As always, things drop off even further in Region IV -- but the region is improving each season. Campbell and Claiborne counties were best there with an equal total of 10 bucks harvested with 11 or more points. Johnson and Sullivan counties tied it up for the third spot in Region IV with eight big trophies each.

Cumberland County also led the way in bucks with 9 and 10 points in Region III, with 123 of those quality whitetails harvested. And in no surprise, Cumberland County was also best in the 7- and 8-point bucks category, with 327 of them taken.

Hawkins County was head and shoulders better than all of the other Region IV counties with 326 bucks harvested with 7 and 8 points. Johnson County was the closest competitor with 257 bucks with 7 and 8 points.

In a change of pace, Hawkins County was replaced as the top dog in the harvest of bucks with 9 and 10 points in Region IV. Campbell County's 47 bucks with 9 and 10 points was followed by Claiborne's take of 42 bucks of this caliber, and then came Hawkins County's 38 bucks in this category.

As far as overall number of bucks harvested, Hardeman County, the overall statewide deer harvest leader, had the biggest number of antlered deer taken again in 2008 with 2,570 bucks checked in. Fayette County was a close second with a total of 2,444 bucks harvested. The top five buck producers statewide were rounded out by Giles County's 2,418, Henry County's 2,211, and Lincoln County's 2,182 bucks harvested overall.

These top five buck counties are the same from 2007, except that Fayette County moved up from third to second, sending Giles to the third spot in 2008. It's also worth mentioning that Tennessee hunters took 87,596 bucks in 2007 compared with 77,981 in 2008. However, there were more bucks taken with more points in 2008 -- proof that Tennessee deer hunters have become more selective in their buck harvests.

2008's Best Management Land Bucks
Deer hunters at WMAs experienced a comeback year in 2008 as well. In 2007, the total harvest on WMAs was 5,983 deer, followed up by 6,272 in 2008.

Of the 6,272 public lands deer harvested last year, 3,872 of them were bucks. WMAs are an outlet that many hunters count on for getting their buck or bucks each season. In 2008, hunters saw increases in the number of quality bucks harvested.

Overall, 28 of 43 WMAs saw increases in the number of 7- and 8-point bucks tagged, and 21 of them saw an increase in the number of 9- and 10-point bucks killed. Slightly under half -- 20 of 43 -- saw increases in the number of bucks with 11 or more points harvested in comparison with 2007. The final tally shows that there were 1,060 bucks with 7 and 8 points harvested, followed by 328 with 9 and 10 points or more, and then 102 bucks with 11 or more points. All of those totals are up from 2007.

In 2008, Fort Campbell was the top producer of quality bucks in each big-buck category. In 2007, Catoosa led in big bucks, but in 2008, Catoosa's numbers fell slightly opening the way for Fort Campbell. Catoosa, Fort Campbell, Oak Ridge and, of course, Presidents Island remain great places to harvest older and better bucks.