Photo by Mark Werner

You can't eat horns.

That lament pretty much sums up the attitude of the old-timers, the group of lifelong deer hunters who took me under their wing back in the early 1970s.

It's not really that hard to see why. These men had lived most of their lives during times when deer numbers were low -- a few of them went back to the 1930s, when, biologists estimate, fewer than 500 whitetails haunted the entire state -- and their focus was on killing a deer, period.

"You hunt for horns, and you'll spend most of your time bringing home nothing." Earl Clark said one night as we sat in front of the crackling fireplace in his living room.

I had just expressed my youthful opinion that I was going after bigger bucks that particular season. Arkansas, at the time was going through a 25-year drought when not a single buck was registered with the Boone and Crockett Club.

Nevertheless, in 1974 I was lucky enough to take a big 10-point buck, which I scored many years later at 137 5/8 B&C points. That old ridgerunner tipped the scales at 172 pounds, dressed, which was almost unheard of in the mountains at time.

As all hunters know, news about a big buck being taken travels fast, and by the time Earl and I had him hanging up under the overhang of his smokehouse it seemed like half the county was there to look! What I never forgot was that every single one of the old-timers instantly claimed that buck as his own. Each of them had some part in its taking, and took considerable pride in the fact. Junior Clayton had told me about it; King Frost had showed me how to get to the ridge where it stayed; Tommy Stewart had helped me sight in my rifle; and of course, Earl had helped me dress it out.

That episode taught me a lesson. They may have all been meat hunters, but it was that one big buck that they talked about for years to come!

What does it take to produce a big buck? Most folks have heard of the components of the "Big Buck Equation": Age + Genes + Food = Big Bucks.

For most of my lifetime, age was most often the missing ingredient. As late as the 1996 season, 75 percent of the annual statewide kill consisted of 1 1/2-year-old bucks. 1998's so-called "3-point rule" changed that, and whether you love antler restrictions or hate them, one rock-solid fact persists: Kill a buck at 1 1/2, and he'll never see 4 1/2!

There were other problems as well. In most regions, herd genetics were terrible. This was a result of decades of bucks-only hunting, which had left buck-to-doe ratios as high as 1:10 (or even higher) in some areas.

I remember one day in the 1980s sitting in a Dallas County box blind that overlooked a green food plot. About an hour before dark the exodus started, with deer after deer pouring into the opening from the surrounding pine plantations. For a mountain boy more used to seeing a deer or two a day, if any, it was a very illuminating experience, and I sat there like a kid in a candy store. But looking back, what I now mostly remember about that day was that of all 51 deer I saw were does!

How does that affect genetics? When there are too many does and too few bucks, even the most genetically inferior bucks are able to breed, owing to the lack of competition. This had over time created a downward spiral in herd quality.

ARKANSAS' "TROPHY TRIANGLE"
So where's the best place to go to kill a big buck? I'm asked that question often.

If you want to go where your chances are best, get an Arkansas map and draw a lopsided triangle with its apex at Little Rock. Extend one arm northeast through Jonesboro, and the other southeast through Pine Bluff.