I grew up in Alabama, so I feel your pain. The deer didn't get very big down there either. I was spoiled in the 22 yrs I lived in Illinois. I had 3 great farms I could hunt. I harvested 4 deer that weighed over 200# field dressed.
Here is a pic of one of them. He was only 2 1/2 yrs old! Just an 8 pointer but a real bruiser.

