U.S. Map of Record Book Bucks from the Jan. 2009 Whitetail Report, **Updated Details

From QDMA's 68-page Jan. 2009 Whitetail Report is this U.S. map of record book bucks harvested 1996-2005 from page 41:

http://www.qdma.com/media/


Media Resources, download QDMA's 2009 Whitetail Report (PDF)



Distribution of Record-Book Bucks

Note: This report was written by Dr. Joel W. Helmer for QDMA’s Quality Whitetails magazine.

Over the last 10 years I have spent considerable time researching and writing about the Boone & Crockett (B&C) and Pope & Young (P&Y) Club’s record books. I have also had the good fortune of working closely with the QDMA in producing two posters showing the spatial distribution of B&C and P&Y record-book whitetails.

The first was published back in 2001, while the most recent version was made available in 2008. Each poster includes a color-coded map of entries by county, dot maps of B&C and P&Y entries by state, tables showing entries by state and the top 50 counties, and pictures of the current world record
bucks. In this article I discuss how the map of record-book bucks is changing, offer a few reasons for this change, and list what I believe are currently the top 10 areas in the nation for record-book caliber whitetails (refer to the large map at the end of this chapter).

On Page 43 of the report:

Boone & Crockett & Pope & Young Record-Book Whitetails

1996-2005

Top-10 “Hot Zones” for Record-Book Bucks

1. Anywhere Wisconsin — The Badger State is amazing for its sheer number of entries. Although Illinois has more B&C entries in the 10 years covered on the new poster (540 to Wisconsin’s 437), Wisconsin has 4,976 total entries including P&Y entries compared to Illinois’ 3,699. It also dominates the top-50 county table, with 26 counties. Whether it’s the northern Lake Country, or the southern farmlands, every region of the state has high potential. Buffalo County bordering the Mississippi River in the west-central part of the state claims the title as
highest-ranking county in the nation with 520 total entries!

2. Illinois — Illinois is a close second. Although the “Golden Triangle” of west-central counties wedged between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and anchored by Pike County is perhaps the best region, a bruiser can saunter toward your stand anywhere in the state. Fourteen of the top-50 counties are located in the Land of Lincoln, with Pike County (371) ranking second in the nation.

3. Eastern or southern Iowa – The Hawkeye State rounds out the top three, which together account for 11,005 out of 25,150 total entries, or 43 percent. With a large deer herd, excellent habitat, and a gun season well after the rut, Iowa consistently produces big bucks. The southern half of the state containing a more even mix of river bottoms, hardwood ridges, CRP, and agricultural fields is your best bet. That being said, the county with the most entries is Allamakee (123), located in the far northeastern corner of the state along the Mississippi River.

4. Western Kentucky – Relatively unknown among whitetail enthusiasts 10 years ago, the Bluegrass State has stormed up the B&C rankings over the last five years. The western portion of the state is generally the best, accounting for most of the state’s 726 entries.

5. Southern Ohio – During my graduate studies, I often dream of hunting the rolling hills of southern Ohio. These dreams were well founded, with Ohio hunters entering 1,609 entries over the period, with most coming from the southern half of the state.

6. Northern Misouri – Perhaps less well-known as a trophy destination, Missouri gets the slight edge over Kansas for sixth place. Although a few good bucks come from south of the Missouri River, most will be found in the agriculturally rich portion of the state north of the Ozarks. The best counties border Iowa and Illinois in the northeastern end of the state.

7. Eastern Kansas – The Sunflower State’s reputation as a big-buck paradise is legitimate. With its muzzleloader season in mid-September and a gun season falling after the rut, bucks can reach the age necessary for optimum antler growth. Sitting in a bow stand in eastern Kansas during the rut just might be the best place in the nation to arrow a B&C-class buck.

8. Southern Indiana – I believe Indiana is one of the most overlooked states for records-book bucks, perhaps due to its proximity to better-known areas of Illinois and Ohio. The southern half of Indiana is terrific, consistently producing some great bucks.

