Spence's hunting acumen is no stranger to long-time readers of Florida Game & Fish. His hunting exploits have been featured twice in this magazine, the last time in our November 2004 issue. In addition to that big non-typical buck, his other deer -- spanning five decades -- include an 11-point that scored 134 2/8, a 10-point measuring 124 4/8, 11-point scoring 122, 11-point measuring 115 4/8, 8-point scoring 114 6/8, and a 9-point that scored 109 3/8 B&C points.

The affable, easy-going Spence loves to hear deer dogs run in the fall. However, he too is a realist and understands that Florida -- and his area of the Panhandle -- have changed.

"I've dog-hunted all my life. Still-hunting ain't for me, but I'm for any way people can get into the woods," he pointed out.

While there are plenty of other big Walton County deer on the FBR, one in particular stands out for its size and sentimental value. That deer was a picture-perfect 10-pointer taken by Monica Harris of Port St. Joe. Her deer, killed on Feb. 9, 2003, scored 134 6/8 B&C.

Harris' story was also featured in Florida Game & Fish. That weekend, she and her husband Wayne, a wildlife biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, were hunting a Walton County farm. They were hunting in February during the rut on a rainy, cold morning. With the hunting season winding down, she simply wanted to fill an antlerless permit and put some meat in the freezer.

She got much more than she bargained for when she sat on a field and watched as the big buck walked out in shooting range. Her deer meant all the more to her and her family because she had just been given her deceased twin brother's Ruger .243 rifle. She made her shot with it count.

For hunters who don't have access to private land, Walton County has four public areas open to hunting: Eglin Air Force Base, and the Choctawhatchee River, Point Washington and Lafayette Creek wildlife management areas.

It seems as if Eglin AFB has been there forever. In World War II, it was known as Eglin Field, but the boundaries haven't changed. It's huge, stretching over 464,000 acres in Walton and Okaloosa counties. This is an active military base with a lot going on, but hunters have access to roughly 280,000 acres in the Eglin AFB WMA. Sitting close to the Gulf of Mexico, most of the base is what biologists call sandhill habitat. There are longleaf pines, wiregrass, turkey and blackjack oak ridges and titi bottoms. Deer certainly do well there.