“Sherburne WMA is a good area,” Moreland said. “It has a really good deer population, and will produce some good deer. It’s an area with a late bucks-only season. The rut is late, in January; that gives hunters time to hunt other areas early and then come to Sherburne for some late hunting.”

PEASON RIDGE AND FORT POLK WMAs
These WMAs are both owned by the U.S. Army.

Peason Ridge is 18 miles north of Leesville in Sabine, Natchitoches and Vernon parishes. The terrain consists of gentle-to-high rolling hills interspersed with creeks and greenheads. Longleaf pine is dominant on some of the hills, while a mixture of loblolly pine, longleaf pine, red oak, blackjack oak and post oak is found on other ridges. The understory of these upland types is very sparse.

The terrain is primarily rolling hills interspersed with flats. Several fairly large stream bottoms and numerous small creeks and greenheads are present. Approximately 70 percent of the area is dominated by longleaf pine.

Fort Polk WMA is 10 miles southeast of Leesville in Vernon Parish just east of U.S. Highway 171, one mile south of state Highway 28 and one mile north of state Highway 10. The area contains many all-weather roads, which make all portions accessible to hunters.

“Both are military reservations; both have a high number of deer,” said Robinette. “The problem there is military training. We normally can get the area the three days after Thanksgiving, in which we kill 200 to 300 deer. The rest of the season is dependent on how much training at the army posts is going on. If it’s open, it’s a good place to hunt.”

Make sure to check with Fort Polk -- 1-888-718-3029 or (337) 531-5715 -- to obtain information on areas open for hunting before making plans to hunt these WMAs.

WEST BAY WMA
State highways and parish roads leading to this area in north-central Allen Parish near Elizabeth, plus timber company roads, make West Bay very accessible. The WMA’s boundaries are roughly as follows: south of state Highway 10, north of state Highway 26, east of Turner Road, and west of River Road.

West Bay is 56,000 acres in area, with generally flat terrain. Approximately one-third of the area can be considered baygall (forested seep) habitat and is poorly drained. The remaining area has fairly good drainage. The only major flowing stream is Mill Creek.

“There are a lot of pine plantations on West Bay WMA,” Robinette said. “We used to kill 300 to 400 deer off the area each year, but the number has dropped. The problem is that the area is so thick. It is becoming a little better -- they are starting to thin some of the pine plantations out, and you can see a little bit now.

“People need to check the area out; it’s another sleeper. We just need a little more hunter participation. If you scout and take a little time before season to look, you can kill a deer on West Bay.”

HUNTING LOUISIANA’S WMAs
The rut in Louisiana varies according to the time of year. Rifle hunters working on the basis of this principle can work their way up the state and hunt from September into January.

“We have basically three distinct rutting periods across the state,” said Robinette. “Each WMA tries to open up during that rutting period. In southwest Louisiana, our deer start rutting in September. Our bow season starts Sept. 15. Gun season starts somewhere around the middle of October. That’s when the majority of the deer are killed -- October, or the first part of November.