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 ]

By Scott Bestul

Tranquility Wildlife Area
Location: southwest Ohio
Size: 4,254 acres
ZIP: 45660

Tranquility produced a 165-class buck during the December muzzleloader season last year. "Obviously, the big boys are finding plenty of places to hide during the November gun hunt," Beatty says. Also located in Adams County, this Division of Wildlife-managed area devotes 10 percent of its acreage to food plots. About half of Tranquility is mature hardwoods dominated by oak and hickory, with brush and grasslands completing the mix. This is Beatty's home base, and he says 140- to 150-class bucks are "definitely not out of the question" on Tranquility's steep ridges and deep ravines.

Shawnee State Forest
Location: southwest Ohio
Size: 63,747 acres
ZIP: 45660

They call Shawnee "The Little Smokies of Ohio," an apt name for the largest state forest in Ohio-and one of the most rugged. Located in Adams and Scioto counties, Shawnee's mature hardwood stands were thinned out by a massive ice storm in 2003. "That has produced a lot of 3- and 4-year-old successional growth that makes great shelter for mature bucks," Beatty says. An active timber management program means there are logging roads hunters can use to hike around this massive spread. One of Shawnee's best features is... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Black Hills National Forest
Location: northeast Wyoming
Size: 175,471 acres
ZIP: 82729

Whitetails number only 51,000 in Wyoming, small potatoes compared to muleys, antelope and elk. (The big three combined outnumber whitetails 10 to 1.) Most top-of-the-crop 150-class bucks come off wooded creek bottoms, which are all privately owned, says Jeff Obrecht, public information office for Wyoming Game and Fish. However, bucks with a 20 to 22 inch outside spread are possible in the Black Hills, especially on steep slopes and rocky outcrops where few hunters are willing to venture. Whitetail numbers on the rugged federal spread (which encompasses another 1 million acres in neighboring South Dakota) have soared from 40,000 to 60,000 in the last five years. A dry summer likely means that hunters will find deer concentrated on available watering sites during the September archery season, though fall rains should make water a non-issue by the November firearms opener. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Kansas Bend Wildlife Management Area
Location: southeast Nebraska
Size: 1,056 acres
ZIP: 68421

About five miles downstream from Hamburg Bend, Kansas Bend is the smallest of the new Missouri River WMAs. A mix of deciduous timber, grassland, marshy areas and cropland are the main deer habitat on this three-mile stretch of bottomland. Bordering areas of private land contain cropland and steep river bluffs. Hunting pressure is light, especially mid-week, and unlimited permits are available for archery, muzzleloader and firearms buck-only.

Langdon Bend Wildlife Management Area
Location: southeast Nebraska
Size: 1,307 acres
ZIP: 68414

In eastern Nebraska, river corridors typically have greater deer densities than any other habitat, according to Kit Hams, big game program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Langdon Bend is no exception. Nearly half of this management area's acreage is devoted to row crops, and the rest is dominated by bottomland hardwoods and open pasture. Like the two WMAs upstream, hunting pressure is light on this four-mile long stretch of bottomland, especially on weekdays, and permits are easy to come by for archery, muzzleloader and firearms hunting. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Ballard Wildlife Management Area
Location: west Kentucky
Size: 8,600 acres
ZIP: 42056

"Ballard has the best buck-to-doe ratio of any public hunting area in the state at one buck for every two does," Yancy says, "and it also has an excellent age-class structure that features a lot of older bucks." Starting this year, more sportsmen will be able to take advantage of these numbers. Under strict harvest restrictions since 1993 that allowed only 10 percent of hunters to harvest a buck, Ballard this year is one of two Kentucky public lands to newly adopt an outside spread minimum of 15 inches. In addition, archery hunters will for the first time have the run of Ballard from September 1 to October 14; after that, all but 400 acres will close to provide refuge to migrating waterfowl. Bring your knee boots to reach secluded areas: Fertile bottomlands dotted with the oak trees and row-crop agriculture that keep deer in top nutritional shape are broken up by many bald cypress sloughs.

Peabody Wildlife Management Area
Location: west Kentucky
Size: 60,000 acres
ZIP: 42327

You need look no further than the bulletin board in Uncle Lee's sporting goods store in Greenville for pictorial proof of Peabody's potential.... [ Read Full Post ]