The banner year of 2003 was a high point in time for big mountain deer, as all three firearms bucks entered in the Georgia Big Deer Contest as well as two P&Y bucks were taken that season. Keith Collins’ Pickens County buck led the gun list with a B&C score of 161 3/8; the other two gun kills scored 149 5/8 and 147 7/8. The archery book bucks that year were Avery Hice’s Gilmer County 140 P&Y and Paul Winterman’s Dawson County 133 5/8. Additionally, the top archery buck in the Big Deer Contest for 2005 was Eric Brown’s 155 3/8 P&Y deer, taken in Murray County.

Talking with the regional wildlife biologists who oversee the highlands of the state and the wildlife technicians who manage the WMAs provided a much clearer picture of what an upland trophy is in Georgia.

Biologist Kevin Lowery covers the northeastern portion of this area, working from the Gainesville WRD office. Most of his work involves the WMAs, but he hears about deer from the Chattahoochee National Forest and private land as well. He feels that the best private-land bucks come from Union, Lumpkin and White counties in his northeastern zone. On national forest lands outside the WMAs, hunters have had the best results from Lumpkin and Habersham counties.

Lowery stressed that the hunters who succeed regularly in the mountains, especially on national forest and WMA lands, really work at hunting this rugged country. “Newcomers won’t see a lot of deer,” the biologist emphasized, “and won’t find them close to the roads. Since much of the public land, including the WMAs, is so rugged and remote, with little road access, our mountain bucks have a better chance of growing old than those farther south.

“Having quality deer is more a matter of what’s happened in the forest recently rather than which county.”

Lowery cited the lingering effects of Hurricane Opal on timber at Chestatee WMA, where winds opened the forest canopy up, allowing new browse to spring up. That and the recent good production of extensive white oak acorns in that area contributed to the harvest of 23 bucks with antler spreads of 17 inches or better harvested over the past two seasons. According to Lowery, a good mountain trophy buck -- one that a hunter might reasonably expect to bag if all goes just right -- would be one scoring in the 120 or 130 range on the B&C scale, with the truly exceptional deer in the high 140s or better.

Last season’s results from a couple of mountain WMAs in Lowery’s area illustrate both the trophy potential and age structure.

At Chestatee WMA, 34 percent of bucks taken were aged at 4 1/2 years or older, with an average of 7.3 points and a 16.4-inch spread. The 3 1/2-year-old age-group made up 13 percent of the harvest, averaging 7 points and a 15-inch spread. The 2 1/2-year-old age-group accounted for 21 percent, and the 1 1/2-year-old group represented 32 percent of the take. A non-quota public hunt whose 4 1/2-year-olds made up the largest percentage of kills is outstanding!

Blue Ridge WMA, Georgia’s oldest public-hunting tract, also turned in impressive figures, with 20 percent of the bucks taken aged at 4 1/2, averaging 8.2 points and a 16-inch spread. The next 20 percent was 3 1/2, with 7.5 points and a 13-inch spread on average. The 2 1/2- and 1 1/2-year-old groups made up 22 and 38 percent, respectively.

The biggest rack from northeast Georgia public land last season was taken on the Chattahoochee WMA. It belonged to a 5 1/2-year-old 12-pointer that had 22 1/4-inch main beams and an 18 7/8-inch outside spread. Also taken on that area last season were four bucks with 17-inch or better spreads and two of more than 16 inches.

While these figures show what’s possible in these rugged areas, the overall hunter success rate emphasizes Lowery’s point that this isn’t easy hunting. The success rates on the three areas discussed above were 6.1, 4.6 and 4.1 percent.