Last month, in Part 1 of our annual Mid-Atlantic Deer Forecast, we looked at the overall white-tailed deer situation in each of the three states that make up the region.

The objective was to paint an accurate picture on the current deer-management situation in each state, and to offer up a game plan: What areas with public access provide the best options to take a deer . . . or two?

If putting venison in the freezer was the slant of last month's feature, this one is geared toward putting a trophy on the wall. While the term "trophy" may vary according to the eye of the beholder, here we are considering an older age-class buck, one that's grown an extra year or two at least beyond the age of the yearling bucks so often taken in many areas.

Deer management is an ever-evolving process. The basic premise of most plans is to manage deer within the available habitat, but it's not that simple. Many social and political issues come into play. Agricultural and forestry folks may feel an "adequate" number of deer is far fewer than what sportsmen feel is proper. Suburbanites who find deer browsing on their expensive shrubbery quickly form opinions too.

Modern deer-management plans attempt to address not only the balancing act between deer and habitat, but must also take into consideration the views of the various camps that deer populations affect.

Antler restrictions are yet another aspect of deer management closely tied to trophy buck hunting. Some states have tried some form of antler restriction in an attempt to allow bucks to live longer, and hence grow larger racks.

Philosophies vary from state to state, as do types of antler restrictions in the states that use them. Points-per-side is one form of antler restriction. Minimum spread width is another.

New Jersey has established point-per-side antler restrictions in a few of its deer-management zones, but has yet to see a substantial increase in the age structure of bucks.

Delaware's Quality Buck Tag is another example of an effort to increase the numbers of older bucks. The Quality Buck Tag allows the harvest of a buck with a minimum spread of at least 15 inches, which can be gauged in the field by a rack that extends beyond the animal's ears. Such tags allow the harvest of additional bucks without putting more pressure on yearling bucks.

While public lands tend to be pressured much more than private lands, the quest of putting venison on the table is still a very viable option on most public spots. But for trophy hunting, the odds are much better for the sportsman who has access to private land -- for the obvious reason that bucks in such areas tend to live longer.

That's not to say that big public-land bucks don't exist, however. With fair regularity, large bucks come from places open to the general public. Often such areas feature lots of acreage and/or tough cover. Many hunters won't venture more than a few hundred yards from a road, so places where you can "get back in," away from the crowds, will offer deer a bit of a sanctuary.

With all this in mind, let's take a more specific look at the trophy buck component of deer hunting in the Mid-Atlantic region.