“We’ve had a lot of rainfall at the right time in this region, so we have a lot of forage and great vegetation growth as a result,” said biologist Nathan Blount of WDWFP. “So we’re expecting a good deer hunting season this year.”
Deer
Divide Section WMA
“I’d focus on Divide Section for quality in this region,” Blount said. “This WMA seems to produce better-quality bucks, but not a lot of them, due to the size of the area. Last year, the area produced 10 bucks, but it routinely produces an above-average deer every year, with an exceptional buck ever year, also.”
Canal Section WMA
“With 30,000 acres, Canal Section has tons of room for the deer to roam and get away from the roads and away from open land,” Blount said. “The rut runs in January up here, and some of the better hunting is actually in January.
“A trophy buck up here is anything above 120 B&C, and that’s an exceptional deer in this region, but a few are taken every year. They’re nothing like the Delta, but there are opportunities to harvest a good buck.”
Chickasaw WMA
“If you’re just looking to kill a buck, then Chickasaw WMA is a good place to do that,” Blount said. “This is the first year we’re going back to allowing antlerless deer harvest with a gun in the last two years. The population is doing really well, and the numbers are the best for buck harvest per man-day in over 10 years.”
“During the first primitive-weapons season, we’re going to allow doe harvest, and hunters will have a great chance at a buck as well.”
With 27,000 acres of prime habitat, hunters will have plenty of room to hunt and search for that buck.
Small Game
Canal Section WMA
Canal Section is one of the better WMAs in the state,” Blount said. “There is a lot of bottomland hardwoods for mast production, and last year there were 2,200 squirrels harvested here; that was the No. 2 WMA in the state for numbers harvested.”
Chickasaw and Divide Section also have excellent squirrel hunting.
“Hell Creek and Canal Section are the top rabbit areas in this region,” Blount said. “Hell Creek is managed for rabbits as well.”
Quail
Divide Section WMA
“Divide Section has a good quail population and is one of only a few WMAs in the state that has good quail hunting,”
Waterfowl
Tuscumbia/Canal Section WMA
“Tuscumbia is still the best waterfowl hunting opportunity in this region,” Blount said. “If we get enough rainfall in the WMA, we’ll have ducks.”
Tuscumbia is located in Alcorn County near Corinth.
“Unit 1 is open to waterfowl hunting, but you’ll need a boat to access most of it, and there is a boat ramp there,” Blount said. “Hunters usually harvest a mixture of wood ducks and mallards.”
“Unit 2 is draw-hunt only, with nine impoundments and nine hunters drawn for each impoundment; they can bring up to three guests per hunter drawn. About half the ducks harvested will be mallards, with some teal, gadwall and pintails mixed in, too.”
“Canal Section is located in Prentiss, Itawamba and Monroe counties near Fulton and has open-water mallards,” Blount said. “If we have cold weather and the ducks come down, hunters will have an excellent chance to harvest ducks here.”
Check out the other regions below:
Northwest Region
Delta Region
East Central Region
Southwest Region
Southeast Region
North Delta
