It's no secret: The best way to consistently encounter trophy bucks is to find places where deer have time to grow to record size. In a state the size of New York, there are plenty of places capable of growing such bucks. And as we will show you, the 2005 season produced a lot of them!

(Note that all references to antler scores come from the Northeast Big Buck Club's records and represent the gross Boone and Crockett score.)

LOOKING BACK AT 2005
Among the 88,733 adult bucks Empire State hunters bagged last fall were some truly impressive trophies. According to the seven-state Northeast Big Buck Club (covering New York and all of New England) bucks gross-scoring at least 170 inches came from seven different counties in 2005, and they were taken by archers, muzzleloaders and gun hunters.

Although the overall buck harvest was down 17 percent from the previous year, 2005's trophy buck production was impressive nonetheless.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Denise Sheehan, Steuben County had 4,571 bucks harvested. Cattaraugus County had the second highest buck take (3,921), followed by Allegany County, with 3,880. St. Lawrence (3,385 bucks) and Chautauqua counties (2,814 bucks) rounded out the top five counties in the state. The overall deer harvest was down substantially in all five counties, but the buck take remained relatively consistent, compared to 2004 totals.

These counties produced the most deer and the most bucks, and in some cases, the biggest bucks. But huge bucks came from every corner of the state. The largest one of the 2005 season was a great non-typical taken by Rex Taft in Steuben County. This huge 21-point non-typical buck, taken during the archery season, had a gross B&C score of 203 7/8.

Andy Hall in Ontario County took the second-best buck of the year. Hall's buck, taken during the firearms season, scored a whopping 201 6/8 as a 17-point non-typical. The best muzzleloader buck of the season was a massive 12-pointer scoring 162 7/8, taken by Larry Jenson in Chenango County.

In the previous two seasons, 190-class bucks fell to Scott Soterion in Dutchess County, Sam Thaw in Wyoming County, and teenager Tom Bouvia in Clinton County.

Not all of New York's bucks can grow this big, however. In the Adirondacks, where there's an average of only one buck per square mile, trophy bucks reach maturity more regularly simply by avoiding hunters. In western New York, where deer populations are high, hunting pressure is offset by good genetics and nutrition.

In the Southern Zone, fewer bucks means that they can avoid gun hunters long enough to see their second year. So while many bucks are taken, most have small racks.

While any part of the state can produce trophy bucks, habitat and hunting conditions impact the probability of harvesting a trophy buck. New York's whitetail herd, currently estimated at over 1 million deer, is well distributed throughout this varied habitat. Given the reduced harvests in the past few seasons, local experts are encouraged about this fall's buck-hunting prospects.