That number suggests that hunters are getting a chance to fill their tags with bucks better than yearlings. History suggests that continuing to increase harvest -- particularly antlerless harvest -- will help maintain good numbers of bucks that are reaching, or at least approaching, more mature stature when hunters get a chance at them.

Last season, Benzon said, the areas with the highest hunter success rates were the Black Hills, Harding County, Fall River, Gregory and Brown County.

NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota deer have a huge swath of acreage that -- based on what happened a year ago -- looks good for hunter success rates this season. Biologist William F. Jensen says that the management units with the highest hunter success from 2004 included 3B3 (87 percent), 2K2 (88 percent), 2F1 (90 percent), 2C (80 percent) and 4F (84 percent).

Now look at the map of the state's deer management units. Huge Unit 2K2 sits just northeast of dead center. Unit 2C, in the northeast corner of the state, is fairly large as well. Unit 4F, in the southwestern corner, is tiny. Throw in Unit 3B3, just west of center-state, and Unit 2F1, in east-central North Dakota, and you can see that a significant amount of land is available to hunters this season that will offer more than 80 percent of those hunters a great chance at filling a tag.

Does deer density have something to do with that? It does. And Jensen notes an emphasis on antlerless harvest in some areas for 2005. "We are focusing on increased antlerless licenses south and west of the Missouri River," he said, "and in the northeastern quarter of the state."

TOP MANAGEMENT UNITS BY STATE
The Following are the top deer management units per state for 2004, based on permit numbers and hunter success in those untis
North Dakota
Unit	Percent Success
2F1	90%
2K2	88%
2C	88%
3B3	87%
4F	84%
South Dakota
Unit	Percent Success
Fall River County	70%
Gregory County	70%
Brown County	65%
Harding County	65%
Black Hills	60%
Nebraska
Unit	Percent Success
Pine Ridge	77%
Sandhills	59%
Blue Southeast	56%
Frenchman	56%
Kansas
Unit	Percent Success
Unit 1	64.3%
Unit 2	61.0%
Unit 3	60.9%
Unit 16	59.9%
Unit 17	56.2%

Those areas coincide with some of the highest hunter success rates in the state from last season, which suggests that hunters do well because deer numbers, especially antlerless deer numbers, are relatively high there.

"Deer densities are at or near our management goals in much of the state," Jensen added. "But we are above those goals in a band running from the southwest to the northeast corners of the state."

Interesting. Take a ruler, and place it along a line running diagonally across the North Dakota map from the southwest to the northeast. It runs through four of the five units Jensen singled out as having the highest hunter success rates last season. The exception: Unit 2F1 -- but it borders the massive Unit 2K2 on the east.

So the numbers add up: Hunters are seeing more deer in the units where biologists are looking to increase antlerless harvest. You'll see it again this season, and you likely should do your hunting in or near those units if your goal simply is bringing home venison for the freezer.

While allowing that last season was good, Jensen noted that standing crops in some units reduced hunter success -- another element that hunters in all four Great Plains states should consider as they plan their hunts. If you have a place in mind, do some homework on what the farmers were able to get done in their fields. With crops still in the field, deer sanctuary acreage grows significantly, making it tougher to determine the best stand sites.

North Dakota's regular deer gun season will run Nov. 4-20. Jensen said that the state has 145,600 permits available. He noted one regulation change in North Dakota this season: Baiting will no longer be permitted in any of the state's wildlife management areas.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION
For more information on the deer seasons in the Great Plains, contact the regional office of your state's game department, or get in touch with the proper headquarters if you're planning an out-of-state hunt.

Next Month:
FINDING TROPHY BUCKS