BILL: I was sad to see in you last article (See last week’s Cochran column) that you did not mention Southwest Virginia counties like Wise, Lee, Scott, Russell [as trophy deer producers]. The National Forest in Southwest Virginia is home to some monster deer. Due to the rough terrain the deer are able to grow and mature.

Also, you must realize that a lot of those big bucks killed in eastern Virginia were done so by the aid of dogs. How fair chase is that? Hunting with dogs for deer goes against Boone and Crockett’s ethics of fair chase.

AARON: My list of top counties to locate a trophy buck wasn’t meant to be exact science, but it is a good indicator of where the big bucks came from last season. As I noted in the column, the counties I listed weren’t the only ones where big bucks can be found. It could be that the counties you mention did not appear on my list because they are so far away from the contest headquarters, in Harrisonburg and Franklin, that hunters don’t bother to take them that far to be measured and registered. The same could be said of the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Boone and Crockett does recognize deer taken during hound hunts, which is a deeply embedded tradition in eastern Virginia.