Photo by Ralph Hensley.

Tennessee hunters not only set a new all-time season harvest record last year, the data captured by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) also makes it clear that more and more older, quality bucks are showing up in the harvest.

There's never been a better time to deer hunt in the Volunteer State. There's a decent chance hunters will set a new harvest record in the 2007 deer seasons, and your chances for taking a trophy buck are increasing. Let's take a look at where the big bucks came from last year and also what hunters can expect from Tennessee woods in the coming season.

QUICK 2006 RECAP
Last year, the TWRA told us that a down year in 2005 coupled with increased mast and a healthier herd would translate into a good deer season in 2006 -- and it did. For the first time in history, Tennessee hunters took over 180,000 whitetails during last year's hunts.

When the end of the season came, Tennessee hunters harvested an astounding 174,937 whitetails on the statewide hunts alone. That's nearly as high as the overall harvest record set in 2004. Add the wildlife management area (WMA) harvests of 7,156 to that total, and you get our new all-time harvest record of 182,093 deer killed.

2006 BIG-BUCK FACTORIES
Take a look at the state map of the top counties for 11-point-or-better bucks. There is one key feature that stands out above everything else: Seven out of the top 10 big-buck counties lie in Region II. Hardeman and Henry counties in Region I may battle it out from season to season as to which one produces the most total deer, but when it comes to the Big Boys Club, Region II is on the top of the heap.

The other significant numbers story (one which the map doesn't show) is the dominance of Montgomery County when it comes to big bucks. The number of 11-point-or-better bucks coming out of Montgomery County isn't just astounding, it's almost scary when compared with the rest of the state.

Montgomery County hunters harvested an astonishing 74 bucks with 11 or more points in 2006. That's far and above any other county, though Williamson County's harvest of 57 big bucks is very impressive. In the third spot for big antlered deer, Dickson County also had a respectable harvest of 55 bucks. Lincoln County was also among the state's elite: Hunters there took 50 of the 11-point-or-better bucks.

Maury County was fifth in this category with a harvest of 48 big bucks. Region I sees its first representation in the top 10 with a harvest of 47 big boys in Fayette County in the sixth spot. Henry County and Stewart counties tied for the seventh position with an equal harvest of 45 bucks with 11 points or more. Davidson and Sumner counties in Region II were also equal to the task with a harvest of 41 trophy bucks last season to round out the top 10.

That's where most of the 11-point-or-better trophies came from, but not all of them. Hunters have a decent chance at an older buck just about anywhere in the state. In Region III, Scott County led the way with 23 of the 11-point-or-better bucks, followed by Roane County's 20 and Rhea County's 19 big bucks. In Region IV, three counties took top honors for big bucks. Campbell County was best for big bucks in 2006 with 12 harvested followed by Anderson and Greene counties with seven bucks with 11 or more points.

One other statistic worth paying attention to is that from 2005 to 2006, the majority of Tennessee counties saw increases in the numbers of 7- and 8-point bucks as well as 9- and 10-point bucks harvested in a single season. Many of these bucks, of course, are great trophies, and across the board, Tennessee bucks are becoming older, more mature and more likely to have nice racks.

WMA TROPHIES
Are our WMAs rebuilding when it comes to bigger bucks? The answer is a resounding yes! For example, the 2005 WMA hunts produced 913 bucks with 7 and 8 points, 280 deer with 9 and 10 points, and 54 bucks with 11 or more points. In contrast, the 2006 WMA season produced 1,250 bucks with 7 and 8 points, 347 bucks with 9 and 10 points, and an impressive 90 bucks with 11 points or better. That's a significant increase in quality in just one season.