In the southern reaches of the region, Choctaw Island WMA, which lies south of McGehee inside the levee of the Mississippi River, has for years led the state in harvest-per-acre ratio, but permits for this area are hard to come by. Trusten Holder WMA, off the south end of White River NWR in Desha County, is in the same category, but it is hard to access.

THE OZARKS REGION
The majestic Ozarks present natural beauty at its finest during the fall. The brilliant colors of the turning leaves combine with rugged beauty to bring back memories of hunting that our forefathers experienced a century ago.

Today the better hunting throughout the region has shifted, a fact illustrated by zone kill figures. There are four primary zones within the Ozarks: Zone 1 (northwest), Zone 2 (northcentral), Zone 3 (northeast) and Zone 6 (southern tier counties). Zone 3, with such high-kill counties as Sharp, Fulton and Independence, leads the region in total kill with 17,377 animals taken last season. Zone 6 is a distant second with 11,599 harvested deer. That is in sharp contrast to figures from a decade ago, when the southern counties annually led the region in harvest.

The two Ozarks WMAs that get the most attention are Piney Creeks WMA, north of Russellville, and White Rock WMA, north of Interstate 40 in Johnson, Franklin and Crawford counties. Together, these two mega-areas comprise more than 460,000 acres of public hunting opportunity. Kill figures are not high on either (176 on White Rock; 120 on Piney Creeks), but if you're willing to get off the ATV, your chances are better than they have been in years.

PRIME TIME ON PUBLIC LAND
These wildlife management areas and national wildlife refuges topped the list duting the 2007-08 deer seasons in Arkansas, and the upcoming seasons look to be no different.
TOP WMAs, DEER KILLED PER ACRE (5,000 acres or more)
WMAs	HARVEST	ACRES PER DEER KILLED
1. Choctaw Island	99	77.5
2. Ed Gordon/ Point Remove	104	83.6
3. Trusten Holder	95	86.0
TOP WMAs/NWRs, TOTAL DEER HARVEST
WMAs/NWRs		HARVEST
1. White River NWR (South Unit)		626
2.Felsenthal NWR		480
3. White River NWR (North Unit)		318
4. Sylamore WMA		299
5. Winona WMA		255

Harold Alexander WMA (13,445 acres south of Hardy) had a kill of 106 deer in 2007-08. With only a five-day muzzleloader hunt in October and a five-day gun hunt in November, that's not a bad total.

Camp Robinson WMA (19,648 acres located north of Little Rock) has long been a staple of the capital city's hunting crowd. AGFC data indicate 191 deer were taken there last fall, a substantial increase over the previous year. Gun hunting is limited to a two-day blackpowder segment, along with a pair of modern gun hunts. Robinson is a military base, so special rules and requirements do apply. Ed Gordon/Point Remove WMA (8,694 acres northwest of Morrilton) allows only four days of gun hunting, via a pair of two-day permit hunts. During those four days of hunting, 104 deer were taken last season, making this area one of the best in terms of harvest per acre.

The Ozarks have a lot to offer, the main attraction being the availability of massive amounts of public hunting land. A word of caution would be prudent here: Being mountainous, most of that land is unsurprisingly of the up-and-down variety, so if your health is suspect, you might want to consider other options.

THE OUACHITA REGION
The Ouachitas mirror the Ozarks in many ways, primarily in the fact that both have substantial amounts of public hunting available. In addition, the deer herd there may be a little further along numbers-wise.

This region consists primarily of the Ouachita Mountains, which includes the vast Ouachita National Forest. There are many good hunting spots within this 1 million-acre-plus facility. The amount of land can be intimidating to some, but with steadily rising lease prices combined with ridiculous fuel prices, that public land is a magnet.