife.
- A voting violation is committed that imposes an unfair advantage to others.
Hunters are also reminded to comply with all game laws, including purchasing a valid hunting license. Licenses can be purchased online through the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR).
Any photo depicting any violation of ADCNR regulations will be disqualified. Only photos of turkeys harvested in the Black Belt during the 2024 season are eligible for this year’s contest.
“It’s always a joy to see photos entered in the Big Gobbler Photo Contest, because they often showcase young hunters bagging their first gobbler or families hunting together,” Swanner said. “We have earned a reputation for having amazing turkey hunting in the Black Belt, and the contest showcases just how great it is.”
Hunters are allowed to harvest a maximum of four turkeys, gobblers only, during Alabama’s combined fall and spring seasons. Hunters are limited to one gobbler per day. Decoys are allowed in spring only but are prohibited during the first 10 days of the season. Mechanical decoys are illegal in Alabama. Each bird harvested must be recorded within 48 hours to ADCNR.
The Black Belt consists of the following 23 counties: Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tuscaloosa and Wilcox.