There are plenty of big bucks roaming the woods, swamps and fields of Minnesota. Those bucks are big for a good reason -- everything about them is tough. Big bucks are tough to locate, tough to pattern and tough to get into range for a shot.

A few Minnesota hunters would also argue that they are tougher to find these days than in the past. While that's an argument best settled over a cold one at deer camp, the fact remains that there are plenty of big bucks taken every year. A few of them are even registered on national listings, such as the Boone and Crockett or Pope and Young clubs.

Last year, seven non-typical and 12 typical Minnesota whitetails were registered with B&C. That means only 19 trophies scoring more than 160 in one year, but the actual number may never be known because, by many estimates, only one-half to one- third of all trophies are ever reported to an official scoring agency. Hunters don't report the trophies for a variety of reasons whether it be because they don't know about it, they don't care, or they don't want people to mess up a good thing.

The state of Minnesota does not keep a count of trophy bucks, only the number of adult males and fawn males that are harvested from each permit area. It is a number based on the assessment as reported by the hunter or the registration station monitor. This means that looking at harvest data for adult males includes large forkhorns, as well as trophy bucks.

Lou Cornicelli, the DNR's big-game program coordinator, said there isn't much public interest in collecting more data about the rack size of deer taken within the state. He also said that trophy whitetails can be found throughout the state, with the highest concentrations in north-central and southeastern Minnesota.

He pointed out the fact that these are the most commonly targeted areas of the state as well. Regions of the state, including the Arrowhead and the greater Twin

Cities metro, hold trophies but aren't as heavily hunted because access is limited. In the Arrowhead, access is limited due to the rugged terrain and lack of roads, while in the metro area, access is limited by urbanization and tons of private property.

TROPHY SEARCHING
Most hunters dream of shooting a massive buck, but only a few actually seriously pursue the dream. It's a dream that is difficult to obtain because those big bucks are so wily and so many of them are located on private land or on public land that is difficult to access.

Is it worth the work to try to harvest a trophy or should a hunter strictly rely on luck? Good question.

Most hunters resort to luck without even realizing it. A report from a conservation officer last year told the story of a rookie hunter who shot a massive 8-pointer a half hour into his very first hunt. As the CO checked the hunter's license and helped him load the deer into his truck, the hunter asked if deer hunting was always that easy.