If mandatory protection of young bucks were the key to producing older bucks with big antlers in the U.P., deer management unit 122 in southern Dickinson County would be overrun with them. Bucks with less than 3 points on an antler have been protected there for eight years, but there has not been an increase in whitetails that qualify for state records from that area.

Most of the other giant bucks bagged in Michigan last fall came from the three counties in the state's southernmost tier. Doug Hamstra, for example, harvested a non-typical 15-pointer in Kalamazoo County with a muzzleloader on opening day of firearms season that netted 188 6/8.

He was hunting in an area where there were some huge antler-rubbed trees.

"About 1 p.m., I was watching a little 8-point about 40 yards away," Hamstra said. "All of a sudden, that 8-point just did a 180 and whipped around, and I did the same thing."

The small buck heard the bigger one coming, and by following the 8-point's lead, Hamstra spotted the 15-pointer and dropped it in its tracks.

Bill Bennett was hunting in Washtenaw County on the morning of Nov. 16, also with a muzzleloader, when he dropped an 18-point non-typical that netted 182 4/8. It was already daylight when he parked his vehicle that morning, so he still-hunted toward his blind rather than rushing to it. His patience was rewarded when he was about 30 yards from his blind.

"I saw the back of a deer," Bennett said, "so I pulled up the scope on my muzzleloader. I saw antlers, but his rack was kind of obscured by the trees. I decided I wasn't going to waste any time and made a target out of him."

Bill knew the rack was a nice one based on the size of the one antler he could see, but he wasn't sure of the dimensions. He was amazed at how large the rack was when he reached the fallen deer.

Chris Hiltunen scored on a 16-point non-typical in Washtenaw County with a shotgun on Nov. 21 that grossed 184 5/8 and netted 178 1/8. It's a good thing he had five rounds in his shotgun. The buck followed a doe out of a marsh, and then stopped.

The buck remained where it was, unflinching, as Hiltunen emptied his gun. The deer finally dropped with a broken neck when Hiltunen pulled the trigger for the fifth time.

Washtenaw County resident Jeff Stannis collected a trophy typical with bow and arrow in his home county on Nov. 2, 2008. The 11-pointer had a gross score of 163 7/8 and netted 159.

The deer is Stannis' best buck ever, and he was proud of having been able to bag the exceptional whitetail. Stannis' buck is a perfect example of why southern Michigan counties produce so many big-antlered whitetails. The long-tined 11-pointer that Stannis arrowed was only 3 1/2 years old. The rack has a typical 10-point frame, with a 2 1/2-inch sticker near the base of the left antler that accounted for most of the difference between the gross score and the net score.

Stannis was actually hunting for a buck with a similar rack that only had 9 points when he got the 11-pointer. In fact, he thought the buck he shot was the one he was after until he recovered the animal and got a better look at the rack.