I think it has to do with genetics for certain areas. The origin of some of the deer that were restocked in certain areas make the difference. Sure you could argue that by now they should have spread that gene pool to all the other deer and they should all be the same. But the true black belt today is probably about 75% cow pasture. Row crops are nearly non existent through that area. When we are talking Fitzpatrick vs say hayneville. Heres what I've seen... Huge bodyweights.. That's about the most common thing from harvesting deer through the band of black soil. The antlers from the deer in Fitzpatrick where darker and generally larger if comparing same age to deer in hayneville. The deer in hayneville had generally whiter antlers with good mass. Back in the restocking days they restocked the China grove area with Texas deer. Lowndes county received deer from Clarke county and Michigan I think. I'm not saying this is the truth but this is what I've seen. The deer from south Montgomery on over into bullock county and east seem to grow better racks on average. The deer over in lowndes don't really seem to get impressive head gear until they are 5+ years old. Now what's funny is north of 80 in lowndes around lowndesboro grow some very impressive racks. Same deer only about ten miles apart. Same soil. So it makes you scratch your head a little

Okay I've have a serious Question. When ur in the Alberta area heading towards Gee's bend the property (Not all) has mainly become pine plantations. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they spray the property with a sterilizer? I've seen the planes fly over after an area has been thinned. Doesn't this destroy the soil? I'm just curious Thanks..

What kind of sterilizer? A general herbicide? If so I guess when stuff starts growing back it a great time for the deer and wildlife like after a burn.

It may just be herbicides jawbone. I know I've hunted previously uncut property( two separate properties before, and my buddy kept the lease after it was cut. But I rejoined several years later and the ground (soil) just never was the same..

if you really want to see the real blackbelt go to Google earth and zoom in enough to see all of MS and AL. You will clearly be able to see the crescent shape of the different soil from N. MS through Central AL.

Yep I have done that plenty of times. It is very distinct where the True Black belt is.

Planes don't spray cutovers they fertilize standing pines. Helicopters spray cutovers. It's not a "sterilant" so to speak. Most forestry herbicides are either woody or herbaceous actives. They look sterilized but it's mostly just residual properties of the herbicides. They do play out as they degrade.

That's pretty cool. You can see it and also you can see the MS delta the same way, too.

Cool..

Good point, the bucks I've seen off the WMA off south road are very very big. But the bucks off Henderson rd, are no where near as big as the swamp bucks off hwy 80 and south rd. they are literally 3-4 miles apart.

Interesting subject! I liked and agreed with the MS State study. If you take the age, genetics, and nutrition formula, age is easy to control anywhere in the State regardless of region. I would agree that genetics plays only a small role in the wild population as far as antler size IN FREE-ROAMING DEER, so that doesn't make much difference regionally. That leaves nutrition which would take in soil types, mineral availability, and land use and deer POPULATION. The blackbelt was better in the soybean era but so was most of the rest of the State. I would say the blackbelt had a higher percentage of its ground in beans and that made a big difference. I also think that mineral availability in blackbelt soils makes a difference. Lost of calcium and phosphorus in these soils and I would assume this is transferred to deer through growing vegetation.

Even some counties "outside of the blackbelt" like Elmore and Wilcox have some blackbelt dirt so, IMO, any of these counties have as good a chance of producing high end bucks as any other. No real difference in Dallas, Lowndes and Wilcox, for instance. However, I would rather have land in the blackbelt than anywhere south, and the TN river valley is probably just as good, again, due to soil quality.

Quantity and quality of plants make a difference also. Large acreage of beans will provide a lot more opportunity for the "right" deer to find high protein diet through most of it's life. A couple 10 acre lab-lab fields WONT. A 2,000 acre, well-managed, burned, quail plantation full of native browse, legumes, and fawning cover (and, yes, pine trees!) provides the same kind of food quantity and quality. This would reflect land use and landowner size as well, so well managed large landholding in Russel, Bullock and Barbour (edge of blackbelt) get the nod.

Bottom line, it's all about soils and what is growing on them!

It took two pages to draw him out, but there is your answer.

Gobbler,
Thanks for your reply. If you had the same constant on large plantations throughout the black belt spread out from the east to the west do you see any areas that for some reason just seem to grow more larger antlered bucks (on average)? Or, once you get them all under management for atleast 3+ generations the average mature bucks harvested are all about the same. Thanks

There are always "local" variances and anomalies that make certain areas special. It may also be soil related, or terrain, or something we don't even consider, but, while i am particular for the eastern end of the blackbelt, I would say given the same "property" on the blackbelt, it would be pretty close to equal east to west. Obviously, river bottom wouldn't be the same as upland, etc., but make all variables in terrain and wooded vs open, management practices, plantings, burning... etc the same and there shouldnt be much difference east to west.

I'm a little late to this thread but have to say this: the answer is YES. Some parts of the Black Belt have a local deer herd that grow bigger antlers than other parts. Which is just what you would expect anywhere.

The simple fact is that antler traits very from place to place everywhere in North America, and by place to place I mean within about a 3 to 5 mile area. Use an old fashioned compass and draw a circle around an area that goes out 5 miles from the epicenter, and outside that epicenter you will see a near completely different set of antler types and traits.

I see totally different types and traits of antlers between south Matthews and north Matthews, for example, and between southwest Montgomery County and southeast part of the county and from the north central part of the county. So this is also true throughout the Black Belt. Some parts of the Black Belt are simply not blessed with impressive antler traits and others are. Some place have more messed up antler traits also. It varies from area to area, and as indicated, go 5 miles from one area and you can see the entire buck herd with completely different antler traits and characteristics.

Anyone that has seen photos of bucks from across the Black Belt knows that there is a wide variation between antler traits, characteristics and size. Some places are really lame, others are very impressive.

But a lot of us have seen through cameras that 3 - 5 miles is nothing for a buck to travel. Seems the intermingling would disperse these trait.

Interesting that you see different traits in such a small area(Especially from south Mathews to North Mathews as its not a huge area). What are some of the best areas that you have seen in the blackbelt for producing trophy deer?

Not to give a smart alec answer, but it is simple, the best managed areas.

We have already established that the cornerstone to success anywhere would be a trophy management and habitat plan, and are using that as the constant to our thread.

We have established that it is the soils and what grows on the soils in the black belt. We also have suggested that some areas just seem to do better than others. The question is what locations in the blackbelt seem to outperform others under the same constant of intense management. Or, what areas are the Michael Jordan's of deer production.

Your not going to get that answer for many reasons. But I'll go ahead and tell you that those areas are largely landlocked and unless you own some land there you'll never see it