Regardless of how these factors come together, the deer are still out there. You just need to adjust your tactics to meet the conditions. If not, you may be in for some long, boring days on the deer stand.

Mississippi offers sportsmen more than two million acres of wildlife habitat for public hunting within 46 state-operated wildlife management areas, 11 national wildlife refuges and six national forests. They reach all the way from the upper edge of the coastal marshes on the Gulf Coast to the lower reaches of the Appalachian foothills in Tishomingo County. Some additional lands owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are also available for public hunting.

While any of these resources offer many opportunities for deer hunting success, the WMAs are your best bet. The MDWFP has done an excellent job in collecting deer harvest data for each of their WMAs. This data is available in the Annual Deer Program Report, which can be found on the agency Web site at www.mdwfp. com. This information can prove invaluable when selecting the better WMAs to hunt in Mississippi.

Now, let's look at each deer region and identify the top spots to bag a deer this season.

North Region
Consisting of 14 counties, the North Region is home to six wildlife management areas and a rather sizeable national forest. According to William McKinley, MDWFP regional deer biologist, this region is home to the most rapidly expanding deer herd in the state.

"The sentiment against harvesting antlerless deer remains strong in the North Region, and is the strongest of any region in the state," McKinley said. "While the herd appears relatively healthy, site visits to the region revealed grossly overpopulated deer herds on the lands that continue to refrain from antlerless harvest."

Panola, Tate and Marshall lead the pack when it comes to counties in the North Region that consistently produce good numbers of deer. The expansive Holly Springs National Forest along with the Charles Ray Nix and Hell Creek WMAs offer ample public hunting opportunities in this region. Both of these WMAs hold draw hunts, which help reduce some of the hunting pressure seen on other public hunting lands.

North-Central Region
The 15 counties in this region are loaded with public land hunting opportunities for deer. Whether you opt for one of the nine WMAs, the three parcels of national forest in the Holly Springs and Tombigbee NFs, the expansive Noxubee NWR, or Camp McCain Military Base, you are sure to find plenty of deer for the taking.

There should be no surprise that the top deer-producing counties in this region are Oktibbeha, Winston and Noxubee. After all, the 48,000-acre Noxubee NWR, the largest portion of the Tombigbee NF, and three of the top deer-producing WMAs at John Starr Forest, Choctaw and Black Prairie are located in these counties.

With more than 85,000 acres of public land available in those tracts, finding an area of your own to hunt shouldn't be too difficult.

Malmaison WMA, situated on the western border of this region, is another property that boasts some very impressive deer harvest numbers. This WMA might better suit those hunters that prefer a less crowded hunting area.

East-Central Region
The East-Central Region is unique in that it is the most diverse area in the state in terms of soil types. Although this region consists of only 12 counties, it contains seven of the 11 soil types found in Mississippi. This diversity, combined with quality habitat, makes for a healthy, although overpopulated, deer herd.