CENTRAL
The Central Region's 671 trophy bucks (556 typicals and 115 non-typicals) entered into the record book during our study period provided a first-place finish by an astounding margin. In fact, nearly 25 percent of the entire state's entries were taken in this 15-county region.

Perennial top dog Saline County again ranked first in the state with 91 trophy bucks, a comfortable 15-buck margin over its nearest competitor. Callaway (4th), Cooper (6th), Boone (8th), Howard (8th), Montgomery (12th), Morgan (13th) and Gasconade (20th) are "destination counties" by any trophy seeker's definition of the term. The region's only county ranked below the statewide average is Cole (65th.)

Bowhunters who take the fullest possible advantage of the early half of the archery season and/or who concentrate their efforts on one of the region's numerous archery-only Conservation Areas have a solid chance to tag a Pope & Young buck. They also have a reasonable chance at an MSMBBC entry and a right to dream about a Boone and Crockett super-buck. Firearms hunters do best on private land in the Central Region just as they do throughout the state, but there are more MSMBBC bucks on public land here than anyone would imagine.

NORTHEAST
Hunters in the Northeast Region submitted 568 bucks (445 typicals and 123 non-typicals) to the MSMBBC during the study period. Since the Northeast seems to have a lock on top regional honors for overall deer harvest, this proves that a region that yields high numbers of deer also can be a great place to find a trophy buck.

Putnam County yielded 74 trophy bucks to rank third statewide. It was followed by Adair (5th), Macon (7th), Sullivan (14th), Monroe (16th) and Pike, which tied for 16th. Knox (30th), Clark (41st), Scotland (42nd) and Lewis (48th), all of which lie within the locally famous "Booner Alley." finished farther back in the pack. Ralls (67th) was the Northeast's only sub-par county.

If I might borrow a word from Lonnie Hansen, deer on public land in the Northeast region get "hammered" during the firearms deer season. This certainly doesn't mean that it's not possible to find a record-class buck on public land in this region. However, it does imply that an early-season bowhunter will have a far better chance of doing so.

Expect this region's trophy-bucks-per-year figures to remain stable or to decline slightly over the next decade.

NORTHWEST
It doesn't seem possible that a comparison of 10 years' worth of data from a 15-county region (the Northeast) and a 19-county region (the Northwest) would result in a tie, but that's the case. The Northwest region also reported 568 trophies, with 452 typicals and 116 non-typicals.

Chariton County hunters helped the Northwest's cause by producing 76 entries to the MSMBBC. That number left Chariton second only to Saline County, which lies directly across the Missouri River. Harrison (8th), Daviess (11th), Nodaway (20th) and Grundy (23rd) are also Northwest counties worthy of any trophy seeker's attention. The region's only statistically near-hopeless counties are Buchanan (87th) and Gentry (75th), and they yielded eight and seven big bucks, respectively.

The Northwest region is the Promised Land to bowhunters. The region is blessed with numerous archery-only CAs ranging in size from a few hundred acres to several thousand. If a bow or firearms hunter is willing to wait until after the first week of the November portion of the firearms season, gaining access to private land is easier in this part of the state than it is farther east.