We'll take a detailed look at the data from the South Carolina Deer Antler Records 2007 and learn where big bucks are consistently taken in the state. Plus, this data goes back a long way historically, so we'll look at recent areas of high yield for big bucks as well as the long-term big-rack-producing counties.

Ruth said that the lists contain the records for typical and non-typical antlers that were documented during the spring 2007 scoring session only. Although most of these records represent deer harvested during the fall 2006 hunting season, there are some trophies that were taken in previous years and were not officially scored until 2007. There are also lists of typical and non-typicals taken during the hunting year of 2006. Separate rankings are presented for the score year (2007) and for all time. Another list provides information related to the all-time production of antler records by county. The list is broken down by typical and non-typical and provides the rank for each county based on total number of historic entries.

By looking at the above data, hunters will be able to draw some conclusions as to where big bucks are being taken in each sector of the state.

Ruth noted that while the traditionally top areas are still basically producing big bucks, there are big bucks being taken throughout the state.

"Looking at the data from a historical perspective is certainly one good way to forecast the best odds of finding big bucks. By looking at the information for recent years, as well as the long-term perspective, hunters can see which areas are producing best for the long haul," Ruth said.

Ruth's data goes back to 1974 and good records have been kept since that time; thus, there's plenty of historical data to track big-buck harvest patterns. However, it is the more recent trends that we will also be examining to see where big bucks were taken based on the 2007 scoring sessions.

We've already identified the two top bucks in both the typical and non-typical categories for score year 2007. Let's look at some additional bucks and where they were taken.

We'll finish the top 10 typical bucks first. The third largest scored in 2007 was taken by Ronnie Bailey in November of 2005 in Greenville County. Bailey's buck scored 153.6 points. The fourth biggest buck was taken by Dale Bange in November of 2006 with a score of 152.4 points.

The No. 5 typical buck scored in 2007 belonged to Thomas H. Younts with a big Richland County buck taken in August of 2006. This buck scored 148.2 points. No. 6 belonged to Richard Sherman with a Marlboro County buck that scored 148. This buck was harvested in October of 2005. The seventh best buck scored was 146 points and this buck was taken by Brian Rucker in Lexington County.

No. 8 belonged to William L. Martin who took a 144.4-point buck out of Union County in October of 2000. The ninth largest typical scored in 2007 was taken by Curtis Ward who took at 143.6-point buck from Williamsburg County in October 2006.

Rounding out the top 10 list, there was a tie between James Bessant and Allen W. Stanfield who both took bucks that scored 143.4 B&C points. The Bessant buck was taken in October in Horry County and the Stanfield buck was taken in October in Colleton County.

Since there was a tie, there are 11 bucks we've considered so far. It is extremely interesting, and important, to note that of these 11 trophy bucks, five were taken in November and five were taken in October. The other buck was taken early in the season in August. Also, the top four bucks were all harvested in November.

We also checked the dates the top 25 deer scored in 2007 were taken. All of the bucks but two were taken in October and November. Focusing in a bit tighter, 19 of these top 25 bucks were harvested from Oct. 14 to Nov. 24.