But the domain also proffers quite a bit of prime agricultural and pasture land, and these situations are where the deer will likely be come mid-December. Look for properties with rye fields, cut corn fields and the occasional old orchard. Over the years, I have obtained permission to hunt several of these farms. In just about any county in West Virginia, polite hunters can still gain access.

Seeing Greenbrier County land in the fifth spot made my cancelled hunt this past December all the more a frustrating experience. Like many state domains, Greenbrier's muzzleloader harvest declined precipitously from 2003 through 2005 with totals of 634, 534 and 335, respectively. This resulted in tighter antlerless regulations in 2006 and a harvest that was only 76. The harvest did rise to 293 in 2008, but antlerless regulations remain fairly strict (and vary in the county) in order to give deer numbers a chance to recover.

Greenbrier is definitely a county of contrasts. Much of the eastern portion is part of the Monongahela National Forest, while much of the western section contains bottomland farms. The Greenbrier River and its tributaries are a major presence. I would definitely recommend that smokepolers seek out farms in the western part of Greenbrier.

Coming in sixth is Fayette County with 275. As recently as the early 1990s, Fayette was known as an area where the deer herd had not quite recovered; but deer numbers have steadily rebounded throughout that decade and the antlerless regulations were liberalized. This has led to harvests such as the 320 and 319 that occurred during the 2003 and 2004 muzzleloader seasons, respectively.

With the concern that too many deer were being killed, the DNR tightened regulations and the harvests dropped to 20 and 25 in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Fayette is a very mountainous county with the New River Gorge being the predominant feature. A key to experiencing success during the muzzleloader season is gaining access to one of the many small farms that also characterize this District IV county.

The seventh place finisher is Upshur with 274. Unlike many counties in the Mountain State, this District III has been a model of consistency with harvests of 326, 338, 221 and 257 from 2003 through 2006, respectively. Like many counties in this district, Upshur is quite mountainous, and wide expanses of unbroken forest canopy are common.

One of the best places to muzzleloader hunt here is rural land that has a regenerating clearcut. The other obvious place is one of the many small farms.

In the No. 8 slot is Mason County with 258. The ranking really does not do Mason justice, as it is only a medium-size county, so it often will not sport the harvest numbers that larger domains do. But make no mistake, Mason is an outstanding place to deer hunt.

The county features a number of fair size farms, and corn, soybeans, and other crops are common. Many tributaries of the Ohio River flow through Mason and rich bottomland is the result. For folks living in District V, Mason is a superlative destination, providing they can gain access to one of those farms.