Yeah, just about everywhere you look. You may have glanced at the Top Trophy-Buck Counties map and wondered why almost all the Green River counties are shaded for high potential. The reason is that they provide big bucks consistently, year after year after year. Historically, there's no better place in Kentucky to encounter a wallhanger whitetail than in this richly agricultural section of our state, so perfectly suited for deer.

While other regions have big years and small years, the Green River counties produce every time.

If a county is off the list this year, it's usually back on the next -- with a record book buck. If history repeats itself, then this region is also one of the best to consider for the hunter seeking a trophy whitetail in 2007 . . . and beyond.

BLUEGRASS REGION
In 2005, Bluegrass Region deer hunters had a bit of a dry year for big bucks. But they got on track last season, according to the KDFWR's official list of B&Cs from 2006.

Trophy bucks jumped from three to nine, again, with some very interesting developments that you need to stay on top of.

Most hunters know that Pendleton County claims Kentucky's best-ever typical buck taken: At the end of the day, Robert Smith came home with his record-book dream-fulfilling 204 2/8 buck -- top 10 in the world.

Over the years, this little county along the Ohio River has produced many trophy-caliber bucks. The 2006 season proved once again that Pendleton County is a hotbed for big bucks anywhere in Kentucky, not in just the Bluegrass Region alone.

Eddie Manning's 169 5/8 typical gun kill and Brandon Bruin's 165 0/8 buck are two more reasons to explore some territory in this area this season, for sure.

But you won't want to stop looking there, in the mid-part of the state.

It's tough to swing permission to hunt on farms in Fayette and Bourbon counties, where extensive horse operations cover much of the land. So you might think it rather strange for me to recommend that you give it a try. Yet it's hard to argue with the facts.

Each of these counties has very limited typical deer habitat, compared to what you'll find in more urban counties. The Bluegrass Region's interior counties aren't generally thought of as top places to find trophy whitetails because they contain so much open, rolling pasture. But as we know, the whitetail is a very adaptable species, capable of doing quite well even in landscapes with fragmented habitat.

But in these two counties, some spots here and there held bucks of a lifetime for three hunters last season -- and for one the season before. In the last two seasons, Fayette and Bourbon counties have yielded two trophies apiece.

It's time to start scanning those big, open fields for more than the next Derby winner. There are some big, big bucks on some of these farms. And if they can, bowhunters especially should be forging some friendships with landowners in this region.

Judging by recent trophy kills, other spots in this region to consider will include Grant County. There, Matthew Jones took Kentucky's top reported muzzleloader non-typical kill -- a 185-class buck.

There too, Rick Pelphrey harvested the top typical muzzleloader from Trimble County when his 165 3/8 buck hit the ground.

True, Bluegrass Region hunters may have to contend with more surrounding pressure than other areas. But that doesn't mean the potential for big bucks isn't present.

Remember that counties in this region have some of the highest deer densities in Kentucky. And when that's the case, just because more deer are present, a buck has a higher chance of making it untouched through three or four seasons.