To turn into trophy animals, bucks need three things -- age, nutrition and good genetics. The deer certainly get better nutrition here, due to the county's better-than-average soils.

While there are no public lands in the county, two things help account for the big deer over the years. For one thing, all the private land in the county that's available for hunting is leased, and just about every one of these areas has some sort of trophy-buck criteria.

There are also several plantations where deer and other wildlife are well protected. An invitation to hunt one of these areas is a prescription for trophy success.

No. 4 -- Bay County
If there's ever been a county with poorer-looking soil than Bay County, I'd like to see it. This coastal area has soil that's more appropriately referred to as sand. Yet it has given up exceptional bucks and keeps producing them, year after year.

One of the finest bucks ever killed in the county was taken in October 2002 during the opening weekend of the archery season, when Panama City resident Jayson Gay arrowed a 10-point that scored 138 2/8 Pope and Young Club points. Gay had seen the huge buck the year before and was fortunate enough to set up on the buck's trail that eventful morning.

There even have been a handful of FBR deer that were taken on public lands, but most have to come off private hunting leases. Public lands open to hunting include the 21,000-acre Tyndall Air Force Base WMA, 12,400-acre Point Washington WMA and State Forest, 6,900-acre Pine Log WMA and 40,900-acre Econfina Creek WMAs.

No. 5 -- Jackson
Jackson County is in elite company, having posted just under 150 entries on the FBR. There is public land in the county, and some excellent deer are killed there every season. But the lion's share of the bigger deer are coming off private property.

Jackson County probably has as much or more agriculture as anywhere in the western tier of Panhandle counties. Farmers grow crops such as peanuts, soybeans and corn, and deer take advantage of those nutrient sources.

In the 1970s when deer hunting was gaining in popularity, a considerable amount of land was wide-open to hunting. That, as you might expect, is no longer the case. Leases in the county today command top dollar, and it's not too uncommon for hunters to pay $10 to $15 per acre to hunt deer.

Jackson County can also lay claim to having more bucks on the FBR Top Ten Non-Typical list than any other county in the state. The county's two listings are the late Henry Brinson's 29-point buck killed in 1959 that scored 186 B&C and Tommy Sims' 15-pointer killed in the 1994-95 season that measured 172 inches.

These two deer occupy the No. 3 and No. 7 spots, respectively.

Public lands in the county are the 8,000-acre Apalachee and 7,400-acre Upper Chipola River WMAs.

No. 6 -- Sumter
Wildlife biologist Mike Abbott pointed to Sumter County as having better soil than some of the surrounding counties, and that translates to good things for its deer herd. When traveling through the county, you'll notice there are lots of live oak hammocks. Most years, that means tons of acorns for the deer.

As elsewhere, all of the available hunting acreage not owned by the state is leased by hunting clubs.