The above statement by Loveless should flip a switch in the minds of deer hunters that this is a great place to harvest a whitetail. The hunting pressure here has been minimal for years, allowing deer numbers to flourish and bucks to grow into older age classes.

Before this area was purchased by the MDC, it was mined for coal by the Peabody Mine Company. The spoils of the mining operation have left this area's terrain extremely rugged. Broad ridgetops and steep hillsides are common. About 1,150 acres of the area have been strip-mined. About 70 percent of the stripped land has been replanted with a mix of trees and shrubs. About 150-200 acres remain in native timber. The area also contains several food plots.

"We probably plant upwards of 25 acres of winter-type foods for wildlife which includes wheat, milo, sunflowers and millet," Loveless said. "We do our best to scatter these food plots throughout the area.

The sections of this area that have more forgiving terrain and are more characteristically described as gently rolling hillsides were planted in fescue. There are also plenty of watering holes for deer on this tract.

"We've got about 70 different water bodies on this area," Loveless said. "Some are very small in size, but we have one very deep lake."

Considering that this area is only six miles from Columbia, one might guess that it would be hunted hard. Not so. "We've got a good deer population here and some nice bucks," Loveless said. "But, this area only gets moderately hunted."

Tim James, another wildlife biologist for the MDC, suggested that hunters look for deer away from the main lake and in the open areas of the property. "We do a lot of habitat work up there," he said. "There is quite a bit of prairie grass and we do a lot of burning and thinning, which promotes the growth of forbs."

These management efforts are designed to encourage herbaceous plants' growth, which in turn offer deer more green browse.

"I would suggest that deer hunters get away from the main area near the lake and head off into more remote sections," James said. "Look for opening in the cover, the places where the natural prairies exist. These open areas are where I see most of the deer there."

These grassy plots are evenly distributed throughout the area. Hunters should also keep in mind that Finger Lakes State Park, which is not open to hunting, borders Rocky Fork Lakes CA on parts of its northern and western boundaries. Hunting near these borders may be a good option, as the state park can serve as a huge deer sanctuary.

An unmanned shooting range gets lots of attention from shooters in nearby Columbia. The range is open from daylight until dark. Hunting is not allowed in or around the perimeter of the range. Five different parking lots on the area, three of which are clustered around the main lake, and a network of trails, offer hunters good walk-in access throughout the area.

The habitat at Rocky Fork Lakes includes 400 acres of old fields, 400 acres of grasslands (non-prairie), 200 acres of savanna, 840 acres of forest, 300 acres of lakes and ponds, and 60 acres of cropland.

Rocky Fork Lakes CA is seven miles north of Columbia on state Highway 63 and one mile east on Peabody Road. For more information or an area map, call the MDC at (573) 884-6861.

Indian Hills CA
With nearly 3,900 acres of prime deer habitat in Scotland County, the Indian Hills CA has plenty to offer muzzleloading deer hunters.

Darlene Hoffman, an MDC wildlife management biologist, has been helping manage Indian Hills CA for wildlife since 1990. She has seen how the area evolved from a place with a lot of deer to a place with too few deer.