I guess I should chime in because I grew up hunting Otsego and Montgomery counties..basically from 1990 to the present. In late 2002, I moved to Chautauqua.

Here's my take, none of which is in response to any earlier post by anyone...

There are big bucks in all areas of this state and hunting pressure is relatively the same. But, there is no comparison between the density of mature bucks we have in the west versus the east. And there are 2 reasons...cover and soil quality. There is much more cover in the west. There really isn't even a comparison. Now, there are very thick areas out east. But it's a patchwork. In the west, it's more consistent.

This leads to older deer. Period. I equate it to this...if you push a woods in the east, you might put out a 2.5 year old buck, but odds are it will be a yearling buck. In the west, the same push might put out a 3.5 year old, but odds are it will be a 2.5 or 1.5.

There is good active agriculture in all areas of the state. I'm not a soil specialist, but generally the soils get better as you go west i believe. Cover is the biggest factor in my eyes though.

You can take a good buck every year in the east if you do your homework year round. IT's much harder though. My buddy archery killed a 135 8pointer in otsego county in 1995. IT's still top 2 or 3 all time according to NYSBBC. That's hands down a deer of a lifetime there. A deer falls like that every year here however. I got a 125 1/8 in montgomery county in 2002 that is still top 5 for achery i believe. A deer likee that out west won't even come close to charting in the top 100. The NYBBC record book clearly indicates that some counties are better than others.

In my opinion, you could sit for years in a stand out east looking for a 140 and not find him. That doesn't mean there's not one there. It just means that the odds are lower than in other areas. There might be one there every dozen years or something, where as here it might be every 5.

This is just my opinion...but i've spent considerable time all over the state. I lived and hunted in Syracuse for 7 years as well. These are my observations.

In closing, I have to mention that my dad was in town Thanksgiving morning when i got my buck. When he met up with me in the timber, the first thing i said was 'dad, it was really hard moving away from you and mom, but I'm sooo happy I get to hunt here now'