Photo by Charles R. Brower III

It is almost a ritual. By now hunters are busy making sure their four-wheelers are ready, their tree stands are in place and their favorite rifle is sighted in. It is time for the 2005-06 hunting season in Florida and deer hunting should be excellent. How times have changed!

Just 25 to 30 years ago, there were areas in the state that had plenty of deer, but there were plenty of others where deer were rare. If there is credit due, it goes to the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (predecessor of today's Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) and landowners who protected their deer herds.

An encouraging sign that Florida's deer herd is continuing to be wisely managed is the increasing numbers of phenomenal whitetail bucks taken each year. The FWCC wildlife staff now points with pride to the quality and number of trophy bucks that are added each year to the Florida Buck Registry, the official listing of trophy deer.

In this issue of Florida Game & Fish we are going to look at some of the best counties and public lands for deer hunts this season in each of the FWCC's five administrative regions. Obviously, access to hunting lands is a key to success. Where such access is difficult on private land, the state's less regulated wildlife management areas may be an alternative.

Wildlife biologists for the FWCC do not collect county-by-county deer census information, but they do have a feel for which counties in their regions have higher deer numbers than others. Their assessment may help you put some venison in the freezer this season.

THE COUNTIES
Northwest Region
Two of the best Panhandle counties for deer hunting are Gadsden and Jackson.

In the case of Gadsden, with the exception of Joe Budd WMA, the county land is privately owned. One key to why it is so good is soil fertility. It should tell you just how fertile the area's soils are to note that tobacco was for years a huge cash crop in the county. Those fertile soils mean deer get more nutritious things to eat and tend to be bigger animals. In fact, Florida's all-time No. 1 typical buck was killed in the county. It had 14 points and scored 168 1/8 Boone and Crockett Club points.

Three decades ago, deer were just getting a good foothold in Jackson County. Today, they are everywhere. As deer numbers have mushroomed, so have private deer-hunting leases. Still, Jackson County has two public areas -- Apalachee WMA north of Sneads and Upper Chipola River WMA near Marianna. Both are good areas to hunt, but the Upper Chipola River tract has a shortened season.

North Central Region
Two counties stand far above the others in the North Central Region. Those are Columbia and Clay.

"They're both pretty even," explained Dewey Weaver, a retired FWCC public information officer. "Columbia County is mainly pine flatwoods and some creek bottoms. There are a lot of hunting clubs and most of them have food plots and supplemental feeding programs. It really helps the deer."

Clay County has three WMAs. They are Camp Blanding, Bayard and Jennings Forest. There are also quite a few hunting clubs in this county as well.