South Carolina
Not quite peak, but still plentiful.
"South Carolina's deer population is healthy and down slightly compared to peak years in the mid-1990s," says the state's Charles Ruth.

"Jasper, Marion, Bamberg, Union, Sumter and Williamsburg counties all had 80-plus percent success rates [this past season]," says Ruth. Good bets for any deer are Bamberg, Allendale, Abbeville and Union counties. Expect the best trophy quality in Aiken, Orangeburg, Kershaw and Anderson counties.

North Carolina
Urban and suburban areas in the Piedmont could be sleeper spots.
According to the state's Evin Stanford, deer populations are decreasing in much of the state. "A few exceptions are the Cape Fear River, Roanoke River, Neuse River and Sandhills areas, where populations are relatively stable," he says.

The northwestern portion of the state (Ashe, Allegheny and Wilkes counties) and the northern reaches of the Roanoke River (Northhampton and Halifax counties) are areas where hunters have had and are likely to have the most success.

Expect the upper coastal plain to be a good bet for any deer and the northern Piedmont good for trophy quality. Sleeper spots are urban/suburban areas in the Piedmont, where there are no restrictions prohibiting archery hunting.

Tennessee
State's herd is in the best shape it's ever been.
"The Tennessee herd is in the best shape it has ever been in," says the state's Daryl Ratajczak. "The population has been holding stable for over five years. Older age-class bucks (21?2 years and older) comprise 50 percent of the buck harvest. Unit 1 counties accounted for the majority of the record harvest [2004-05], mostly due to the increased doe bag limits."

Hunters wanting to take any Tennessee deer would do well to look at the central and western parts of the state. These areas, according to Ratajczak, hold very high deer counts. "Northcentral Tennessee and certain wildlife management areas under QDM regulations are your best bet for a trophy deer."

Texas
Several regulation changes go into effect this season.
"The habitat conditions of 2004 were far better than they had been in many years," says the state's Mitch Lockwood, "and it showed in the harvest, as the body condition of harvested deer was excellent." But he adds that the whitetail population for much of Texas continues to be "higher than desired, and a more aggressive doe harvest is necessary."

Lockwood says the highest hunter success is in the Edwards Plateau or Texas Hill Country, where average harvest is approximately 1.1 deer per hunter.

Several regulation changes will go on the books for the upcoming year. Twenty-one counties of the Oak Prairie region will define a legal buck as having a hardened antler protruding through the skin and at least one unbranched antler, or an inside spread between main beams of 13 inches or greater.

The bag limit in those 21 counties has gone from one buck to two, but one buck must have at least one unbranched antler, meaning you can take only one buck with an inside spread of 13 inches or greater.

The aggregate buck-bag limit in one- and two-buck counties has been eliminated. Hunters may now harvest one buck in each of three different one-buck counties. And hunters in two-buck counties may take two bucks in one county and a third in another county. Doe hunting opportunities from east Texas to the Panhandle have been increased as well.

Kentucky
Eastern portion of the state coming on as a sleeper spot.
According to the state's Jonathan Day, there were no environmental conditions that affected herds or numbers, and he reports a stable to increasing herd. There was, however, at this writing a pending regulation change allowing crossbows to be used during archery seasons.

Day says that Zone 1 counties are where hunters have had the most success in the past. All counties statewide are good for deer numbers and trophy potential. Eastern Kentucky can be considered a sleeper spot.