By Scott Bestul

Mahannah Wildlife Management Area
Location: east central Mississippi
Size: 12,675 acres
ZIP: 39156

Starting this year Mahannah boasts the toughest antler restrictions in the state-a minimum 18-inch inside spread or 20-inch main beam. Those requirements set the public ground on equal footing with its neighbors, 32,000 acres of private hunting clubs that surround Mahannah. Like Sunflower, only ten miles away, Mahannah has fertile soil and abundant food. But here the hunting is archery-only, and if you're not lucky enough to snag a permit in the lottery you'll have to wait until January, when Mahannah opens to all. The wait is worth it: A few years back this WMA produced a nontypical that weighed 280 pounds and grossed 191 Boone and Crockett. High water can be a late-season factor in these flat, low-lying open hardwoods, but it bothers hunters more than deer. "Deer go right to the water," Fleeman says, "and lay up on a pile of vines and eat." [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Uwharrie National Forest
Location: central North Carolina
Size: 50,189 acres
ZIP: 28001

North Carolina's largest deer tend to come from the central Piedmont region, but 200-pounders are rare, according to Harrold. "We have biologists who work a whole career in North Carolina and see only two or three," he says. "It's quite a news story when it happens." Hunting pressure on piedmont public lands is generally high. The Uwharrie has long been a traditional deer-hunting destination, at one time recording the highest harvest in the state, but hunting pressure has slacked a bit as the action spread into surrounding farmlands. White oak, red oak and hickory hardwoods provide the biggest fall food source for deer, and planted food plots and adjacent crop fields-many recently converted from tobacco to corn and other grains-supplement the deer diet. The Uwharries are old mountains, and while hillier than the rest of the piedmont, their slopes are much more modest than the Appalachians to the west. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Di-Lane Wildlife Management Area
Location: east-central Georgia
Size: 8,100 acres
ZIP: 30830

Last year Di-Lane whitetail hunters posted the highest overall success rate and the best success rate on mature bucks in the state. That's saying a lot considering that well over 50 percent of Georgia's statewide buck harvest is 2 1/2-year-olds or better. This is classic quail country in the state's upper coastal plain; about 70 percent of the area is forested in hardwoods and pines, with the balance in old fields gone to seed. A dense understory of palmetto, gallberry, wax myrtle and grasses supply abundant cover and forage for deer. Access is unlimited during archery season; firearms hunters who miss the September application deadline for the quality buck drawing can look forward to a check-in hunt that welcomes all comers November 8-10. A season-long antler restriction applies: bucks need at least four points on one side.

Redlands Wildlife Management Area
Location: east-central Georgia
Size: 37,500 acres
ZIP: 30642

Georgia has one of the nation's longest firearms deer seasons (74 days in the northern half of the state and 88 days in the southern half), but its wildlife management areas usually limit gun hunts to no more than a couple of weeks.... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Tamarack Ranch State Wildlife Area
Location: northeast Colorado
Size: 10,696 acres
ZIP: 80751

"There's room to roam, and some very nice deer get taken here every year," Baskfield says of Tamarack Ranch, which lies in the wide cottonwood river bottoms bordering the South Platte River, about 60 miles from the Nebraska border. The terrain here is flatter than at Simmons, and it's easy for hunters to see lots of bucks chasing does before the rut. Food plots are maintained on the area, and surrounding private lands are heavily farmed with the aid of irrigation. The abundance of water in what is essentially a desert is a huge deer magnet. To gain an edge, pack hip waders and cross the Platte before setting up to hunt. "Put the river between you and the rest of the hunters," Baskfield advises, "and let them drive the deer to you."

Big Game Access Program
Location: southeast Colorado
Size: 87,000 acres

This year for the first time, Colorado will give big-game hunters walk-in access to private land for public hunting. Based on the state's popular walk-in program for small game hunters, the pilot Big Game Access Program will lease 87,000 acres of public land in southeast Colorado, much of... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Thistlethwaite Wildlife Management Area
Location: south central Louisiana
Size: 11,100 acres
ZIP: 70589

Two years ago Thistlethwaite became the only Louisiana WMA to enforce antler restrictions, and the bid to limit the harvest of yearlings could make this an up-and-coming area for mature bucks, Durham says. Seventeen miles of shell roads and 11 miles of woods trails ease access to every corner of this flat bottomland area. Several oak species dominate the forest, with pecan and hickory supplementing the mast crop. Browse species are plentiful, too, and selective timber harvests have cleared the way for honeysuckle, dogwood, greenbrier, blackberry and numerous other ice-cream plants. Thistlethwaite raised up a pair of 130-class bucks last season that ranked as the No. 5 and No. 10 public land bucks in the state for 2006.

Sherburne Wildlife Management Area
Location: south Louisiana
Size: 44,000 acres
ZIP: 70570

The biggest buck taken on Louisiana public land in 2006, a 250-pounder with 22-inch main beams, hailed from Sherburne. This flat lat bottomland in the flood plain of the Atchafalaya River includes tracts owned by the Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but managed by the state. Sherburne sustains a rich mix of hardwood species (most notably... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Blue Water Creek Wildlife Management Area
Location: northwest Florida
Size: 21,048 acres
ZIP: 32568

A high percentage of bucks taken at Blue Water are 3 1/2 years old or better, according to Cory Morea, a regional public lands biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This private timber land is opened to public hunting on a first-come, first-served permit system, and Morea says permits usually are available until December. Pine plantation is the dominant habitat type, with some hardwood areas along the many creek bottoms that crisscross the tract. The soil here in northwest Florida (just south and east of Alabama) is the best in the state, and it shows. "Blue Water has plenty of opportunities and a high hunter success rate," Morea notes, "plus a number of deer that came out of here in recent years have been pretty nice bucks." You'll need a deer with a Boone and Crockett score of 100 typical or 125 non-typical to make the Florida Buck Registry, and Blue Water is capable of producing them.

Blackwater Wildlife Management Area
Location: northwest Florida
Size: 191,148 acres
ZIP: 32531

"Blackwater is old Florida," says Morea, "picture good quail habitat." Indeed, this big WMA (which is located within... [ Read Full Post ]