Biologists offer deer hunters guidance on the top Wildlife Management Areas in the state
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries game biologists once again took the time and effort to provide information for the deer hunting outlook on Wildlife Management Areas across Louisiana.
Like they do every summer, the biologists discussed browse, mast, habitat conditions, deer herd size and past deer harvest totals on their respective WMAs to give hunters some options on where to go on public areas in 2025-26.
Coastal Lafayette Region
Coastal Lafayette Region Wildlife Management Area biologists proudly announced increased opportunities for youth deer hunters again on the Atchafalaya Delta WMA.
Biologist Supervisor Tyson Crouch emphasized the first two weekends of October are set aside for youths to hunt deer either with a shotgun loaded with buckshot or archery equipment. The entire Main Delta of the Atchafalaya Delta WMA will be closed to all other deer hunters. Plus, Big Island is closed to all hunting other than youth deer hunting Oct. 1 through the last day of youth deer seasons.
The 137,695-acre Atchafalaya Delta WMA in St. Mary Parish had the highest deer harvest among coastal public lands last season with a total of 61 deer.
Crouch noted that habitat conditions are about the same there despite droughts the previous two growing seasons.
“We still expect harvest numbers to be comparable to the previous seasons, barring any major tropical events affecting the area,” he said.
Don’t overlook Salvador, Pass-a-Loutre and Pointe-aux-Chenes WMAs. There were 9.7, 6.0 and 15.8 hunter efforts per deer, respectively, in 2024-25 on those WMAs, according to Crouch.
Hammond Region
The harder-to-access WMAs in the Hammond Region tend to have more deer harvested due to less hunting pressure, as compared to the region’s other WMAs. LDWF Biologist Supervisor Forest Burks said as much in his report. Perhaps the most difficult area to access is Maurepas Swamp WMA, where 287 deer were harvested last season. That total (down from 319 deer in 2023-24) led all Hammond Region WMAs.
Maurepas Swamp WMA’s flooded cypress/tupelo swamp terrain was impacted even more when Hurricane Ida ravaged Louisiana in August 2021. Hammond Region biologists reacted by restricting antlerless harvest to the youth weekend and archery only in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
“The 2023-24 deer harvest reflected the return of either-sex deer hunting during some portions of the firearms seasons … The 2024-25 deer harvest leveled off slightly, but the deer numbers are still there,” Burks reported.
Joyce WMA, where access also presented a challenge before and after Ida, has similar harvest rates and similar habitat to Maurepas Swamp WMA. Eighty-seven deer were bagged last season (compared to 106 in 2023-24).
One of the region’s most accessible public lands, Pearl River WMA, has easier-to-get-to areas with beaucoup roads and trails on the northern part, according to Burks. It’s also frequented by more deer hunters because of its proximity to New Orleans and the Northshore, he said, noting 65 deer came off there in 2024-25.
Pearl River WMA also sustained hurricane damage in recent years that created openings in the tree canopy to allow deer browse to grow.
Lafayette Region
According to Schuyler Dartez, Lafayette Region WMA manager, two WMAs on either side of the Red River offer deer hunters some of the best deer hunting in the state on public lands.
Richard K. Yancey WMA and Grassy Lake WMA have a history of giving up quantity and quality. Both yielded a number of quality bucks (those near or heavier than 200 pounds) last season, he said.
Dartez pointed out that both WMAs are prone to flooding, as they are influenced by water levels from the Red River, Atchafalaya River and Mississippi River. The 2025 spring rise resulted in the highest water levels on the two WMAs since 2020, he noted. Fortunately, river stages dropped to the point both WMAs began to dry out in June, thus providing time for browse species to recover and they did.
Browse conditions should be favorable this season and beyond because a canopy was opened by a 2023 drought that killed many sugarberry trees on the two WMAs. However, Dartez said that last year at this time the 2023 drought had no noticeable effect on deer herds based on managed hunt data, deer growth metrics and rainfall values. Lactation rates also were high, a sign of quality browse.
Dartez anticipates a deer harvest as high or higher than last season’s total of 307 bucks and 149 does for a total of 456 deer (1 per 151 acres) on Richard K. Yancey WMA and 148 deer (1 per 90 acres) on Grassy Lake WMA.
The second-highest deer harvest in the region in 2024-25 was 198 on Sherburne WMA.
Lake Charles Region
Lake Charles Regional WMAs recovering from two major hurricanes five years ago show good numbers of deer, including many with fawns, as the state’s big game season gets closer and closer.
“Observed body conditions also appear to be very good,” said Kori Legleu-Buxton, biologist manager for the region.
Legleu-Buxton saw firsthand the extensive damage to hardwood bottoms following the hurricanes that had a double-barreled impact destruction on southwest Louisiana.
Three hundred and seventy-nine bucks were taken off Fort Polk-Vernon WMA last season — 90 more than in 2023-24, when hunters harvested 289 bucks. The average deer per hunter effort was 13 at Fort Polk-Vernon WMA, while it was 10 hunter efforts per deer at Fort Polk North, where hunters harvested 557 deer.
Legleu-Buxton wanted to remind the public that those two WMAs, which have extensive mature pine forests and longleaf savannas with many hardwood creek bottoms and drains throughout, at times are subject to area closures for military training, but both were open the majority of last season. Frequent prescribed burning creates stands with large expanses of open midstory and rich herbaceous plants as understory, a combination that provides abundant deer browse, she noted, plus allows hunters to see considerable distances, thus creating great opportunities for hunter success.
