WEST
Mt. Magazine WMA: This huge chunk of granite and its three lesser associated mountains (Chickalah, Rich and Huckleberry) rise improbably out of the Arkansas River Valley like a sea monster's back, forming the highest land mass in the state. Sited in Logan and Yell counties, across the river south of Clarksville, 120,000-acre Mt. Magazine WMA was in the 1980s considered to be the state's most successful turkey restoration area. Those glory days have passed, but it's still a good place to hunt.

Several developed campgrounds with electrical and water hookups are atop Mt. Magazine, but as with the other cooperative WMAs, camping is pretty much unrestricted on the area. Hunting here is a mixed bag, with many steep, rugged areas interspersed by areas of relatively easy going. Of course, most of the better turkey hunting is in the rougher stuff.

Muddy Creek WMA: This wasn't a deliberate exercise in saving the best for last, but a good percentage of veteran Arkansas turkey hunters whose careers began in the 1970s would agree that Muddy Creek was and still is one of the best public turkey hunting areas Arkansas has ever seen. This 146,000-acre area lies west and north of Mt. Ida in Montgomery, Scott and Yell counties. It has an extensive network of all-weather Forest Service roads and receives considerable early-season and weekend hunting pressure.

Even so, Muddy Creek WMA's series of steep east-west ridges provide pockets of remote country into which casual hunters seldom penetrate. The serious turkey chaser can find solitude here. At the same time, there's also some fairly gentle terrain available for less adventurous or less physically able hunters, especially along the flat ridgetops, along stream courses and in the valleys.

TURKEY HUNTING RESOURCES
Regardless of where you choose to hunt in Arkansas, public land or private, maps are a hunter's best friend. Here are a few suggestions.

U.S.D.A. Forest Service maps (which cost $6 each at this writing) are available from the various ranger district offices or from forest headquarters. For the Ouachita National Forest map, send a check to Ouachita National Forest, P.O. Box 1270, Hot Springs, AR 71901. For the Ozark or St. Francis, send a check to Ozark-St. Francis National Forest, 605 West Main, Russellville, AR 72801.

U.S. Geological Survey topo maps are invaluable for fine-tuning a hunt. They're available by requesting an Arkansas index map and a current price sheet from the Arkansas Geological Commission, 3815 West Roosevelt Road, Little Rock, AR 72204, or by visiting the AGC website at www.state.ar.us/agc/agc.htm. However, since these cost $6 each plus postage, it can be expensive if you need to buy more than a few. For much more coverage at reasonable cost, electronic topo maps are available on CD-ROM from such companies as Delorme ( www.delorme.com), Igage Mapping Corporation (www.igage.com) and Maptech (www.maptech.com).

Finally, there's the Arkansas Outdoor Atlas (available for $15 plus $3 postage from the AGFC, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205, or by credit card from the agency's Web site, www.agfc.com). This large-format book of county maps has WMAs, refuges and national forests, public lakes, boat ramps, many campgrounds and more features. It's not a very good on-the-ground hunting map, because the scale is too small, but it'll get you to the right place to start your hunt. A copy of this book should be in every hunter's vehicle.

(Editor's Note: For an autographed copy of Jim Spencer's 336-page book Turkey Hunting Digest, send $24.95 plus $4 shipping to the author, P.O. Box 758, Calico Rock, AR 72519.