Photo by R.E. Ilg

The Bankhead National Forest in northwestern Alabama spans some 180,000 acres of land. About half of the National Forest -- an estimated 80,000 to 85,000 acres -- lies in Winston County.

The county is a land of big bucks and it consistently ranks among the top counties in the Cotton State for entries in the Alabama Whitetail Records book.

"There are a couple of things going on that result in there being some good quality bucks in Winston County," said Ron Eakes, the District 1 wildlife biologist from the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, then added regarding the Bankhead NF. "For starters, it's the largest block of forested public land in the state. There are some fairly steep bluff lines on the property, so it's relatively inaccessible. That allows the deer to get a little more age on them than they typically get on private land."

The deer density hasn't gotten out-of-kilter on Bankhead as it has in other regions of the state. So the habitat is in relatively good shape, allowing deer plenty of high-quality feed that helps those older bucks reach their maximum potential.

Since it's a national forest, some timber cutting and burning is conducted, which helps improve the habitat. There are also plenty of oak trees that produce acorn crops to feed the deer.

Lawrence is the other county that contains a big chuck of the Bankhead National Forest. Eakes said he likes the southern end of the forest -- the Winston County end -- better than the northern part.

"The soil is a little sandier and there are a lot of box canyons," he noted. "Smith Lake runs through the center of the national forest in Winston County. The elevation changes aren't as dramatic as they are in northeastern Alabama, but there are some 400 to 500 foot changes with a lot of bluff lines."

The biologist advises new hunters in the area to key on thick cover. It's where the deer live.

"If you're interested in taking a good quality deer, you've got to get in the thick areas," he emphasised.

Bucks feel secure in such cover and there's usually plenty of high-quality feed in there too.

Hunting around mast-producing trees can be good, he continued, but there's not a crop of acorns every year in many places. In the thick areas that have been logged, there's deer food such as greenbriar, honeysuckle and natural legumes available year-round.

"You have to find a spot that looks good to you," Eakes said. "The national forest is so big that you couldn't learn the whole area in a lifetime. You've got to find a few smaller areas that you like and concentrate on them.

"Don't just blow in and blow out and dismiss an area as not having any deer. You've got to spend time really learning an area if you want to increase your chances of being successful."

The Bankhead is one of those public tracts in Alabama that features a public hunting area within another public hunting area. The Black Warrior Wildlife Management Area lies completely within the Bankhead National Forest boundaries.

It's another proven producer of big bucks. Last year, it ranked No. 7 out of the state's 30 WMAs in the number of 2 1/2- and 3 1/2-year-old bucks that were checked in. There were 45 of those deer taken on the area. It ranked No. 5 in the state the year before that.

The Black Warrior WMA also contains the Sipsey River Wilderness Area, which is off-limits to any kind of motorized traffic. Hunters willing to hike back into the area should be able to find some good deer there.

"Black Warrior is a great place if you're primarily a weekend hunter," said Eakes, who spent 20 years as the WMA manager before becoming the district supervisor. "It's divided into two zones, an east and a west. Between the two zones, we have 20 or 21 days of gun hunting on Black Warrior. We have a hunt going on just about every Friday and Saturday of the season."

This year, they added a new wrinkle -- a mid-week primitive weapons hunt on Nov. 15-16 during the state's week-long early muzzleloader season.