re: Best Parish in Louisiana for the Sportsman

Well, it looks like we've at least narrowed it down to a top 5 in no necessary order...

Here's the thing about the saltwater parishes...

There are some big deer in the swamps, but they are not like the deer up here. Our ratio of big deer to deer population is much greater on both ends than in South LA. There are not many turkeys in South LA, but there is no saltwater fishing in North LA ( I love both). Ducks/geese- I guided duck/geese hunting in North LA for several years. I've also hunted south of Franklin in Mud Lake and in Gueydan. There seems to be several more ducks/geese in the northern parishes. The quality of the ducks here are much better. Mallards are not a regular occurance in the southern parishes. We mainly killed gads, smileys, teal, and black jacks in the southern parishes where the quality is much better in the northern parishes. I can't say one way or the other on dove hunting.. I would feel safe to say that North LA has that one in the bag with the amount of farm land. Squirrels and rabbits are everywhere. I'm not real sure about the hogs.. I know that we have a ton around the Ouachita and MS river bottoms where I hunt. You can kill 100 in a year off of 600 acres and they'll be even thicker the next year (it's been proven). As far as freshwater fishing goes... I think it could go either way, but you could argue about the state record list and how many bass are on it from North LA (it's pretty dominant). I have bass fished in South LA and had a blast catching numerous 3-4 pounders, though... and then you can factor Toledo Bend into the equation.. I say freshwater is about even.

My argument is... North LA edges out South LA in a close one for the Sportsman. South LA is mainly fishing, and we're talking about for the Sportsman (hunting and fishing). So IMO, the best parish would have to come from North LA and my vote would be for one of the following parishes in North LA: Tensas, Union, Concordia, and one of the Red River Parishes... I love saltwater fishing, but I believe we edge the southern parishes by a little.