Big Lazer Creek, Blanton Creek, Joe Kurz, and West Point WMAs all lie near Columbus in some prime Piedmont habitat. These areas yielded 14, 10, nine, and 22 "quality" bucks respectively, in 2005, or 1.5, 1.4, 1.6, and 3.9 kills per square mile. West Point had an outstanding season last year, and an exceptionally large harvest of high-end deer. However, an analysis of the beam length and antler spreads of its bucks indicates that they're a tad smaller than are other WMA trophies. Often, a too-numerous deer population will see the size of the group's members begin to decline. Flint River WMA in Dooly County produced only four top-quality bucks, but it's only 2,300 acres in area. Also on the upper coastal plain, Di-Lane WMA in Burke County gave up 21 "quality" bucks among the 96 deer taken there, which works out to 1.7 wallhangers per square mile.

Of all the WMAs in the state, B.F. Grant is the oldest Quality Buck WMA in the state, and the only one to have produced a B&C all-time record book buck, back in 1975. Of its 103 deer kills last season, 24 were "quality" bucks -- a harvest ratio of 1.3 per square mile. An intriguing aspect of those bucks: They averaged the longest antler beam length, 17.9 inches, and an average outside spread for 2 1/2-year-old bucks of 15 inches. B.F. Grant, in Putnam and Jasper counties in the central Piedmont, has been growing big bucks for many years. Though these counties have not had a Big Deer Contest entry recently, the WMA remains a reliable placeat which to bag a trophy.

Several entire counties are also managed under Quality Buck regulations. In Hancock, Troup, and Meriwether in the northern zone, and Harris, Montgomery, Randolph and Talbot in the southern zone, only a buck with at least 4 points on one side of its rack may be harvested. In Dooly and Macon counties, bucks must have a minimum outside antler spread of 15 inches.

Of these nine quality buck counties, Harris, Meriwether, Dooly, and Macon had entries in the Big Deer Contest. These counties have the ingredients for growing big bucks, and the antler restrictions ensure that young bucks will be spared to live the years needed for king-sized racks.

SUMMING IT UP The best chance to bag the biggest bucks is in southwest Georgia around Dooly, Dougherty, Worth, Dodge, Lee, Turner, Crisp, Wilcox and Macon counties. This region has been proven to generate big-racked bucks year after year.

The central Piedmont section of the state can also yield trophies. The center of the state from Harris and Meriwether counties in the west, across the state through Jones, Morgan, Hancock, and Burke counties is also known as a big-buck area.