Moreland observed that the majority of Louisiana's deer relocation work involved deer trapped at Red Dirt National Wildlife Preserve, the old Chicago Mill property in Madison and Tensas parishes and the Delta Refuge around Pass-a-Loutre near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

"Breeding behavior of deer around the state has a direct correlation to where they came from, and the old traditional breeding periods didn't just happen; there are reasons why we believe some herds breed earlier and some breed later," he noted. "For example, deer living in the coastal areas of the state breed earlier, which allows their fawns to be up and going before hurricane season begins. Along the Mississippi Delta parishes, peak breeding occurs later, which prevents does bearing fawns from being caught in spring floods."

Now that we know that all breeding seasons for Louisiana deer are not created equal, let's concentrate on the region most likely to produce good-quality bucks late in the season. Current deer study leader Scott Durham recently offered a few clues as to where to concentrate your efforts if you hope to bring in a wallhanger this season.

"Some of our bottomland areas should be good," he said. "I feel that wildlife management areas such as Red River, Three Rivers, Sherburne, Thistlethwaite and Fort Polk ought to be good places to hunt. The numbers seem to be in good balance on these areas. Coupled with a good balance between numbers of deer and habitat, I'd think a good many quality deer could come off these areas."

Our next step is to take a look at the particular management areas pinpointed by Durham in an effort to help serious deer hunters home in on the best areas for waylaying a trophy buck this season.

RED RIVER WMA
This popular area lies approximately 35 miles south of Ferriday on state Highway 15 in lower Concordia Parish. State Highway 15, Highway 910, and a gravel levee provide all weather access. Gravel oilfield roads and numerous woods roads traverse the interior.

Red River Wildlife Management Area consists of 41,681 acres. The LDWF owns 29,964 acres, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns an additional 11,717.

Low, flat and poorly drained, the area is annually subject to flooding by the Red and Mississippi rivers and Bayou Cocodrie.

Approximately 265,000 desirable hardwood seedlings have been planted on approximately 800 acres. Abandoned oil-well sites and rights of way are clipped annually and maintained as wildlife openings.

In addition to an abundant population of deer, other game species, including turkeys, squirrels, rabbits, woodcock, dove, snipe and waterfowl, are present here.

Two primitive camping areas have been constructed and are maintained by the LDWF. All-weather access is provided. For more information on hunting Red River WMA, contact the Region 4 office in Ferriday at (318) 757-4571.

THREE RIVERS WMA
Three Rivers represents the other half of the dynamic duo of prime deer hunting areas in eastern Louisiana. This area is adjacent to Red River, and the two are often spoken of as a single management area.

At the southern tip of Concordia Parish approximately 50 miles south of Vidalia, the WMA lies between the Mississippi and Red Rivers just north of Lower Old River. Primary access routes are state highways 15 and 910. Interior access is provided by an all-weather shell road that traverses the entire width of the area just north of the Old River outflow channel, and a network of unimproved roads and trails. Additional access is afforded by boat along Red River and the numerous bayous of this tract.

Three Rivers WMA at present consists of 26,295 acres of LDWF property and 1,085 acres of Corps property, for a total of 27,380 acres.