What makes Alachua County so good for deer is that much of it is private property and it has top-notch soils that are a bit better than in many parts of the state, which results in better productivity and better nutrition for big bucks.

There's less row-crop agriculture now than there has been in the past, and a good bit of land has been converted to pine plantations. But the county still supports a good herd of deer with its fair share of big bucks.

According to biologists, the genetics for big deer are also present. There's a lot of edge effect with a mixture of pine plantations, hardwood forest, and prairie. That means a lot of browse for the deer.

Jackson County
Jackson County came in at No. 2 on our Big Bucks List. Despite increasing urbanization in the Panhandle, particularly in many traditional hunting areas closer to Tallahassee, Jackson County is still quite rural, with a lot of industrial timberland and private farmland.

In Jackson County, as in much of the northern tier of counties, the nutrition available for deer is better than in some other parts of the state. This is partly because the soil is better, especially in areas where farmers are using a lot of fertilizer on the crops the deer feed on. If you can get access to private land, this is an excellent county to hunt in.

Osceola County
In Osceola County, No. 3 on our list, much of the land is in cattle ranching and sod farms. Although neither terrain lends itself to good deer production without additional management, some of the agricultural practices associated with these land uses -- such as controlled burning --improve the habitat for deer.

In addition, a number of ranches provide supplemental feeding for deer, which also improves the nutrition of the herd here.

Bay County
Bay County may have some of the state's most beautiful beaches, but it doesn't seem like a likely place for big bucks. Still, it comes in at No. 4 on our statewide list. In terms of nutrients, the county's coastal soils range from sandy to downright sorry, which also makes its position on the list somewhat surprising.

The habitat is a mixture of slash pine, sand pine, and titi bottoms -- all pretty poor deer habitat -- with a few oak ridges thrown in.

However, good management can offset a lot of deficiencies, and what's happening in Bay County is proof of that. More and more hunt clubs and hunt leases are developing quality deer-management programs and instituting rules such as a one- or two-buck bag limits and restrictive antler size limits. They're letting the bucks get older and taking some of the does off the property so the herd is closer to the number that the available habitat can support. All of this results in bigger, better bucks.

Hamilton County
Hamilton County is another place county that doesn't stands out as a likely area for big bucks. Here, there's not as much agriculture as there is in some of the other northern tier counties. But a lot of the land here is in silviculture, which can provide good deer habitat if the forests are wisely managed.

What's going on here is good forest management on private land. Much of the property is controlled by hunt clubs, and many of them are doing an excellent job of managing the deer herd. They have instituted quality deer-management programs and are giving the herd a lot of supplement food, while also letting bucks get some age on them.

Pasco County
Much of the land in Pasco County lies in sandhill communities on ancient sand dunes. However, those areas have a lot of oaks that provide acorns for deer to browse on, providing the nutrition they need to produce big antlers. There's also a lot of cattle ranching in the county. Improved pasture is not great for deer, but cattlemen tend to burn native range on a rotation basis. That's good for deer.