A second 17-point non-typical, taken in Oneida County by James C. Doyle, scored 181 6/8 gross and 176 7/8 net B&C. Two great 17-pointers in the same season! Another great non-typical worth mentioning was Jeff Robinson's 169 5/8-inch 12-pointer from Steuben County.

In the past two years, New York has produced at least three 200-class gross-scoring hunter-killed bucks.

Some great typical bucks fell to gun hunters as well, with Charles Farney's 11-pointer topping the list at 174 7/8 gross B&C and 162 0/8 inches net.

Other very good typical gun bucks include Marvin Vahue's Monroe County 10-pointer, which gross-scored 166 7/8 B&C, with an inside spread of just under 20 inches. How about Jesse McNitt's 163 6/8-inch 9-pointer from Oswego County, with its huge 24-inch inside spread? And don't forget the Mastroianni typical gun buck, which scored 163 6/8.

Typically, more of each season's best bucks are taken by gun (shotgun and rifle where legal). However, more great bucks are falling to muzzleloader and bowhunters. Some of that success is related to the growing trend for hunters to use primitive weapons during the regular shotgun season.

BIGGEST ARCHERY BUCK OF 2006
During the past few years, archers have been taking an increasing percentage of New York's best bucks. Archers all across the state downed some amazing New York bucks in 2006, such as when Lewis County archer James Mastroianni arrowed a great-looking 17-point non-typical in late October.

Mastroianni's buck grossed 179 2/8 and netted 166 6/8 Pope and Young points. This buck was wide, at 24 3/8 inches inside, but it had short beams of 18 5/8 and 21 3/8 inches.

(A little-known Boone and Crockett scoring rule requires that the inside spread credit may not be more than the length of the longer main beam. Therefore, this buck lost three inches of its inside spread.)

But scoring issues aside, there is plenty to love about this rack, particularly the great character that the eight abnormal points create. Six of those points are 5 7/8 to 9 6/8 inches long!

As if this wasn't enough success for one person, Mastroianni went on to shoot a very nice buck during the gun season as well: a 163 6/8-inch 10-pointer in Schoharie County.

Many other good bucks fell to New York's archers last year.

Joseph Ebel shot a non-typical 16-pointer in Tompkins County that scored a whopping 174 1/8 gross and 169 3/8 net Pope and Young points.

Daniel Nugent arrowed a 164 7/8-inch 10-point typical in Wyoming County. R. Scott Peck shot a 163-inch 10-pointer in Steuben County.

TRENDS & PROSPECTS
Big bucks fell during all of New York's hunting seasons and in most of the counties across the state.

It's difficult to pinpoint a pattern, as hunters from St. Lawrence County up north to Ontario County out west, to Suffolk and Westchester counties in the south -- and just about everywhere in between -- have produced record-book bucks in recent years.

Over the past three seasons, the top 15 gross-scoring bucks have come from 12 different counties -- proof that big ones are found throughout the state and can be taken in any of the varied hunting seasons.

New York State remains one of the most productive trophy buck states in the Northeast, and should be considered a prime destination for the region's hunters. In the past two years, New York has produced at least three 200-class gross-scoring hunter-killed bucks. No 200-class bucks have yet fallen to muzzleloader hunters, but it's only a matter of time.

JOIN THE CLUB
For more information about New York's biggest bucks, or to purchase the latest record book, Northeast Trophy Whitetails V, contact the Northeast Big Buck Club at 390 Marshall Street, Paxton, MA 01612. You can also visit the club's Web site at www.bigbuckclub.com, or send an e-mail to jbhunts@aol.com.

Find more about New York fishing and hunting at NewYorkGameandFish.com