Two Georgia counties -- Dooly and Macon -- have countywide antler restrictions that help grow bigger deer. In those two counties, you may not take a buck with less than a 15-inch outside antler spread. Seven other counties -- Hancock, Harris, Meriwether, Montgomery, Randolph, Talbot and Troup -- require all bucks taken to have a minimum of four points on one side.

Statewide, a hunter may kill two bucks a year, but one of them must have four points on one side. This allows for the harvesting of some younger deer, but helps protect others until they grow bigger antlers. This antler restriction is not really quality-deer management, but it does help.

Many clubs and landowners try to manage for quality deer, but WRD biologist Jim Simmons said it takes 3,000 to 5,000 acres under management to be effective. He does add that smaller tracts of land can be managed to become trophy-buck sanctuaries during deer season and attract bigger bucks to them. So if you manage your own land for trophy deer, you can have some impact.

If you hunt public lands, you also have some options. There are 12 wildlife management areas with some kind of antler restrictions on their hunts. Some state parks open to hunting provide the possibility of producing a trophy deer.

Last year in the Georgia Big Deer Contest, a deer entered from a state park made the top 20 list. Over the years, at least one buck taken on a WMA has made the Boone and Crockett non-typical list. And last year, an archery buck from Allen Creek WMA was entered in the Big Deer Contest.

Since some WMAs with antler restrictions have quota hunts, you should apply for them. Each year, some of those quota hunts are not filled. And there are some sign-in hunts on those WMAs, too.

If you want the best chance of taking a buck that makes the record books in Georgia, learn to shoot a bow and find a place to hunt in Fulton County. Although it has only one deer on the B&C typical list, the county has an incredible 40 bucks on the P&Y typical list and two more non-typicals! And it produced the biggest deer in last year's Georgia Big Deer Contest.

DeKalb, another urban county with a lot of big deer, has produced 20 P&Y typicals and one non-typical trophy. It holds the record for the second biggest P&Y deer taken in Georgia.

Both counties are restricted to bow-hunting only, but you may use a crossbow. Areas to hunt are restricted in those two counties, but if you can locate a small patch of private land and get permission to hunt, your odds of making the record book go way up.

Georgia is divided into nine deer management units, with each of those regions based on soil and terrain types. Most Georgia counties have the potential to produce a record-book buck, but some of the DMUs have much better odds.

Thirty counties in the state have produced at least four record-book deer, including at least one that made the B&C typical list or one of the top three P&Y bucks on either the typical or non-typical lists.

In the North Georgia mountains, the high altitude and steep valleys make poor deer habitat. There's not a wide variety of food available, and winters are tough. When the mast crop fails, it can devastate the herd.

No counties in the mountain region have produced four or more record book deer.

Two counties in Deer Management Unit 1, however, have produced record-book bucks. Murray County has three P&Y records, and Lumpkin has two. Each county has some isolated habitat where bucks get a chance to grow old.

Deer Management Unit 2 runs in a band across the state just south of the mountains and has slightly better deer-producing soils and terrain. The hills are not as steep, and there is more bottomland in the valleys.

Even so, no counties here have four or more record-book bucks, but one has an entry near the top of one list. Only two counties have produced any P&Y record book deer. None have produced B&C bucks.

Hall and Bartow counties each have four P&Y record-book deer, but they don't make the top 10 for either typical or non-typical. Both counties have high human populations and lower hunting pressure, so the deer there can grow bigger. There's also more farming than further north, even though those farms tend to be fairly small.

There are only nine counties in DMU 3, and they make up metro Atlanta. Even so, four of those nine counties have produced more than four record-book deer, and among those four are Fulton and DeKalb.