Photo by Ralph Hensley.

Any deer hunter knows that the best way to encounter trophy bucks consistently is to find those places where deer have the necessary combination of time, nutrition and genetics to grow to record size.

Last fall, Empire State hunters bagged some impressive trophies. According to the seven-state Northeast Big Buck Club (covering New York and all of New England), two bucks scoring at least 200 gross Boone and Crockett points were recorded. And dozens of bucks over 150 came from many different counties during all seasons.

According to Carl Johnson, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) acting executive deputy commissioner, the 2006 harvest of almost 96,600 bucks was an encouraging increase of 8 percent over the 89,200 bucks taken in 2005. That suggests that deer populations in many portions of the state are growing and recent management actions are working.

Surprisingly, the perennial leader in buck harvests -- Steuben County -- posted only the third-highest buck harvest in 2006, with 3,763. Allegany County was tops with 4,368 bucks, followed by Cattaraugus County with 4,320. St. Lawrence County tied Steuben for third place, with Chautauqua County rounding out the top five.

These counties produced the most deer and the most bucks and, in some cases, the biggest bucks. But huge bucks came from just about every corner of the state.

The largest buck of the 2006 season was a great non-typical taken by Bob Cuozzo in Chemung County. Taken during the firearms season, this huge 19-point non-typical had a gross B&C score of 215 3/8 and a net score of 209 6/8.

The year's second-best buck was taken in Suffolk County by Richard Gates. Taken with a bow, it scored an impressive 208 5/8 gross and 196 2/8 net B&C.

The best muzzleloader buck of the season was taken by Frank Waltman in Livingston County. A massive 10-pointer, it scored 167 3/8 gross and 160 7/8 net B&C.

Not all bucks can get this big, however. In the Adirondacks -- where there is an average of only one buck taken per square mile -- trophy bucks reach maturity simply by avoiding hunters.

In western New York, deer populations are high, and hunting pressure is offset by good genetics and nutrition. However, in the Southern Zone, fewer bucks avoid shotgun hunters long enough to see their second year. So while many bucks are taken, most have small racks.

New York's whitetail herd, currently estimated at over 1 million animals, is distributed throughout varied habitat. And given the reduced harvests in the past few seasons, local experts are encouraged about this fall's buck-hunting prospects.

Here's a look at what hunters can expect as we enter the 2007 season:

WESTERN NEW YORK
Western New York includes regions 7, 8 and 9 (and their corresponding WMUs), which stretch from the Interstate Route 81 corridor west to the shores of Lake Erie and the Niagara River.

This is a great place to get your buck. In 2006, hunters downed 51,336 bucks in all, or 53 percent of the statewide total (about the same percentage as the previous two years).

That broke down as follows: 17,577 bucks in DEC Region 9's six counties; 18,057 more in the 11 counties of Region 8; and an additional 15,702 in nine-county Region 7.

In terms of trophy bucks taken by county, last season this section of New York produced eight of the ten best according to the Northeast Big Buck Club records for the state.

Allegany County led the harvest in both the region and in the state at 4,438 or 4.2 bucks per square mile. Hunters traditionally do well in Steuben, Cattaraugus, Chenango, Erie or Chautauqua counties, which typically are among the regions' leaders year after year.