As the sun disappeared below the western horizon, the deer activity suddenly shifted into high gear.
I’d finally drawn a 3-day deer hunt on one of our state Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) near the Mississippi River after a five year wait and was excited about the possibilities as I sat high in the tree on my Ol’ Man stand.
I glimpsed movement in the woods to the north and honed in on the area where a trail came over the ridge and into the small food plot I was hunting. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw a doe make her way into the plot. A couple minutes later I heard something in the woods where the doe had entered. Was it a deer, maybe a rutting buck? If only I could be so lucky.
Then I spotted something white, almost glowing as another deer came into range. I lifted my binoculars and zeroed in on a nice buck. As he came into the patch a mere 40 yards away I studied him carefully. One, two, three, eight, nine, and there it was, a 9-point buck with a split G-2 on the right side.
Back home in Lauderdale County, I would have pulled the trigger without another thought. But hunting on a WMA near the Mississippi River where the giants roam, I wasn’t so quick on the trigger. I estimated the buck to be over the 16-inch inside spread criteria if he weighed around 185 pounds or more, but I couldn’t be sure.
What else might be there?
I almost got a cramp in my arms from holding the binoculars so long before I finally raised my .270 and centered the crosshairs on the trophy buck. I slowly squeezed the safety back on as the last rays of light disappeared. I just couldn’t pull the trigger on the first afternoon, wondering what else might be out there.
Two days later I finally pulled the trigger on a 210-pound 8-point buck sporting a 20-inch spread, one of the best bucks I’d ever seen in the public land woods at the time. Later that afternoon at last light, my hunting partner shot the buck I’d passed on that opening afternoon, and he was indeed a 185-pound 9-point buck with a 16 ½-inch spread!
Now, you may not harvest the buck of a lifetime on your hunt at one of our WMAs, but trophy bucks do roam the woods of many of Mississippi’s public lands and the opportunity is there. You might just find yourself in the “Land of the Giants.” Just remember, dead deer don’t grow antlers, so be sure that buck is a trophy before you pull the trigger.
Read along and we’ll cover some of the best opportunities to harvest deer at our state managed WMAs in each region.
South Delta WMA Region
“Lake George and Mahannah WMAs are rebounding,” said Regional biologist Roger Tankesly. “We had a decent flood this year through mid-June but that’s not going to affect fawn recruitment, which has been our biggest concern since 2019.
“The body weights are going up and the health of the herds are improving, so we should be getting back to normal this year.”
Due to the lengths of the flooding the last few years, there were a lot of tree die-offs in Lake George. The high waters killed a lot of oaks, which left thickets in the aftermath with the new growth of vegetation where there had been none before. Most of the plantation rows had grown thick enough to keep the browse and vegetation from getting enough sunlight to grow.
“As a result of the habitat changes, including the thickets, the area has really good deer habitat now,” Tankesly said. “It will be tough to hunt but the opportunity to harvest a quality buck will be there.”
Due to the semi-dry summer and getting just enough rain in the spring, the South Delta Region is looking really good for the deer herd this year and the hunting should gradually improve each year.
Special kids hunt at Howard Miller
“This year we have one special hunt for kids,” Tankesly said. “We have a 50-acre tract on Howard Miller that has been managed and set aside for kids to deer hunt. While Howard Miller is managed for duck hunting, we stagger the duck hunts and will have special deer hunts on this one section on days when they are not duck hunting.”
Each kid will have a whole day to hunt, and there will be plenty of opportunities to put meat on the table. While deer will be the focus of these hunts, there are a lot of wild pigs on the unit, and they are fair game for the kids also.
“We will have seven or eight draw hunt days for the kids at Howard Miller and we are doing it at Muscadine Farms also,” said Tankesly. “Kids can apply for these hunts during August.”
Mahannah and Phil Bryant
“Though we are still not up to the carrying capacity of the land at Mahannah and Phil Bryant, you’ve got a better chance of harvesting a trophy buck there than anywhere in the state,” Tankesly said. “Sixty percent of the deer harvested at Mahannah last year were aged at 3 ½ years and up. About a third of the deer harvested were killed by youths during the youth hunt and they accounted for the younger deer being harvested.”
Tankesly said that overall the bucks are making it to maturity, and they are seeing better quality now.
“Phil Bryant is an exceptional WMA, and you might harvest a trophy buck almost anywhere on the area when the deer are moving,” he said. “It’s just phenomenal hunting and we are trying to keep it that way by limiting the pressure on the deer so that the hunters who are drawn can have a quality hunting experience.”
North Delta Region
“O’Keefe and Sky Lake are the best two WMAs to deer hunt in this region,” said Weston Thompson, area biologist. “O’Keefe is open hunting all season and has an antler criteria of 16-inch inside spread or 20-inch main beam requirements. We have several quality deer come off both units each year and last year there was a 148-inch and two over 140-inch bucks killed on Sky Lake. Sky Lake has a 15-18-inch antler restriction which is still good enough to help the quality bucks survive.”
Sky Lake is all draw hunts except for a three day youth hunt. The rut on Sky Lake usually occurs from late December through the first two weeks of January. If you get out and scout and learn the lay of the land and put your time in the woods, your chances are good at harvesting a quality buck during the rut.
Northeast WMA Region
“The Northeast WMA Region is looking good for deer season this year,” said Nathan Blount, Regional Biologist. “The early season food sources might be limited but it should be better hunting. A 120-inch deer would be a trophy in this region, and we occasionally see a 130-inch buck.”
Blount said they have a late rut on the Divide section, which occurs in January and there is some very good hunting.