The WMA biologist manager also wanted to call deer hunters’ attention to small and oft-overshadowed Marsh Bayou WMA.
“This 655-acre WMA is ‘archery only’ for deer,” she said. “Bowhunters on this small WMA harvested a total of nine deer (5 bucks, 4 does) for an average of 1 deer/73 acres.”
Hunters have many options for concealment with prime visual range, she added.
Other WMAs in the region worth a trip are Clear Creek and West Bay WMAs, both easily accessible, mostly consisting of loblolly and slash pine plantations in various stages of growth and development. They are easier to get to because of their many roads and trails, Legleu-Buxton said.
Minden Region
Loggy Bayou WMA and Bodcau Bayou WMA get the nod for having the most promise to give up more deer than other WMAs overseen by biologist manager Jeff Johnson.
“These two WMAs consistently produce the higher harvest totals, lower numbers of acres per deer hunter and the highest hunter success rates in the Minden Region,” Johnson pointed out in an annual report on the outlook for deer hunting success in his region. “To a large extent the higher average hunter success rates is due to them having some gun season portions rather than being archery-only like our three smaller WMAs. Nonetheless, Loggy Bayou and Bodcau are consistently at the top and likely will be the top two again this coming season.”
The consistency showed last season when Loggy Bayou WMA gave up 102 deer at an eye-opening one deer per 67 acres, while Bodcau Bayou deer hunters harvested 250 deer, including 162 bucks.
The table is set well on both public lands for 2025-26, according to Johnson. There was “plenty of rain” through June and it rained a “fair amount” the first half of July.
“If we get a few showers off and on until the season, browse should be in decent shape,” he said, noting browse likely suffers some along with everything else with less rainfall down the stretch.
Spring flooding occurred on both WMAs in ’25, Johnson reported, but in both cases the high water was typical in elevation, timing and duration, something deer on both areas are used to. He doesn’t anticipate any negative impacts on the deer herd because of flooding.
Of the Minden Region’s three smaller, archery-only areas, Bayou Pierre WMA led the way with 11 bucks and 11 does harvested in 2024-25.
Monroe Region
Once again, a handful of Monroe Region WMAs were ranked among the highest for total harvest, harvest per acre and/or harvest per hunter effort during the 2024-25 deer hunting season in the Sportsman’s Paradise.
And from all indications, Boeuf WMA, Big Lake WMA, Bayou Macon WMA and Buckhorn WMA are on track for similar deer harvests during the 2025-26 season, based on wildlife biologist Aidan Caruso’s report.
“With this year’s spring and summer rainfall, habitat conditions are looking good,” he said. “Early field observations are also predicting a good mast crop.”
There’s another reason for deer hunters’ success on those Monroe Region WMAs.
“Management practices on these areas are designed to maintain the characteristics of bottomland hardwood ecosystems while also providing sufficient resources for the wildlife species which use them,” Caruso said.
How good were the respective deer harvests last season? Boeuf WMA led the way with 554 deer (down from 628 in 2023-24), followed by Big Lake WMA’s 209 (down from 278), Bayou Macon WMA’s 107 (down from 115), and Buckhorn WMA’s 196 (down from 239).
Buckhorn WMA’s deer killed per acre rate was a stunning one per 57 acres last season. Just as remarkable was Bayou Macon WMA’s one per 65 acres, while Boeuf WMA and Big Lake WMA both had one deer per 92 acres.
The WMAs’ deer-per-hunter-effort rates ranged from 3.9 to 6.1 per harvest to keep them among the Top 10 WMAs in Louisiana.
Their respective deer herds are in good shape going into this season, according to Caruso.
“Biological data collected by LDWF staff during managed hunts showed evidence of good health and recruitment, remaining consistent with 10-year averages,” he said.
Pineville Region
A WMA biologist supervisor with the LDWF points deer hunters to two public lands with high potential for success in the Pineville Region.
Cliff Dailey named Esler Field WMA and Alexander State Forest WMA as areas with favorable conditions and other factors, such as high lactation rates. Esler Field WMA, a short driving distance from Alexandria/Pineville, gave up one deer per 83 acres during a total harvest of 150 deer last season, while Alexander State Forest WMA’s total harvest was 47 deer, 32 of them bucks.
The much larger Dewey W. Wills WMA’s total deer harvest of 206 (down from 357 in 2023-24) paced all WMAs in the Pineville Region.
Dailey noted favorable browse conditions on Esler Field and Alexander State Forest WMAs thanks to ample spring/summer rainfall, regular timber thinning and prescribed burns. He points out U.S. Army training exercises are held on Esler Field WMA, thus closing a portion of the area each season. The closed units are open only for a few days during primitive and modern firearm seasons, he said, but hunter success generally is high inside those units.
Esler Field WMA also offers archery-only units where bowhunters are undisturbed by small game and deer firearm hunters, Dailey said.
Alexander State Forest WMA, which had a deer lactation rate of 60 percent last season, is recommended for hunters who like a mixture of pine and hardwood habitat that features a network of mowed walking trails throughout the area. Like Esler Field WMA, it also has archery-only units.
Seasonal peak rut dates for WMAs in the Pineville Region are Dec. 19-Jan. 1 for Esler Field WMA; Nov. 7-20 for Alexander State Forest; Jan. 2-15 for Dewey Wills WMA, and Nov. 21-Dec. 4 for Sabine WMA and Little River WMA, according to Dailey.
