From November to mid-February, antler fever rages among Bayou State deer hunters. During these months, somewhere within Louisiana's choicest whitetail habitat, the rut is occurring. And that's when the odds favor the hunter for taking home a wall-hanger.

As Louisiana's Quality Deer Movement increases in disciples from year to year, there engages an eternal discussion over aspects of finding and taking quality and trophy bucks.

There can be no doubt that quality whitetails have increased in numbers in Louisiana over the past three decades. This marked increase can be certainly due to hunters' decisions made toward enhancing the natural habitat by supplementing wild foods with expansive green fields and nutritious protein additives.

But there's also the decision not to pull back the bow or finger the trigger. Hunters engaged in allowing young bucks to walk (antler restrictions) have also increased their quality buck allotment, and these practices have evolved in the Bayou State since the 1970s.

Now then, some hunters are under the opinion that Louisiana can grow "trophy" bucks with management practices just about anywhere in the Bayou State.

This can be true too -- if you agree that a 110-class, 8-pointer fits your definition of a trophy.

But for true Louisiana "trophy" status to be endowed on a whitetail, you better think longer, bigger, thicker and wider with regard to antler characteristics.

"In 2008-09, we measured 30 deer that will probably end up in the Louisiana Big Game Records and/or the three-year Louisiana Big Game Recognition Program," said David Moreland, retired wildlife chief and official keeper of the Louisiana Big Game Records. And of those 30 deer, maybe two to three may make national Boone and Crockett records, Pope and Young (archery) acclaim or the Longhunter Society records.

When you consider the fact that there are as many as 160,000 licensed deer hunters in the Bayou State during any given season, let's just say the odds are extremely miniscule (divide 160,000 into 30) at even observing a "true" trophy whitetail of record-book status.

In determining characteristics of record-book bucks, Moreland explained that Louisiana uses the same measuring system established by the Boone and Crockett (B&C) and Pope and Young (P&Y) awards programs. The Longhunter Society also uses the Boone and Crockett measuring system to rank trophy whitetails taken by muzzleloader.

Minimum standards for white-tailed deer trophies to be listed in the Louisiana Big Game Records for a whitetails taken by gun is 160 B&C points for the typical category and 185 B&C points for the non-typical category. For archery, they are 110 B&C points (typical) and 130 B&C points (non-typical).

A muzzleloader category was also established in 1992 in response to the growing popularity. In the Louisiana records program, muzzleloader trophies must score 120 B&C points for typicals and 150 for non-typicals.

For more information regarding the Louisiana Big Game Records, contact David Moreland at outdoor_roots@ hotmail.com.

Target The Rivers For Trophies
Louisiana's trophy white-tailed deer historically tend to appear along the drainages of the Mississippi and Red rivers systems. In fact, the entire Mississippi River Basin is widely celebrated for producing large numbers of truly immense trophy racks.

"Our deer records are a direct reflection of the habitat on which the animal was produced," Moreland said. "All of the top public land deer taken between 1998-2008 were killed on public lands with bottomland hardwood habitat."

The Fertile Crescent Avoyelles Parish
The Black, Red, Atchafalaya and the Mississippi rivers converge in Avoyelles Parish. Moreland referred to this region as the heart of the "Fertile Crescent." It is fed by these river systems that deposit fertile soils during flood events.

"Regarding private lands, Avoyelles Parish is currently a hotspot in delivering quality and trophy whitetails," said Moreland.