The combination of age, nutrition and genetics is required for bucks to grow to record size. Big buck hunters know that locating areas where deer have multiple food sources, great cover, and limited hunting pressure is the key to finding those trophy bucks. 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 2009 season produced a lot of them, including a buck that grossed over 210 inches under the Boone & Crockett (B&C) scoring system. And just three years ago a new state record for muzzleloader-killed buck was set when a 231-inch gross B&C non-typical was killed in Niagara County.

Here’s our best advice on where to look for trophy bucks based on past success, as well as some insight about what’s in store for hunters in 2010. Note that all references to antler scores come from the Northeast Big Buck Club records, and represent the gross Boone & Crockett score.

LOOKING BACK AT 2009
Among the more than 102,500 bucks that Empire State hunters bagged last fall were some truly impressive trophies. According to the Northeast Big Buck Club some truly impressive bucks fell in almost every county, including many that grossed between 150 and 210 inches B&C. And they were taken by archers, muzzleloaders and gun hunters during the seasons that run from September all through way through January in parts of this large and diverse hunting habitat.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner, Pete Grannis, the 2009 take included 102,507 adult bucks out of 222,798 total deer harvested. The buck take was down slightly from 2008 and 2007, but well above 2006 (96,569) and 2005 (89,015), suggesting that deer populations in many portions of New York are continuing to grow. The perennial leader in buck take — Steuben County — which surprisingly fell to third place in 2006, but has been in the number one position since then — provided hunters with 5,126 bucks in 2009 (hunters here took 5,657 in 2007 and 5,326 in 2008).

Last year Cattaraugus County was second with 4,369 bucks, followed by Allegany (4,128) and St. Lawrence (3,959). Delaware (3,867) rounded out the top five counties.

A more accurate picture of buck densities is revealed by the density of buck harvest — the number of bucks killed per square mile, a measure which allows a better comparison of the quality of hunting in large and small counties. By this calculation, the top counties for buck harvest density were: Wyoming and Yates at 4.6 bucks per square mile, Allegany (4.0), Orange (4.0), Cayuga (3.7) and Steuben (3.6).

These counties produced the most deer and the most bucks, and in some cases they produced “the biggest” bucks. But as you will see, huge bucks came from just about every corner of the state. Varied 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 distributed throughout this varied habitat. Many local experts are encouraged about this fall’s buck-hunting prospects. Here’s a look at what you might expect throughout the state in the upcoming season.

WESTERN NEW YORK
Western New York includes regions 7, 8 & 9 (and their corresponding WMU’s) which stretch from the Interstate 81 corridor west to the shores of Lake Erie and the Niagara River. This is a great place to get your buck.

In 2009 hunters took 55,881 bucks in western NY, compared to 2008 when hunters downed 55,577 bucks in all. 2009′s totals broke down as follows, with 2008 totals in parentheses: 18,381 (vs. 17,407) bucks in DEC Region 9′s six counties; 19,823 (vs. 20,620) in the 11 counties of Region 8; and 17,677 (vs. 17,500) in the nine-county Region 7. Steuben County was the buck harvest leader in the region and in the state. Hunters traditionally do well in Allegheny, Cattaraugus, Chenango, Erie and Chautauqua counties, which typically are among the region’s leaders year after year.

Region 9 produced four of the top 10 buck harvests in the state in 2009 (Cattaraugus, Allegany, Chautauqua and Erie counties). Wyoming County produced the most bucks per square mile in this region (4.6). Many monster bucks have been killed in this region’s six counties recently. In 2007 Niagara County produced the state’s new record muzzleloader buck (the Keith LeVick’s buck, a 221 0/8 net nontypical, the state muzzleloader record) and Chautauqua County produced a 192 6/8-inch gross B&C non-typical 16-point for Ron Madison during the firearms season. In 2009 Cattaraugus County produced three bucks that grossed over 180 B&C.

Buck hunters should have no problems getting access to potential hotspots. Counties along the Pennsylvania border have more than 160,000 acres of public hunting grounds among them. In addition to the 65,000-acre Allegany State Park, where hunters must obtain a free permit from the park office before going afield, sportsmen have access to 17,200 acres of state forestlands in Chautauqua County, 33,600 acres in Cattaraugus County and 46,300 acres in Allegany County.

Region 8 is defined by the perennial success of Steuben County, arguably the best trophy hunting county in the state over the last 10 seasons, and number 1 again in 2009 in terms of overall state harvest. In 2007 it produced a 178 6/8-inch non-typical 14-point for Jamie Wolcott during the firearms season, and in 2008 produced the state’s best gross scoring archery typical — a 167 6/8-inch 11-point for Steve Calderwood. Biologists look forward to great numbers this fall in this section of Region 8. If you want to hunt public land, try the action at the 2,500-acre Erwin Wildlife Management Area, west of Painted Post off Beartown Road.

Livingston County has really come on in recent years, finishing 2nd or 3rd in region 8 for total bucks each year since 2006, including 2,063 bucks in 2009. Other Region 8 standouts include Ontario County (2,049 bucks in 2009) and Yates County, which has led the entire state in bucks killed per square mile for five of the last seven years, coming in at 4.6 during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

A good bet in Region 8 is northern Livingston and southern Monroe counties, where great little pockets of cover create habitat that produces mature farmland and suburban bucks. Excellent state land hunting is available in places like Letchworth State Park along the Genesee River in Livingston County, but be sure to get your park stamp for your license before hunting those lands.