Photo by Billkenney.com

When it comes to trophy bucks, it's easy to see why folks call this region the Great Plains. Dandy bucks abound in the Dakotas, Kansas and Nebraska.

From here, in fact, it's easy to argue that the Great Plains may be one of this continent's most underrated big-buck hunting destinations.

Think about it: Ask 10 of your hunting buddies where they'd go for the trophy hunt of a lifetime. Chances are good that their top picks won't be in the Great Plains.

You're likely to hear Canada -- Saskatchewan, particularly -- or northeast Montana, where bucks in the Milk River drainage grow to monstrous sizes. Someone might even say Ohio, home both to the largest buck ever taken by an archer -- Mike Beatty's amazing non-typical from a few years ago -- and the celebrated Hole In The Horn Buck. Illinois might be mentioned. And hunters at the game for a long time might bring up Maine, where, in some areas, mature bucks whose giant bodies tip the scales at nearly 300 pounds often wear racks to match.

All the places mentioned so far are highly regarded by whitetail hunters, of course. If you're talking mule deer, you'll undoubtedly hear guys pick spots in Montana's Big Sky country, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

When all is said and done, it might be good that so many folks just don't think of the Great Plains states as big-buck hotspots -- good, that is, for those of us who know that some really big bucks are wandering the four states in this region even as you read these words. Admittedly, Kansas' reputation -- especially for producing big whitetails -- has grown in recent years thanks, in large part, to changes in state laws that now regularly permit non-residents to climb into Sunflower State tree stands.

By and large, however, our beloved Great Plains won't be seeing the kind of pressure from trophy hunters that many other regions are getting. That's good news for us -- because the bucks are here!

Before talking about each state's prospects for the 2005 season -- and know, up front, that the regionwide outlook is good again this year -- let's talk about the factors that make for the presence of trophy bucks in good numbers. It's something previous years' previews have not touched on too much.

Generally speaking, the presence of trophy bucks can be traced to the relative quality of the deer herd in a given area. Trophy bucks generally are mature. They've been able to avoid hunter pressure and reach the age of 4 1/2 or older.

So the first fact about trophy bucks is that, when they appear in decent numbers, they represent a herd with a fairly healthy age structure. Let's face it: If your state had a buck harvest with an overwhelming number of yearlings, there just aren't going to be many bucks surviving to age 2 1/2 and beyond.

It's pretty much a rule of thumb, no matter where you hunt, that areas with low hunting pressure are likely to hold some really good bucks. This is especially true in the Great Plains states, where the deer herds in general are in the kind of shape that promotes development of trophy bucks in good numbers.