Habitat in the western part of District One consists largely of expansive crop fields with smaller woodlots, which means deer populations are relatively easy to control here. Although there are some good bucks, deer tend to be killed before they get old enough to grow trophy racks.

Deer tend to be more of a problem to landowners along the eastern side of the district. They are especially likely to admit hunters who will agree to kill does.

The 2004-05 harvest of 10,103 bucks in this district represented a decline of nearly 9 percent from the previous year's take, and only two of the 13 counties in the district increased their buck kills. Knox County, which ranked second in the district and eighth in the state, rose 3 percent, from 2,108 bucks to 2,173 bucks. Marion County increased by 13 percent from 293 bucks to 331 bucks, enough to rank 19th from the bottom.

Licking County led the district with a harvest of 2,334 bucks, ranking fifth in the state, although the kill last season was a 6-percent decline from the year before.

DISTRICT TWO
District Two had the biggest buck harvest gain in the state last year, up nearly 19 percent from 8,685 bucks to 10,292 bucks. Eight counties showed declines, but some of the other 12 counties showed considerable improvements. Allen County went up 85 percent, as did Defiance County (32 percent), Hancock County (54 percent), Hardin County (31 percent), Richland County (21 percent), Seneca County (32 percent), Williams County (36 percent), Wyandot County (27 percent) and Henry County, which showed a whopping 112 percent increase.

OHIO'S TOP 20 TROPHY DEER COUNTIES
County	2004 Qualifiers	Total BBBC Qualifiers
1. Licking	39	487
2. Muskingum	30	500
3. Knox	20	223
4. Jefferson	19	246
5. Ashland	19	148
6. Fairfield	18	258
7. Tuscarawas	18	214
8. Coshocton	17	293
9. Columbiana	17	147
10. Logan	16	130
11. Ashtabula	14	101
12. Washington	14	272
13. Richland	14	151
14. Athens	13	311
15. Guernsey	13	311
16. Delaware	13	167
17. Adams	12	117
18. Highland	12	137
19. Harrison	11	179
20. Ross	11	258
21. Hamilton	11	71

Even so, this district accounted for 12 percent of the state's buck harvest. Richland County led the district with a take of 1,447 bucks, ranking 25th in the state.

Tim Plageman, the District Two wildlife management supervisor, explained that a few years ago regulations were set that allowed hunters to take deer of either sex for the first two days of the season. This was calculated to increase the deer population by some 5 percent per year. Now hunters may take deer of either sex all week long during the gun season.

"This year, because the buck harvest per square mile showed the herd was under control, it is back to one deer per hunter except in Hardin and Hancock counties," Plageman said. "That's the whole concept of harvest management. One of the things it's based on is buck harvest per square mile. If the buck harvest goes up per square mile you know the herd is going up."

DISTRICT THREE
According to Keith Morrow, Ohio's District Three wildlife management supervisor, trophy hunting was exceptional during the 2004-05 hunting seasons.

Morrow said that hunters can take trophy bucks anywhere in Ohio.

"If you're looking for a big buck and you're willing to beat the bush you can find them," he noted.

Ashland and Jefferson counties led the region and tied for fourth in the state with 19 entries in the Buckeye Big Buck Club this year. Columbiana County was in a tie for eighth in the state with 17 new entries.

Hunters harvested 21,488 bucks in District Three last year, a 1 percent increase over the year before.

Leading the way was Tuscarawas County; with 2,438 bucks, a 5 percent jump from the 2003-04 seasons, it ranked fourth in the state. Next was Jefferson County with 2,3156 bucks, sixth in the state but just 1 percent above the previous year. Harrison County ranked third in the district and 11th in the state with 1,902 bucks, but that was a 5 percent drop from the previous year.

District Three has a large share of Ohio's human population, but it also has several tracts of public land and good deer habitat. Hunting pressure gets very heavy on these public lands though, especially since antlerless hunting opportunities have increased.

For more information about deer hunting, write the Ohio Division of Wildlife's headquarters at 1840 Belcher Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43224-1329, call (614) 265-6300, or visit the agency's Web site at www.ohiodnr.com.

For travel information, contact the Ohio Division of Travel and Tourism, visit the agency Web site at www.OhioTourism.com, or call 1-800-BUCKEYE.