District 1
Comprising the 15 counties in the northeast portion of the state, this district is home to 10 wildlife management areas and a sizeable national wildlife refuge. Oktibbeha, Noxubee and Winston lead the pack when it comes to District 1 counties consistently producing good-quality deer and good numbers of deer.

There should be no surprise that the top deer producing WMAs lie in those counties. Choctaw WMA in Winston County, near Ackerman, and John W. Starr WMA in Oktibbeha County, near Starkville, rank very high in total deer harvest per acre despite having a minimum-inside-spread criterion for legal bucks. Another excellent choice is the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge. This 48,000-acre refuge stretches across all three counties.

With over 80,000 acres of public land available in these three tracts, finding an area of your own to hunt shouldn't be too hard of a chore. However, keep in mind that all three areas are close to Mississippi State University. In order to avoid the college-student crowd, it would be wise to site your stand well off the beaten path.

District 2
In the north-central part of the state, District 2 has a number of public land options for deer hunters. In this area, the rich Mississippi River Delta lands in the west give way as you move east to less-fertile bluffs and hills. As a direct result, total deer numbers and overall quality are better in the former. Of the seven WMAs in District 2, three stand out above the rest: Hamer, O'Keefe and Malmaison WMAs.

In terms of total acreage, these three properties combined don't quite break 20,000 acres. However, what they lack in size they more than make up for in quality. Although all three rank very high when it comes to the number of deer harvested based on acreage, Hamer WMA is expected to produce some deer of exceptionally high quality over the next few years. This can be attributed to the extremely low hunting pressure it has received over the past few seasons. Like the WMAs listed in District 1, these WMAs also have a minimum-inside-spread criterion for legal bucks.

Although quite small at 4,083 acres, the Tallahatchie National Wildlife Refuge is worth checking into. Hunting is available throughout most of the refuge, and Malmaison WMA borders it to the south.

District 3
Bordered by the Mississippi River on the west and the Big Black River on the east, District 3 is deer-habitat heaven. The fertile soil of the Mississippi Delta produces high-quality cotton and corn. This region's 12 counties contain a number of WMAs along with the 100,000-acre Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex and the Delta National Forest. With an abundance of public hunting opportunities and what are recognized as Mississippi's finest deer lands, it's no surprise that District 3 tends to dominate the deer harvest records.

For that reason alone, it's an almost impossible task to pick a single best location to bag a deer there. So instead of picking one, let's look at the top three. Sunflower WMA, its 60,115 acres in Sharkey County, always places first or second in the total harvest category. However, Twin Oaks WMA and Mahannah WMA rank at the top of the list for fewest acres per deer harvested. Deer hunting at these two WMAs is by permit only, except for the January archery hunt, which is open to the public.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex is the largest refuge complex in Mississippi and includes both the newest (Holt Collier and Theodore Roosevelt NWRs) and the oldest refuge (Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge) in the state. The other four refuges in the complex are Hillside, Matthews Brake, Morgan Brake and Panther Swamp.

District 4
Encompassing 16 counties from the Pearl River on the west to the Alabama line on the east, this district lies in the heart of the Magnolia State. The region is characterized by a pronounced diversity of habitat among the 12 counties lying within its borders. Much of the district is a combination of heavy pine timber and bottomland hardwoods.

Three of the WMAs in District 4 have excellent track records for good deer hunting. Bienville WMA, near Morton, and Caney Creek, near Forest, are on lands of the Bienville National Forest in Scott County. Tallahala WMA, near Montrose, is another good option. While each of these tracts is known for producing good numbers of deer, Tallahala WMA contains more hardwoods and creek bottoms, which puts it in the lead for better deer numbers and, potentially, bigger deer.