Acadiana’s big game hunters may be interested in one or more Wildlife Management Areas that gave up the most whitetail deer in their respective areas in 2023-24.

The veteran, dedicated biologists who manage wildlife on those public areas checked in again this summer in response to a local outdoor writer’s annual query on WMAs in Louisiana. They chronicled the harvest numbers and discussed habitat, browse and mast conditions as well as tell-tale lactation rates for does.

Of all the 1.6 million acres in the capable hands of those men and women with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Boeuf WMA in the Monroe Region took a bow with the No. 1 deer harvest in all the land last season with 628 deer – 377 bucks and 251 does – reported.

The 51,110-acre WMA in Caldwell and Catahoula parishes boasted the highest harvest last season on a WMA, despite the drought that affected so many regions in the state. There were some respectable harvests turned in by deer hunters on Fort Johnson-Vernon WMA in the Lake Charles Region, where 606 deer, including 317 does, and 481 deer, were killed in 2023-24.

Also standing out last season was Richard K. Yancey WMA in the Lafayette Region with 481 deer, including 329 bucks, harvested.

Other top harvests in the state’s other regions were 357 deer on Dewey W. Wills WMA in the Pineville Region; 319 deer in the Hammond Region’s Maurepas Swamp WMA; 207 deer on Bodcau WMA in the Minden Region, and 50 deer on the Coastal Lafayette Region’s Atchafalaya Delta WMA.

The Monroe Region’s WMA biologist supervisor, Mitch McGee, an 11-year veteran with the state agency and in his eighth year as supervisor, said Boeuf WMA has numbers of deer but the age structure is that of mostly younger deer on the partially reforested former farmlands in bottomland hardwoods. He pointed deer hunters who are interested in bigger-bodied deer with nice horns to two other WMAs in the Monroe Region – Bayou Macon WMA in East Carroll Parish and Buckhorn WMA in Tensas Parish. The deer population has older age bucks on Macon WMA, which gives deer hunters increased opportunity to put a ’scope on a quality deer.

“As far as really big bucks, the Buckhorn area’s deer get a little larger with those soils over there … very fertile. Several high-scoring bucks have been harvested the last few years, and I suspect to see several this upcoming season,” McGee said a few weeks ago.

Those two WMAs weren’t even in the top three in the region’s harvest count last season as Russell Sage WMA deer hunters reported 245 and Big Lake WMA deer hunters reported 278.

Meanwhile, Buckhorn WMA and Bayou Macon WMA ranked fourth and fifth in deer harvest totals reported with 239 deer (135 bucks) and 115 deer (64 bucks), respectively.

Other likely public areas for downing a bigger-bodied deer include the 63,984-acre Dewey W. Wills WMA in LaSalle, Catahoula and Rapides parishes and little 12,500-acre Esler Field WMA, both in the Pineville Region. Cliff Dailey, WMA biologist supervisor since 2013, advised deer hunters to hunt the former during the peak rut Jan. 2-15. The rut’s earlier, Dec. 19-Jan. 1, on Esler Field WMA in Rapides and Grant parishes.

How popular is hunting in the Sportsman’s Paradise?

Louisiana ranks 15th in the country in the number of registered hunters with 442,678 (9.6 per every 100 people), hunting license, tags, permits and stamps with 602,579 total (13.1 for every 100 people) resulting in a total cost for hunting license, tags, permits and stamps at $10,481,983. The Sportsman’s Paradise outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen do love hunting for small game, big game and waterfowl.

The state’s many deer hunters enjoy their sport on private lands or public lands or both, all at the mercy of Mother Nature. WMA biologist managers and supervisors across the state said their public lands were spared damage during Hurricane Beryl in those hours following landfall July 8 in Matagorda, Texas.

However, the Lafayette Region’s biologist manager, Schuyler Dartez, and biologist supervisor, Arthur Hebert, said spring storms packing straight-line winds downed big trees on a few WMAs. Roads and trails were cleared by staffers using heavy equipment, they reported.

What public lands in the Lafayette Region and six other regions mainly suffered were the ill-effects from last summer’s drought that gripped much of the Sportsman’s Paradise. However, biologists from each region reported ample rains since late spring.

According to Dartez, last year’s drought had no noticeable effect on Lafayette Region deer herds based on managed hunt data, deer growth metrics and rainfall values. Plus, recent lactation rates were high, further indication of quality browse.