Still, it’s one of the top counties in the state in terms of high-quality deer. Lots of sportsmen take trophies here every season, and over the years, the county has yielded seven Pope & Young Club record-book typicals to bowhunters. In 1997, Eddie Bolt took the largest, a 147 1/8 P&Y that’s No. 6 on the all-time Alabama list of archery typical bucks. The others: Rocky Drake, 136 5/8, 1982; Benford Sanders, 134 5/8, 1994; Robert Downey, 133 5/8, 1987; Joey Arnold, 133 2/8, 1993; Wendell Shelton, 125 7/8, 1998; Johnny Johnson, 125, 1994.

Amazing variety of habitat typifies Jackson County, ranging from river swamplands to farmland to coves to big wooded mountains. Many private hunting clubs are scattered around the county, which also boasts a substantial amount of public hunting land.

Martin-Skyline WMA is expected to add another 1,500 acres of hunting land this year, pushing the total size of the public hunting parcel to more than 45,000 acres. The type of land on the WMA mirrors that of the county at large, with two major coves in the Jacobs Farm and Henshaw tracts. The Little Coon (a.k.a. “Stevenson”) area and the Walls of Jericho offer big woods and mountains. Finally, the Poplar Springs segment is a plateau, while the Post Oaks Flat is a cutover region.

Area manager Frank Allen reported that it’s been difficult to track trends on the WMA in recent years, because acreage has been added nearly every year. Hunters on the WMA average taking between 250 and 280 deer per year, which works out to about 3.5 to 4 deer harvested per square mile.

It’s difficult to assess the exact size of the deer population; Allen puts it at between eight and 15 animals per square mile, depending on the time of year. The population usually bottoms out in late summer and peaks when new fawns are born.

WMA staffers plant numerous food plots throughout the area. Crops include millet, sorghum, chufa and cool-season grass plots.

The tract typically hosts six gun hunts per season, ranging in length from one to four days each, along with a couple of two-day primitive weapons hunts and a youth hunt. Bowhunting is legal for the full season at Martin-Skyline.

According to Allen, a couple of nice bucks are always taken on opening day. Other than that, he likes the late December and January hunts as the best chance for a buck.

Another option for bowhunters -- although the time is very limited -- is the nine-day archery-only hunt held on the five waterfowl management areas in Jackson County in early November each year. The areas -- North Sauty Refuge, Crow Creek Refuge, Crow Creek WMA, Mud Creek WMA and Raccoon Creek WMA encompass another 25,130 acres, although much of it is under water.

Because of the limited hunting pressure, some bruisers live on the waterfowl areas. Keep in mind that this is a very popular hunt, so you can expect some competition.