Also, hunters who pass up smaller legal bucks will have a better chance of tagging a trophy-class one. Remember, you don't have to shoot your buck on opening day!

"Across much of the state, there was generally a mild winter," Rosenberry noted. "So there wasn't a lot of winter stress on the animals, compared to colder years accompanied by ice, heavy snow and rain.

"Overall, I would say this season is probably not going to be much different than last year. Thanks to the reduced harvest in 2007, there may be more bigger bucks."

A study recently completed in Pennsylvania, now being used as a model by other states, essentially proved that most of those bucks that survive the hunting season will live until the next hunting season.

That study began at roughly the same time that the new antler restrictions were imposed.

"I think one of the key results we saw there was that the antler restrictions were doing just what we intended them to do -- protect most of the yearlings from harvest, and then make most of the older bucks available for harvest," said Rosenberry.

"Based on our study, that's exactly what happened."

It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that many of the 2 1/2-year-old bucks that escaped the hunters last season will be 3 1/2 years old this fall -- with even bigger antlers.

"The other thing we saw in the study was that Pennsylvania hunters were willing to be abide by the antler restrictions and adapt to them," Rosenberry said.

WHERE TO HUNT?
So where should you expect to find the biggest bucks and the biggest racks this fall?

"Other than the traditional areas in Pennsylvania, the 4-point area obviously shows better antler growth than any other part of the state," Rosenberry said.

"That's the reason why it's the 4-point area. The Southeast Region is one place in the state that should have some larger bucks.

"That area that has had some better antler growth as well."

Though the Pittsburgh region comprises only a small part of the Special Regulations Area, it has yielded the greatest number of bucks on Pennsylvania's record list. Also, a lot of record-list bucks that have been taken in the Southwest Region come from outside the Special Regulations Area.

"That's a 4-point area, so it's an area where you expect better antler growth," Rosenberry said. "And also, the Allegheny County area is probably part of an access issue.

"More deer in that area are getting older than they would in areas where hunters might have better opportunities or more public land."

Also, a lot of bucks made it through the last hunting season because hunters chose to not kill deer in the EHD outbreak area.

"I would say that has to do with the fact that the animals are getting older in the western region than they would in other places.

"Plus, that is a 4-point area, so a lot of bucks are missed or passed. That's why we have the 4-point restrictions, versus the 3-point."

Hunters looking for the best public lands for hunting big bucks should consider state game lands in the Southwest Region, west of the main mountain ridges.

For more information about deer hunting in the Quaker State, you contact the Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797. Or call (717) 787-4250, or check the agency's Web site at www.pgc.state.pa.us.