An observation? If your name is Dan, and you have a place to hunt in the Purchase Region, you're this year's odds-on favorite to score a really big, chart-topping non-typical.

(For the rest of us, perhaps name changes are in order -- as well as some work to get permission on a farm in this region.)

And there's more to note for the Purchase Region, and for Christian County in particular.

Christian County accounted for a big 189 3/8 non-typical in 2005 as well. And Randy Green added a big typical in 2006 that missed the B&C All-Time record (of 170 or better) by a half-inch. Nevertheless, his 169 4/8 bruiser demonstrates that this county has a good trend going into the 2007 season. So keep your eyes open!

Elsewhere in the Purchase Region, Tony Moore stroked the top non-typical bow kill reported for 2006, with a big daddy 185 2/8 that placed his name in the B&C Awards Book.

His buck came out of Crittenden County, one of a handful of counties that has shown trophy-buck potential year after year. It is always highlighted on the maps indicating counties with high potential. The season before, Crittenden gave up the fourth biggest non-typical. Like last season, ironically, it was the top bow kill in 2005.

When the smoke cleared from his muzzleloader in Lyon County last year, David Stevens made the All-Time B&C Club listings with his 170 5/8 typical, rounding out a solid showing for big bucks in the Purchase Region. Many of the bucks qualifying as trophies last year weren't necessarily in the "top" 10 or 15 ranked scores. But all four bucks taken in the Purchase were.

There is good-quality habitat in most of these counties. A lot of crops are grown in this region, giving whitetail bucks the boost they need to generate those record-book antler lengths and circumferences.

"The Purchase seems to kick out three or four trophy-class whitetails each season," said Yancy. "But I believe the potential for more is probably there.

"In recent years," the biologist said, "almost every county has been represented on the list. Perhaps after the 2007 season we will be able to legitimately shade in another county or two on the map for best trophy potential counties in this region."

Yancy's prediction is certainly supported by the "pattern" we described earlier. It's clearly there in the Purchase Region from several angles. Better give this region a hard look this season.

GREEN RIVER REGION
The Green River Region tied for top trophy-producing honors in 2006, with a whopping 11 bucks making the elite cut of being considered trophy whitetails -- out of more than 63,000 bucks taken statewide last fall.

That translates into the top 2 percent of all bucks taken, and so is a remarkable achievement indeed. The Green River Region gives up quality bucks consistently, over and over.

Here's what I'm talking about.

The Green River Region -- and more specifically, Paul Campbell -- claimed the top bow kill in 2006 with a tremendous 192 4/8 buck from Warren County that got things rolling. Hulen Sanders' 176 0/8 Grayson County buck was the best typical from the region, ranking third of all typicals last year.

John Wilcox added a second typical, again from Grayson County. It scored 165 1/8 and helped the Green River Region tie with the Northeast Region for best trophy production last season.

The eight other big bucks from this region that topped Kentucky's charts came from Hopkins, McLean, Union, Edmonson, Todd, Butler, Logan and Hancock counties. Now -- as if we needed another impressive statistic about the Green River Region's trophy-buck potential, consider this:

In the last two seasons alone, at least one B&C Club qualifier has been reported taken -- are you ready? -- in 16 of the 22 counties that make up the Green River Region.