Mitchell County is interesting in its inclusion as a top buck producer because it has a fair amount of public-hunting lands in the Pisgah National Forest. Still, it's a small county compared with some other top buck harvest counties. But the northern Pisgah territory is one of the few places in the state where the deer herd really seems to be growing. Most of the deer population increases in Mitchell County have been on private land rather than on public game lands, however, and the state's biggest interest in quality deer management is in that part of the state.

In District 9, Polk leads the district with 1.89 abh/sm, followed by Madison County with 1.00 abh/sm. The total antlered buck harvest was 307 in Polk County and 368 in Madison County. Having plenty of public hunting land in Pisgah NF helps Madison County maintain its status as a buck producer and the Green River Game Land helps keep the buck harvest high in Polk County.

In terms of mountain counties, Polk is an overt oddball with a relatively high deer density of 30 or more deer per square mile over most of the county. Nevertheless, the county is included in the far western region where places at the higher elevations in Nantahala have only five to eight deer per square mile. That's what makes Polk County such a standout in the mountains. It has more flatlands and river valley habitats conducive to small farming operations with good soil fertility. Madison County like Mitchell County is in the northern Pisgah region, with many bucks in the timber management areas of the national forest.

Find more about North Carolina fishing and hunting at: NCgameandfish.com