"For the past two years, we have had excellent acorn crops," said Amy Blaylock, the MDWFP regional deer biologist. "These bumper acorn crops have decreased deer sightings and caused undue concern among hunters that the deer population has drastically dropped. However, because of the massive amounts of acorns, deer didn't have to walk very far to find food."

While the abundant acorn crop often results in a decreased deer harvest, it also can positively affect overall herd health. Excellent fawn drops are usually seen following a record acorn crop.

According to Blaylock, some of the highest deer densities in the East-Central Region can be found in Jasper, Clarke and Madison counties. As far as public land opportunities, hunters should focus on the WMAs in the Bienville National Forest, such as Bienville, Caney Creek and Tallahala WMAs. Nanih Waiya WMA, located in Neshoba County, is another good public land option. All four of these tracts have seen considerable increases in deer harvest over the last few years.

Southeast Region
With the exception of the southern coastal counties, high deer densities can also be found in this region. Hurricane Katrina had a great effect on habitat quality and hunter access in the southern part of the state. The otherwise devastating effects of this massive storm actually provided more deer habitat by thinning dense timber and creating more natural openings.

The past two seasons in the Southeast Region have been marked by record harvests, primarily resulting from the improved habitat and more deer being carried over from the two seasons immediately following the storm when hunter access was a major issue. Another exceptional season is expected this fall. However, hunters in this region need to take advantage of these conditions while they last.

"Unless we begin active habitat management over the next couple of years, we will begin a downward trend in habitat quality because the once open forest floor will begin to be shaded out again," Blaylock noted.

Blaylock suggested that hunters wanting to harvest a deer in this region should focus on the northern tier of counties such as Jefferson Davis, Covington, Lamar and Greene, since they have higher deer densities than do the southern coastal counties. The Chickasawhay and Leaf River WMAs are prime examples of public lands in the region with high deer densities.

Southwest Region
Southwest Mississippi has long been known as the top trophy whitetail producing area of Mississippi. It has all the ingredients necessary to produce not only quality whitetails, but also high numbers of deer. Bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, this region contains a number of very fertile lowland drainages, such as Big Bayou Pierre, Little Bayou Pierre, Coles, Clark and St. Catherine creeks, along with the Big Black, Buffalo, Amite and Homochitto rivers. This extremely high-quality deer habitat is one of the reasons the region contains the highest concentration of white-tailed deer in the Magnolia State.