9. South Texas – The “Brush Country” starting just south of San Antonio down to the King Ranch is still one of the best places for B&C caliber bucks. Hunting this area you are nearly guaranteed to see numerous mature bucks, along with an abundance of other wildlife.

10. East Coast suburbia – One pattern that people immediately point to on the map are the rings of high-ranking counties around Washington D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia. Suburban areas often harbor small pockets of habitat allowing bucks to mature with little hunting pressure. Each year savvy bowhunters gain access to these small tracts and harvest some dandy bucks.

Pretty nice to see it broken down like that. I see my county is in the 51+ . Thanks for sharing!!

Looks to me like the someone's not telling the truth(DNR) in Kentucky.

Looks like Wisconsin is ATE UP compared to the midwest.....

NDLucas said:

Looks like Wisconsin is ATE UP compared to the midwest.....

Click to expand...

This still makes sense with some of their buck management practices. For example, according to Outdoor Life magazine's annual special deer report each summer issue, Buffalo County Wisconsin has the most Boone & Crockett bucks harvested than any other county. One of Buffalo County's deer hunting regulations is that a hunter must harvest a doe before filling their buck tags. Another Buffalo County regulation is that any buck harvested must meet a minimum scoring measurement of 130 inches, which I think is a good rule for Wisconsin. For comparison in many places in Georgia, it's rare to see any buck gross scoring over 99 inches.

Deer map!

I would like to know how many states could even have the regulation on bucks set that high. A lot of deer in many states won't ever score 130.

wisconsin, always been my hot spot.

where did you find this information?

Gut---
right here is the info . You can buy the map
https://www.qdma.com/media/WhitetailReport09.pdf

The counties I hunt in/ lease
Ga-- yellow
Ky --orange
IL --- red

BornToHuntAndFish said:

This still makes sense. According to Outdoor Life magazine's annual special deer report each summer issue, Buffalo County Wisconsin has the most Boone & Crockett bucks harvested than any other county. One of Buffalo County's deer hunting regulations is that a hunter must harvest a doe before filling their buck tags. Another Buffalo County regulation is that any buck harvested must meet a minimum scoring measurement of 130 inches, which I think is a good rule for Wisconsin.

Click to expand...

I wish it was like that for Tennessee...

What!? No hot spot in Florida??!

I wonder, is this map for "all-time" record book entries, or for the last 10 years or so. For our purposes, last 10-15 years would be more informative than entries since the record book began would be. Lots has changed in deer hunting over the last 10 years.

*** Edit *** Ok, Now I see the big dates ('96-'05) up in the top right corner!

Boy I love those Long Island, New York bucks. Drive the freeway or the train in the early morning and you will see dozens of them sticking out their tongues out at you through the fences.

gt40

Hut2 said:

I would like to know how many states could even have the regulation on bucks set that high. A lot of deer in many states won't ever score 130.

Click to expand...

I wish it was that good in every state.

Gut_Pile said:

where did you find this information?

Click to expand...

From the 1st lines in the thread:

U.S. Map of Record Book Bucks from the Jan. 2009 Whitetail Report

From QDMA's 68-page Jan. 2009 Whitetail Report is this U.S. map of record book bucks harvested 1996-2005 from page 41:

short stop said:

Gut---
right here is the info . You can buy the map
https://www.qdma.com/media/WhitetailReport09.pdf

The counties I hunt in/ lease
Ga-- yellow
Ky --orange
IL --- red

Click to expand...

Thanks, short stop. I added more details in the 1st two posts to clarify things better so folks do not have to download the 8 MB large report.

Big Kuntry said:

I wish it was like that for Tennessee...

Click to expand...

I wish it was, too.

Slings and Arrows said:

What!? No hot spot in Florida??!

Click to expand...

I wish ya'll were a hot spot, too.


I look forward to helping clarify any more details.

I read the report, if you haven't I would suggest that you do. It was worth the time and I got a lot of relevant information out of it.

WI is # 1 in terms of Quality & Quantity. The worst areas in WI in terms of WI Quality would probably leave most of us SE USA deer hunters thinking we 've found the "promised land".