"I would put the Spring Creek deer population at average to slightly above average," Nicholson says. "If you we're going to try to kill a quality deer, that would be the one unit of Big Bend that I'd send you to.

"I think it has something to do with the soils and the habitat. In the past, that area was a dog-hunt area. Beginning last year, it was converted over to a still-hunt area. Even under fairly heavy hunting pressure, it was always producing quality deer. In that whole region, even if you get out of the management area, you see some quality deer coming from it. I think it mainly has something to do with the quality of the soils. The minerals and stuff in the soil kind of translates into the forage, which actually promotes greater antler growth."

The biologist also said the WMA has some remote areas a hunter can get in to find older age-class bucks.

The terrain there ranges from upland pine to sandhill scrub with some hardwoods, bottoms and marshy areas. Most hunter success centers around transitional zones where different types of habitats meet, especially with a hardwood and bottomland component.

Spring Creek claims two spots on the Florida Buck Registry: Heath Sadler downed a 100 4/8 B&C buck in 1999; and Jeanne Atwell killed a 153 4/8 B&C non-typical in 1997.

BIG BEND WMA, TIDE SWAMP UNIT
The fourth Taylor County unit of the Big Bend WMA, Tide Swamp is the largest at 19,538 acres and the best in terms of surrendering big Florida deer.

There are four bucks on the state registry from this unit. In 2002, William Pelt bagged a beauty that scored 122 3/8 points. David Miller is the proud owner of a pair of registry trophies -- 113 3/8 in 2000 and 104 3/8 in 1999. And Stuart Flowers documented a buck scoring 103 1/8.

Although the native coastal hardwoods, pine plantations and lowland hardwood swamp provide good habitat for deer, in recent years FWCC officials have helped in a big way by planting food plots and routinely conducting prescribed burns. A portion of this tract borders the Gulf of Mexico, so about one-third consists of salt marsh.

"Tide Swamp is another high-quality area," Nicholson adds. "I would probably rank it up there similar to Spring Creek. It's probably above average in quality, and average to slightly above average in quantity. It has a long history of being a still-hunt area and managed more as a quality-hunt experience.

"It's got some very remote areas in it. That's one of the components that's allowed some of the deer to reach an older age-class."

MALLORY SWAMP WMA
A 29,463-acre tract located in Lafayette County, Mallory Swamp is probably the most physically challenging WMA in north-central Florida.

The area is dominated by hardwood hammocks and dense vegetation that resulted from a 2001 wildfire. And it is extremely wet, which discourages many would-be deer hunters.

"It's an old wetland-type complex that is in various states of being restored," says Nicholson, whose agency manages the unit in conjunction with the Suwannee River Water Management District. "It was an area that was burned up in a fairly large wildfire, and it's in various states of restructure.

"A lot of the timber was burnt off. There are still a lot of old pine trunks standing up from the burn. It's just kind of nature's way of regeneration. It can actually benefit some critters, such as deer. It puts that food base back on the ground. But it makes the hunting very challenging, especially if you were a still-hunter, because you don't have any trees left to hang a stand in."

Mallory Swamp's deer population is about average in size and quality compared to the rest of the region.

NOTE
General gun season in this region is Nov. 11, 2006 through Jan. 21, 2007. Generally, the bag limit for deer is two antlered bucks per day. But be sure to check the regulations on each individual WMA and unit, because the laws can vary significantly.

For more information, go to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site at myFWC.com.