Photo by Erin Nelson.
Spenser Bradley of Whitetail Properties and Real Estate points to a map that shows the portion of 70 acres — out of 107 acres of land — that a current property owner in Wilsonville plans to parcel off for sale in Shelby County.
Spenser Bradley has been in love with nature and wildlife since he was a child.
He caught snakes and frogs all the time in his backyard when he was growing up, driving his parents crazy, he said.
The Bluff Park resident in November took his love of the outdoors to Whitetail Properties, a real estate company based in Pike County, Illinois, that helps its customers buy and sell farm, ranch, hunting and timber land. Bradley specializes in rural land.
His territory covers six counties in central Alabama: Jefferson, Shelby, Bibb, Walker, Winston and Fayette. His professional background is in wildlife and forestry.
When he was about to graduate high school in Williamston, Michigan, he couldn’t think of anything else he wanted to pursue as a career, so he decided to go to college to earn a wildlife management degree, which is something his parents were uneasy about, he said.
“They were like ‘OK, what are you going to do with that degree?,’” Bradley said. “On the other hand, if I went off to college doing something I didn’t want to do, they knew I probably wouldn’t succeed.”
Bradley got his undergraduate degree in wildlife management with a minor in forestry from the University of Tennessee. He then worked for the Alabama Extension Service at Auburn University as a forestry wildlife agent for eight years.
In that role, he helped landowners better manage their land and educated the public about forestry and wildlife.
He earned a master’s degree in natural resource management from Auburn in 2018. He has worked at multiple wildlife agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he said.
“What I like most about those jobs is getting on location on people’s farms and helping landowners,” Bradley said. “I enjoyed those jobs, but I felt like it was time to break out on my own and do something where whatever I put into the job is what I get out of it.”
He said he decided to “take the leap” and leave the “cushy government benefits” behind and start working at Whitetail Properties, getting his real estate license at the end of October.
When he came across Whitetail Properties while job searching, he was blown away by the company, he said.
“I found that I would be able to do what I love doing, which is getting on location on farms and helping landowners,” Bradley said. “I get to make a career out of it, and it’s kind of like starting my own little business.”
Ever since he became old enough, he spends the majority of his free time hunting and fishing, he said.
“All of my vacation time is wrapped around some kind of hunting or fishing trip,” Bradley said. “Any free time I get, I’m out there.”
Bradley said another reason his new real estate job is the “perfect fit” for him is because even though there is some office work, the majority of his time is spent out in the field helping landowners.
