In the Heart of Dixie, two regions of the state stand out for trophy deer hunters heading into the 2008-09 whitetail season: west Alabama, and the Black Belt that runs across the central portion of the state. No other regions in the state can quite compare with these two areas when it comes to producing top-quality whitetails.

"If you can get behind one of these gates and put some distance between yourself and other hunters, it's possible to still catch some deer on a natural feeding pattern between the hardwoods and the pines," Cook said.

Oh, sure -- big bucks are taken in other places. But more of them fall in these two areas each year than anywhere else. West Alabama's potential for exceptional productivity really jumped out at me last season. Alabama Game & Fish serves as something of a clearinghouse for hunters who have taken top-end bucks and would like to get their story in print. As big bucks fell in late December and early January, many of those stories and pictures came my way, and I was startled by the number of true top-end deer taken in the western portion of the state. (Several of those bucks will be profiled in an upcoming edition.)

Chris Cook, the state's deer studies coordinator, has noticed the trend, too. He observed that the region running from Sumter County north along the Mississippi line through Pickens, Lamar, Marion and Fayette is a strong one for trophy potential. Year in and year out, it has become a very good region," he stated. "I measured two bucks from this region last year that scored about 170 inches. I measured one from Sumter County that was 184 5/8 non-typical."

Habitat in western Alabama continues to be in very good shape, Cook reported. Deer numbers are strong there, but the region's not overpopulated, so whitetails can reach their maximum size. Also, some pine plantations and other rugged sections of land provide places for bucks to hunker down in and there grow old.

Even the hunting on public wildlife management areas bears out how solid the western region of Alabama is for whitetails. The accompanying chart shows the number of 2 1/2- and 3 1/2-year-old bucks that were checked on the state's WMAs last season. Three of the top six spots for buck harvest were on WMAs that could be considered in west Alabama -- Oakmulgee, Mulberry Fork and Cahaba River. In Cook's view, all three are excellent places to try your luck.

"We had a lot of opportunity with more either-sex hunts on Oakmulgee last season," the biologist said. "That in turn improved participation. With more hunters in the woods, we had some good hunts. We'll have a lot of opportunity on this area again in the coming year."

Mulberry Fork and Cahaba River had the same type of thing going last year, with both producing nice deer. Cook's insider tip: Mulberry Fork has more deer, but Cahaba River has bigger specimens. "We saw several deer over 200 pounds on Cahaba River last year," he noted. According to Cook, the areas are similar, with pine plantations on the ridges and hardwoods in the hollows. He recommended setting up in the transition areas between piney woods and hardwoods -- preferably behind a gated-off road, if you can find one.