"Every county in Missouri has trophy buck potential," Hansen proclaimed. "But everything is dependent on hunting pressure and how it is distributed."

In layman's terms, Hansen explained that no matter what county or region you hunt in Missouri, you need to find a place where the buck hunting pressure is very limited if you want to shoot a record-book whitetail.

"We shoot our bucks at a high rate in Missouri," Hansen said. "To be really successful at killing a trophy buck, you have to find a place where the buck hunting pressure is limited in a two- to four-square-mile area."

Now before you go looking for your bottle of Prozac, consider that the 29 counties in the state's pilot antler point restriction program offers just the sort of large area that Hansen referred to.

Missouri is in its fourth and final year of the pilot antler point restriction study and the MDC and the Conservation Commission will make a determination early next year as to whether or not to continue with the program. Their decision will be based on harvest data collected over the past four years, and additional hunter/ landowner opinions.

"The pilot antler point restriction program seems to be having an effect on the number of adult bucks (2.5 years old and older) taken by hunters in those restriction counties," Hansen said. "The harvest of adult bucks has increased by 13 percent in the northern pilot counties, and by 21 percent in the central pilot counties."

That's good news for everyone interested in shooting older age-class bucks.

Long before the MDC initiated the pilot antler point restriction program, it implemented a program for growing older age-class bucks at Whetstone Creek Conservation Area in Callaway County. Don't forget that Callaway County is ranked in first place in both numbers of antlered deer harvested statewide (2,393) and number of trophy buck entries over the past five years (11).

"Whetstone Creek has been specifically designated as a public area managed for older age-class bucks for the past 10 years," Hansen said. "Hunters write us all the time telling us how much they enjoy hunting this area."

Whetstone Creek is open to deer hunting only under specially managed deer-hunting seasons and regulations. Check with the 2007 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information for details.

Hansen mentioned the Busch Wildlife CA in St. Charles County, and the Peck Ranch CA primarily located in Carter County, as public places that also offer good chances for trophy bucks on a managed deer hunt basis.

SUMMARY
Missouri ranks eighth in the U.S in terms of the number of bucks entered into the Boone and Crockett Club's record book. The seven areas ranked higher than Missouri are Iowa (first), Minnesota (second), Illinois (third), Wisconsin (fourth), Saskatchewan (fifth), Alberta (sixth), Kansas (seventh) and finally Missouri. That's some pretty prestigious trophy whitetail company to be in!

So, when choosing a trophy buck hunting area this fall, look for one that has limited buck-hunting pressure. However, history has shown that you never know when or where one of these record-book bucks will show up.

Find more about Missouri fishing and hunting at: MissouriGameandFish.com