The famed White River NWR lies, naturally enough, along the White River in Arkansas, Monroe, Phillips and Desha counties. Year after year, this 160,000-acre facility has the best trophy potential of any private-public spot in the entire state. Decades of virtually 50/50 buck-to-doe harvests, dating all the way back into the 1960s, has led to a buck-to-doe ratio that few spots, even those on private ground, can duplicate. Big woods hardwood timber surrounded by numerous row crops, along with limited hunting pressure, especially by gun, are the other factors that combine to guarantee that big deer live here.

Gun hunting is by permit only, and both modern gun and muzzleloader hunts consist of a pair of three-day segments, along with a youth hunt in December on the Cook's Lake unit, and a mobility-impaired hunt one week later. Bowhunting has become more popular on the refuge since the season was extended until Jan. 31. Wayne Lindsey of Harrisburg took the current state-record typical bow kill, a 177 7/8 5x5, there back in 1998. Access can be somewhat limited, especially during times of high water, with State Highway 1 west from DeWitt being the best bet, along with 17 down from Holly Grove. You can contact the refuge office at (870) 282-8200 for information.

A relatively new facility is Choctaw Island WMA, which was purchased back in 2001. The area is unique in that its 7,676 acres lie inside the levee of the Mississippi River, located southeast of McGehee down in Desha County. Even before its purchase, only select-cut timber harvest was done on Choctaw, and thus most of the mast-producing trees there were spared. It is designated by the AGFC as a deer research facility.

Gun hunting is by permit only, with a three-day muzzleloader segment in October and a pair of three-day gun segments, one for mobility-impaired hunters in early November, another for youth in late November. Only 50 permits are available for each of those hunts, and they are hard to get.

Because of the limited opportunity, I probably don't give this facility the respect it is due as a potential big-buck area. In reality, Choctaw is about as close to a trophy-managed area as you will find operated by the state. Access is easiest by taking State 159 southeast out of McGehee, then turning due east onto State 4 at Trippe Junction. That will take you to Arkansas City and the WMA itself just east of town. Call (877) 945-2543 for more complete info.

Even though White River and Choctaw are my favorites from the state's prime trophy-producing area, I certainly wouldn't pass up an opportunity to hunt any managed area within the delta, either public or private. Such spots as Cache River NWR, Henry Gray/Hurricane WMA, Dagmar WMA and even Bald Knob NWR are all places where your chances of taking an outsize buck are above the state average.

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