“Hunters should be prepared for long walks into the hunting areas and there is no ATV game retrieval allowed, as dictated by the Corps of Engineers who own the land and specify certain regulations,” he said. “However, some of the best bucks killed in our region come from this WMA.
“Last year there were several nice bucks killed during the first week in January, with one 8-point with 22-inch main beams and a 10-point that had 21-inch main beams.”
Starting this year all WMAs in this region will have mandatory antlerless deer testing for CWD.
“There are CWD collection points with freezers there which allow hunters to drop off the head for testing,” Blount said.
Youth hunts and archery hunts
“There is a lot of good opportunities for youth and archery hunts on Tuscumbia and Hell Creek,” Blount said. “Divide Section also has handicap and youth areas as well as Canal Section.”
According to area biologist Justin Hughes, the Canal Section is the best one to hunt in the southern part of this region.
“It’s long and linear with a lot of diverse habitat and it also has a lot of bottomland hardwood timber and old planted fields,” he said.
Canal, with around 30,000 acres to hunt, is the place to harvest either a quality buck or just to kill a deer. The rut on this WMA usually occurs around the last of December and the first week in January.
Southeast Region
“Leaf River is your best bet for quality deer and also for numbers of deer harvested,” said Regional biologist Kyle Watkins. “We do a decent job managing the land and we have a good burn rotation on the WMA. Last year they harvested about 200 deer on this area.”
Land Between the Creeks is another good area to hunt and is a draw unit only.
“There’s a great opportunity to get either a buck or doe if you’re drawn out,” Watkins said. “This unit has only been in the WMA system a short time, but it’s already producing.”
Northwest Region
According to Brad Holder, Regional biologist, Malmaison is your best bet for a quality buck in this region.
“Malmaison has a 15 to 18 antler criteria regulation which helps us grow older age bucks and it’s the best thing we have to increase the quality of the bucks harvested and that’s to let them grow longer,” he said. “Last year there were a couple of bucks taken that scored in the high 120’s.”
Upper Sardis has 54,000 acres open to hunting and it is inside the Holly Springs National Forest.
“You have a lot of elbow room to hunt,” Holder said. “There may be a little more hunting pressure here, but it’s not unusual for some quality bucks to be harvested. The U. S. Forest Service has a prescribed burning program each year which helps the habitat and provides more browse and habitat improvement for the animals.”
Upper Sardis also has an added regulation allowing each hunter to harvest one buck of choice, which can be any antlered buck. This is an added strategy to help control the population and spread of CWD.
“Charles Ray Nix is another popular deer hunting area and it also has a 15 to 18 antler regulation which helps grow quality bucks,” Holder said. “We have a draw deer hunt here in mid-November through January.
East Central Region
Black Prairie is the best bet at harvesting a quality buck in the East Central region, according to Chad Masley, Regional biologist.
“This year our season structure has changed, which will be good for bowhunters as the area will be open for bowhunting from Oct. 1 through Oct. 29,” he said. “During the final weekend of October we will have a youth hunt for deer.
“We will still have the gun hunts but this year the draw hunts will be in November.”
Check updated regulations before hunting.
“Trim Cane is still a great place for youth and handicapped people to hunt,” Masley said. “Yockanookany will have open archery hunting this year and the deer numbers are growing. As long as the river is not flooding there should be excellent hunting opportunities but if the river floods, then access could be a problem.”
“John Starr WMA is an open deer hunt and this year there is an increased opportunity to hunt antlerless deer and you can harvest a doe any time during the whole season,” Masley said. “Whether you want to kill a doe or buck it’s up to you. There has been a lot of timber cutting, which is adding thickets and more bedding area here also.”
Southwest Region
Regional biologist Josh Moree said Canemount is the best opportunity for harvesting a quality older buck in his region.
“Although the harvest numbers are not high compared to other wildlife management areas, the antler criteria allows hunters to harvest more mature bucks and we will harvest a few in the 200-pound range each year,” he said. “This past season there were a couple good bucks killed by youth hunters. During the opening youth weekend, there was an 8-point with a 16-inch spread and a 220-pound 4-year-old 7-point harvested. Other than that we were down a little bit on the better-quality bucks.
Natchez State Park is another draw hunt area that has beautiful woods and around 2,500 acres are open for hunting, and they have limited hunts there.
“The park is divided into two zones, an Archery Zone and a Primitive Weapon Zone,” Moree said. “We also have a few weekend youth gun hunts and one handicapped hunt also. The gun hunts run concurrent with the archery hunts throughout the whole season so neither gets in the way of the other hunts.”
According to Moree, Copiah County is probably your best bet at harvesting a deer in this region.
“The hunts are either sex through the gun season until Dec. 15,” he said. “Hunters have a good chance to harvest a doe or buck at this WMA. Weekends and holidays usually have crowds as the area is only an hour’s drive from Jackson, but during the week the hunting pressure is not bad.”
Moree also commented on deer hunting with dogs in the Southwest Region.
“We have excellent dog hunting opportunities on Caston Creek, and there are good opportunities at Bienville, Tallahala and Caney Creek but you need to read the rules before you get to an area as they are not the same as the regular state seasons and may vary at the different WMAs,” he said. “They usually harvest some good deer on these WMAs each year.”
Conclusion
If you want to go deer hunting but don’t have any private land to hunt, then try out some of our state’s wildlife management areas and you should have an excellent opportunity to harvest a deer. If you are looking for a trophy buck, then you need to apply for a draw tag on one of the draw hunts held at various WMAs around the state. Though you might not harvest a record class buck, you might just harvest the buck of your lifetime. I did. And you can. too, by putting in the scouting time, legwork and hunting every chance you get.
The online draw hunt applications registration period is Aug. 1 – 31 at www.mdwfp.com.
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