Northampton County was No. 3, with 2,138 antlered bucks and an ABHPSM of 4.91. The environment is similar to the Caswell County deer habitats. The Roanoke River watershed provides fertile soils for good antler growth, and numerous hunting club leases exist, many of which are through timber companies. The Roanoke River Wetlands Game Land also provides a small parcel for public hunting.

Halifax County was No. 5, with a total buck harvest of 2,544 and an ABHPSM of 4.52. Habitat is similar to Northampton County, with Swift Creek watershed and the Roanoke River bottomlands providing fertile soils. There are no public game lands in Halifax County. But there are plenty of hunting clubs on leased lands.

Granville County came in at No. 4, with 1,493 antlered bucks and an ABHPSM of 4.54. Vance County was No. 6, with 660 antlered bucks and an ABHPSM of 4.17. Person County came in at No. 7, with 1,042 antlered bucks and an ABHPSM of 3.89. Wake County came in at No. 8, with 1,238 antlered bucks and an ABHPSM of 3.80.

These are all counties in the same geographic area that have relatively fertile soils and high-density human populations. Hunting pressure is high, leading to a high buck harvest from the propensity of hunters to select bucks over does, and all of these counties have many deer.

Several game lands are in these counties. Granville and Wake have much of the Butner-Falls of the Neuse Game Land within their boundaries. The game land has 43,959 acres that also extend into Durham County. The 41,213-acre Jordan Game Land provides plenty of deer hunting in Wake County, but also extends into Chatham, Durham and Orange counties. Person County has some excellent public hunting at the Lee Game Land, with 2,421 acres, and the Hyco Game Land, which has 4,229 acres.

Alamance County came in at No. 9, with an antlered-buck harvest of 903 and ABHPSM of 3.79. The Haw River bottomlands provide fertile habitat and the Cane Creek Mountains provide mixed habitats for deer.

Franklin County was No. 10, with an antlered-buck harvest of 1,350 and ABHPSM of 3.79. The 1,625-acre Shocco Creek Game Land provides some public hunting opportunities for deer. Franklin County deer habitat is similar to other top 10 Piedmont counties like Wake and Granville that are in the same geographic area.

With the deer herd "filling" its habitat though most of the state, the one thing that is becoming obvious is that the top buck counties lie along the North Carolina-Virginia border. These are all Coastal Plain, Piedmont and mountain counties that are oriented in the northern part of the state.

Nevertheless, there are other places that produce nice bucks. For hunters who want to stick close to home, there are still excellent places to hunt in other regions of the state. Impressive deer are coming from all parts of the state, especially on intensively managed lands with food plots and high doe harvests.

If hunters living in each district consider where the nearest county is located that has a high antlered-buck harvest based on the statistics, they should increase their odds for taking a trophy buck this season.

Find more about North Carolina fishing and hunting at: NCgameandfish.com