Photo by Mark Werner.

Counties in Region 3 continue to dominate the list of bucks with the highest-scoring racks killed in Michigan during 2006, and the same will probably be true this year. However, the trophy-buck outlook for Region 1 and Region 2 should not be ignored, because your chances of taking a wallhanger in those counties in 2007 are better than they have been in a long time.

An example of the caliber of bucks Region 1 -- the Upper Peninsula -- has to offer is one that ended up as road kill in Marquette County last November. The record-book whitetail was struck by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 41 a few miles west of Marquette on the day after Thanksgiving. The driver of the automobile that killed the deer didn't want the animal, so the state police turned the carcass over to Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Mike McDonnell from Negaunee.

McDonnell said the buck was killed after 7 p.m., which was after dark, so the buck may have been primarily nocturnal, which could be one reason why he wasn't spotted by hunters and he lived so long. McDonnell noted that the deer's hocks were not discolored or strong smelling, which is unusual for a mature buck during the rut. He commented that the buck might not have been involved in the annual breeding season, which would further reduce its vulnerability to hunters.

The buck's typical 13-point antlers had a net score of 162 1/8 inches. Commemorative Bucks of Michigan (CBM) paid to have the deer's head mounted by Outdoor Ventures Taxidermy of Marquette so it can be used for educational purposes by both the DNR and CBM. The buck's age was even more amazing. The deer was at least 9 1/2 years old, according to DNR wildlife biologists who looked at its teeth.

Although 9 1/2-year-old antlered whitetails aren't common in the U.P., that is the only region in our state where bucks of that age can be found. I'm confident more remain. More important, the proportion of mature bucks that are at least 3 1/2 years old is also higher in Region 1 than the rest of Michigan. And, after a record mild winter, there will not only be more mature bucks available than normal, but their antler development will be better than normal.

Last winter was so easy on whitetails that the deer weren't as tightly yarded as they often are. Some deer in the southern U.P. may not even have moved to winter yards at all because of low snowfall. Across the northern U.P., permanent snow cover did not arrive until mid-January, and breakup came early, thus deer that did yard up were not in winter quarters anywhere near as long as normal. The fact that last winter was the second mild winter in a row is another reason why the trophy-buck potential in the U.P. is on the upswing.

Region 2 -- the northern Lower Peninsula -- is producing more mature bucks with big racks, too. One of the biggest factors helping that is reduced deer numbers over the past five years. The remaining deer are healthy and achieving maximum antler potential. Hunting pressure has fallen off in response to fewer whitetails, which allows more bucks to live longer.

During the 2006 firearms season, for example, Mark Coselman bagged a 23-point non-typical in Osceola County that is a county record among non-typicals. The antlers had a gross score of 189 7/8 inches and netted 172 2/8 inches. The previous No. 1 non-typical for the county was an 11-pointer that netted 165 3/8 inches killed by Adolph Engler way back in 1939. I don't know any deer hunter who wouldn't be happy with a rack of that size!

Another of our state's top bucks from 2006 was also killed with bow and arrow. This one was a non-typical from Livingston County bagged by Jeanie Flannery from Fenton. She was heading for her bow stand on the morning of Oct. 7 when she heard a pair of bucks sparring.

The same thing applies to a 12-point typical buck Mark Hawley shot in Newaygo County during gun season that netted 160 inches. Hawley shot the deer from a climbing tree stand he positioned in a stand of oak trees. He was only in the stand about 15 minutes when a 6-pointer showed up, so he shot that deer. Then about a half-hour later, the 12-pointer came along after a doe, and he killed it, thus ending his deer season in short order. Because Newaygo County is one of the southernmost counties in Region 2, Hawley was shocked to take a wild buck of that size. In fact, his first thought was that it escaped from an enclosure or game farm.

"When I reached the deer, I started looking for tags or bands," Hawley said. "I thought there's no way this one came out of Newaygo County. He had to get out of a cage."

But Hawley was wrong, because the buck wasn't an escapee. Something else amazing about the buck is that a taxidermist aged the whitetail at 2 1/2 years old based on tooth wear. If that age was accurate, Newaygo County has genetics favoring antler growth, and more whoppers can be expected to come from within its borders in the future. The potential exists for bucks like those taken last fall in Newaygo and Osceola counties to be in any and all counties in Region 2.

There's no question that bucks like those can be found in any and all counties in Region 3. For example, two of our state's highest-scoring deer known taken during 2006 came from Lenawee County. The No. 1 non-typical, according to CBM records, was taken on opening day of firearms season by Scott Norkey from Tecumseh. The 17-pointer he killed had a gross score of 200 inches and netted 191 6/8 inches.

When Norkey shot the buck, he thought it was a 12-pointer he had seen from the same stand while bowhunting the previous weekend. As it turned out, it was a different deer, and the buck Norkey saw during bow season is still out there somewhere because he didn't hear about one matching its description being killed during the remainder of the 2006 hunting seasons.

The second-highest scoring bow-bagged typical entered into state records from 2006 also came from Lenawee County. Greg Lambert arrowed the 10-pointer grossing 171 3/8 inches and netting 168 4/8 on Oct. 24 as it was chasing a hot doe. Although most does are bred during November, some come into heat during late October.

Lambert was hunting from a tree stand in a five-acre wood lot where he has had good success in the past when he got the book buck. He said he didn't have any idea a buck of that quality was in the area. Lambert said the buck was too far away for a bow shot when it chased the doe past his stand the first time. Twenty minutes later, the buck chased the doe back by the bowhunter and he was still too far for a shot. "The third time was a charm," Lambert said. The buck was only 12 yards away that time, and Lambert took advantage of the opportunity to connect on his best buck. The whitetail had a dressed weight of 238 pounds.

The second-highest scoring non-typical buck entered in CBM records from last fall came from Allegan County. The 20-pointer was taken on the fourth day of gun season by Peter Prather. The impressive antlers grossed 194 7/8 inches and netted 187 7/8 inches. Prather said he missed the deer on the second day of bow season and saw him again the week before firearms season began. Look for a detailed account of Prather's hunt for this buck in the upcoming November issue of Michigan Sportsman.