According to Durham, 11,262-acre Buckhorn WMA, sited in Tensas Parish not too far from Tensas River NWR, is another area for archers to consider.

Further west in the Red River basin is Loggy Bayou WMA (6,381 acres in Bossier Parish) not far from the Shreveport metro area. Durham says there are some good deer there too.

And staying in the northern part of the state, the LDWF's head deer biologist pointed to a couple of other areas that stick-and-string enthusiasts might want to consider. "Union WMA (11,113 acres in Union Parish) and Jackson-Bienville WMA (32,185 acres in Jackson, Bienville and Lincoln parishes) are good and have some outstanding deer," he said.

WEST-CENTRAL
In the west-central portion of the state, Fort Polk WMA (a 105,545-acre WMA on the Fort Polk Military Reservation in Vernon Parish) is a unit worthy of plenty of consideration by bowhunters.

"It's a really nice area, although it has a less-dense herd (than the river floodplain WMAs have)," Durham said. "But there is really nice antler development there for that part of the state. It's not a rich, highly productive area, but there is something about that area that makes for some really nice deer."

ATCHAFALAYA RIVER BASIN
Moving east-southeast from Fort Polk, one gets back into the alluvial region of the Atchafalaya River basin where Thistlethwaite WMA (11,000 acres in St. Landry Parish) is located north of Lafayette. The top LBGR typical buck from that unit was a 180 5/8 inch B&C bruiser taken with a gun by Shawn P. Ortego back in 1975.

Nearby, Atchafalaya NWR (15,220 acres in Pointe Coupee and Iberville parishes) and Sherburne WMA (11,780 acres in Pointe Coupee, St. Martin and Iberville parishes) give bowhunters a good one-two punch to think about on the drive not too far west of the Baton Rouge metro area.

"The Atchafalaya gets some pretty good hunter effort despite the fact that it is so remote," LeBlanc said. "Hunters have killed a couple of Pope & Young (bucks) off of it and it has some pretty good deer."

To the north of the Baton Rouge area, Tunica Hills WMA (5,905 acres in West Feliciana Parish) is another good bet for archers according to LeBlanc.

"Most of the season there is archery only," he said. "How good the season is really depends on the (Mississippi) River since there is an island refuge (Raccourci Island) to the south of there. "If the river gets high, it pushes deer off the island and onto Tunica Hills and that influences success rates dramatically."

LeBlanc says that like most of Louisiana's public-land deer hunting, he wouldn't be surprised to see something in the 140 to 150 range come out of Tunica Hills, but those animals tend to be harder to come by.

"After all, it's hard enough to kill a deer with a bow anyways," he said.

LeBlanc should know -- he's a longtime bowhunter himself.

BETWEEN THE CITIES
Moving on between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, a top area to consider, according to Durham, is the 67,712-acre Maurepas Swamp WMA. "It's a big area, more of a forested wetland," he said. "Access on this area is a little tougher and you'll need a boat to get up in there. But since it is a little less accessible for people in that region, it's one of our best overall (deer harvest) numbers WMAs in that portion of the state."