By the time you've made it to this page in this issue of Great Plains Game & Fish, it's an almost-certain bet that somewhere close to you, rutting activity will be under way. Without question, this is one of the most exciting times of the entire outdoor year. Bucks are sparring, and they're trailing and chasing does.

Activity will continue throughout the month, and hunters across the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas are preparing to spend plenty of time in search of mature bucks. Those are the bucks with the trophy potential that lifetime memories are made of.

One thing's certain: Few regions of the continent offer better prospects for encountering trophy bucks than our own Great Plains. And based on the information provided by state biologists, things appear to be showing continuous improvement.

That's good news no matter where you live or hunt in our region.

KANSAS
"As far as trophy potential goes, just pick a spot," said Lloyd Fox, a biologist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. "There are mature bucks statewide, and hunters realistically have an opportunity at one no matter where they hunt."

No doubt that's true, but Fox got pushed to be a little more specific concerning the state's better places for running into a trophy buck.

"When it comes to whitetails, Unit 16 is our most highly sought-after unit, especially by non-residents," he said. "And the interest is due directly to exposure that part of the state receives in magazine stories, videos and on TV shows.

"Honestly, however, units 10 and 14 are just as good. I call those our best three for whitetails," Fox added, "and in no particular order."

His top units for big mule deer are, as you might imagine, in western Kansas -- specifically, units 1, 2, 3 and 17.

As noted in the first part of this year's deer preview (see the October issue), the KDWP has spent plenty of time in recent years managing the Sunflower State's deer resource to get on top of populations. Fox and his coworkers seem to have been quite successful in their efforts, and that's going to mean good things for hunters after mature bucks this season.

A big reason for that is lower deer density. And the lower density is borne out (near-pun not intended) by what Fox sees occurring in the field. "Our does that are at least 1 1/2 years old are producing two fawns," he noted. "None of them are going unbred; none of them are not carrying a fawn. They are very productive. We're not seeing single fawns in does that are at least 1 1/2 years old."

Biologists will tell you that such healthy production signals low deer densities. Those densities resulted from hunters listening to the KDWP and focusing on doe harvest. Younger bucks have thus been passed, and that in turn means that the age structure of Kansas' deer herd looks better.

The bottom line for hunters: More bucks are getting a chance to grow to maturity. In states like Kansas, it's not unusual for 2 1/2-year-old bucks to begin growing some pretty nice racks. In a story in this magazine a couple of months ago, outfitter Jeff Stevens, talked about 135- to 140-class bucks that are only 2 1/2.

No question, then, that hunters across Kansas are going to have better chances to see nice bucks this season than even three or four years ago. And it wasn't too bad back then!