Photo by Ralph Hensley.

The hunter was on a quest for a big buck. He'd seen a glimpse of the big-racked 10-pointer early in the season, but a glimpse was all he got. The brief momentary look did not afford time to take a shot, but it did tell the hunter there was a trophy buck worth waiting for in his hunting area.

His patience was rewarded later in October when the massive 10-pointer stepped out of a thicket into full view while trailing a doe. The hunter was ready and the .30/06 slammed the buck to the ground with a single shot.

It's prime deer-hunting time in South Carolina right now. From the mountains to the Coastal Plain, deer are in or nearing the "rut" stage of the deer-hunting season. That means hunters will likely see more deer and have the opportunity to harvest nice bucks during the next few weeks.

The key to a hunter taking that trophy will be that hunter's specific hunting location. Being in the right tree stand or ground blind in the right block of woods is important. But being in the right portion of the state is also crucial when targeting big bucks, because some parts of the state are more apt to have big bucks than are other parts of the state. Hunting where trophy bucks are consistently produced can certainly stack the odds in your favor.

One excellent method to learn where big bucks are being consistently taken is to study the information provided by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). Each year, the SCDNR Wildlife Section personnel make a concerted effort to score deer racks throughout the state. It is highlighted by a major scoring session during the Palmetto Sportsmen's Classic in Columbia. According to Charles Ruth, SCDNR Deer/Turkey Project supervisor, the 2007 scoring session was a big success.

"We scored a lot of big racks this year," Ruth said. "Of the 454 sets of antlers scored at the 11 scheduled sessions during the spring of 2007, 168 sets of antlers met the minimum score for entry on the state records list. This included 164 sets of typical and four non-typical racks."

According to Ruth, of the antlers scored, 133 were taken during the 2005 or 2006 hunting seasons.

"Racks must score a minimum of 125 points typical or 145 points non-typical to qualify for the South Carolina state records list," Ruth said. "Records are based on the Boone and Crockett scoring system in two categories, typical and non-typical."

Ruth said that currently there are 4,820 sets of antlers included on the antler records list. This significant amount of data produces a picture of where big bucks have consistently come from in South Carolina over time.

"For the 2007 scoring session, the top typical buck was a 163 7/8-point buck taken by Charles Owen last November in Anderson County," Ruth said. "This deer is a new Anderson County typical record and it will qualify for the Boone and Crockett Club's Three Year Awards Period list."

Ruth added that the second-highest-scoring typical, also a new county record, was a 156 6/8-inch Jasper County buck taken by Brett Dubois in November.

Note that both of these record-book typical bucks were harvested during November.

Netting 164 0/8 points, the top non-typical buck was taken by Shawn Simmons in Orangeburg County in December of 2005. At 162 4/8 points, the No. 2 non-typical among the 2007 entries was taken by Wayne Sharpe in Barnwell County last September.

"South Carolina's deer herd is in good condition," Ruth said. "After a long period of rapid expansion, the herd stabilized in the mid-1990s. Our statewide population estimates right now put the deer herd at about 725,000 animals with a harvest of 221,320 deer during the 2006 hunting season."