Although mild weather and noisy hunting conditions have resulted in fewer deer tracks at most tagging stations in this neck of the woods, hunters have registered some “ol’ baster” bucks. Last weekend, wildlife biologist Brad Allen and I followed the paved trails leading to area tagging stations and bagged the following information.

As of Saturday morning, 58 hunters had tagged deer at Roger’s Market in Hudson. Last year, the crossroads store recorded the obituaries of 122 whitetails. A hunter who left the woods only minutes earlier told us deer were plentiful in the area but so were coyotes. “The woods are awful noisy,” he said. “I heard a buck walking this morning – I could hear his antlers slapping the alders – but I didn’t get a look at him. I didn’t dare move on the frozen leaves. He would have been gone with the first crunch.”

The store was bright with the spirit of deer season as hunters clad in blaze-orange stopped in. And can you believe that when two hunters walked in carrying rifles no one fainted or held up their hands? Ah, Maine, the way life should be.

A few miles farther north, the Bradford General Store’s game-registration chart showed 49 bucks, including a 250-pounder, 30 does, and five bears. Also marked was a string of about 25 “almosts.”

You probably know that country stores are well-stocked with local information. The Bradford establishment is no exception. Saturday morning’s conversations were as varied as the calibers of deer rifles. One man’s claim that there isn’t half as many deer thereabouts as there were 15 years ago was countered by a hunter’s assertion that he saw deer every day he hunted and had counted nine the previous morning.

When the hunter explained none of the deer he saw would make a hatrack, the discussion moved to the matter of does being shot and left in the woods. Eventually, the conversation sighted in on wildlife biologists and outdoor writers. That’s when Brad and I wished everyone “good luck” and left.

In East Corinth, the registration book at the Shur-Fine Foods Store showed the signatures of 92 hunters. The woman tending the cash register said about 160 deer were tagged at the store last year. She also allowed there didn’t seem to be as many out-of-state hunters this year. “They’re all going to Pennsylvania where they can shoot four,” she said jokingly. ‘Course you know one of our Maine bucks would weigh more than four of those Pennsylvania “flippers.”

The half-season tally at the Stetson Variety Store showed 67 whitetails – 36 bucks, 31 does – had contributed to the total deer kill for 1993. Heavyweight honors went to a buck weighing 210 pounds. While we were at the store, Richard and Rebecca Oliver of Plymouth registered two fine does. “They walked onto us in a chopping,” said Richard. “There were a couple more does with them. Must’ve been a buck around, but we both had doe permits – so,” he added through a smile, “no more early mornings.”

At the Corner Country Store in Levant, the game count is 54 bucks, 20 does, two bears. Obviously, there are a lot of corners hereabouts. The registration book at the Country Corner Variety in Etna showed 30 deer. The majority, of course, were bucks.

Dick’s Mini Mart in Carmel had written the death certificates of 68 deer – 47 bucks, 21 does – during the past two weeks. Last year, almost to the day, the Carmel checking station registered 101 deer. A total of 179 deer were tagged there during the 1992 season.

Sixty-four deer were recorded at the Plymouth Village Store, where, in the lunch room, Brad and I cut the trail of Tobey Martin of Orono and two hunting partners. Tobey said he hadn’t had occasion to squint through his sights yet, but the afternoon’s hunting was ahead of them. From the size of the lunch he packed away it was obvious he planned to sit out until dark. You can bet Allen Ashley of Carmel has his sights set on winning the Plymouth store’s “Biggest Buck Contest” prize, a .30-06 rifle fitted with a scope. Ashley registered an eight-point, 210-pounder.

The half-season score at Oz’s General Store in Dixmont was 84 deer. When asked for the weight of the heaviest buck, the store attendant and several hunters answered in unison, “We don’t know, someone stole the scales.” Can you believe it? During our visit, Ken Tansey of Waterville registered an eight-point buck and Val Labrie Jr. of Norridgewock entered a doe in the 1993 deer-hunting yearbook.

McK’s Variety in West Hampden reported 40 deer tagged up until the present time, as they say, with one buck topping 200 pounds and several only a few pounds off the mark.

Orrington’s Kozy Korner Store appeared to have the corner on big bucks. Of the 38 deer registered there, 34 were bucks, including seven topping 200 pounds. Among the hunters who hauled the heavyweights out of the woods was Pete Pelletier, who picks up his paycheck in the BDN’s composing room. Pete dropped a 206-pounder toting 14-point antlers. Also tagging 200-pound-plus bucks were: Scott Cookson, 205; Don Barrett, 210; Jon Archer, 225; Wayne Dear, 225; Patrick Allen, 200; Richard Guy, 205. They build ’em big over Orrington way, don’t they?

As of Saturday, 75 hunters recorded their successes at JD’s Island Market on Verona Island. Most of the deer were shot in the Bucksport-Orland area. The biggest buck registered at the island landmark was a 235-pound, 12-pointer tagged by Ervin Dumont. As an aside, a chalk board in the store showed Paul Webster of Bucksport had entered a 156 1/2-pound doe in the Champion Paper Mill’s “Biggest Buck and Doe Contest.” Webster shot the huge doe in the Greenville area.

Word at JD’s market was that hunters were seeing a lot of does and fawns and were concerned about too many bucks being killed. I have to say I share their concerns, but I’ll leave that judgment to Gerry Lavigne, deer-project leader for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. So far, his projects and annual predictions have been pretty much on target, including this year’s forecast for an abundance of big bucks.