Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series.

DICKINSON CENTER, N.Y. - How would you like to hunt Canada-sized deer without having to go all the way to Canada or pay Canada-hunt prices?

"If you drive around here during the rut to the places where they're having bug buck contests, I'm telling you you'll see deer hanging that are every bit as big as Saskatchewan deer," said Anthony Platoni, owner of BuckLore Hunting Adventures.

BuckLore operates in the foothills of the Adirondacks, 20 miles from the Canada border, about an hour northwest of Lake Placid. Hunts are conducted in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, which are two of New York's northernmost counties.

It's an eight-hour drive from Lancaster County, and BuckLore's fully-guided deer hunts this year went for $850 for five days hunting, with lodging and three meals per day that are fit for a king. Next year the hunts will cost $950, but that's still a bargain.

You pretty much have to fly into Saskatchewan, where deer hunts average $3,000.

So why haven't you heard of deer hunting in northern New York like you have in Saskatchewan?

Good question. I never heard of it either, until this year.

When my hunting buddy Tom Tatum called me last year and asked if I wanted to join him on a weeklong bowhunt the first week of October this fall in northern New York, I said, "Where?"

"Nobody knows about this area," said Platoni, who has operated BuckLore since 1997 with his companion, Dolores Rice. "Everybody knows about deer hunting in Canada, bear hunting in Maine and turkey hunting in southern New York. We've got all that right here and the hunting is just as good, if not better, than it is in those other places."

After my recent bowhunt with BuckLore, I believe it won't be long before northern New York becomes the newest "have-to-go-there" destination on North America's hunting map.

And since BuckLore is one of the only guide services in the region, they are gatekeepers to this land of opportunity.

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The foothills of the Adirondacks in northern New York is a sparsely populated area.

There are some working farms. There seem to be even more abandoned farms.

"You have six months of hard winter here," Platoni said. "And I mean hard. You have several days each year that are 40 below. A lot of people move up here, and then realize that they can't stand the winters."

The landscape resembles Canadian bush country. The forest vegetation is thick and the trees aren't very tall.

Tatum and I took our climbing tree stands on the trip, even though Platoni said we probably wouldn't be able to use them. "We don't have trees suitable for climbing stands," he said.

When we saw the timber, we immediately realized he was right. The trees were too short and the forests were too thick, so we hunted from Platoni's ladder and hanging stands posted on field edges.

Even if we found a tree to climb, we couldn't have climbed more than 15 feet or we wouldn't have been able to see more than 10 feet in any direction.

Big country, lots of cover, few people, harsh winters. That's a recipe for growing big deer anywhere.

Add to those factors, Platoni said, a host of predators, including black bears, bobcats and coyotes, that love venison.

"Our deer are healthy," Platoni said. "If they're not, they get eaten by something. You don't see wounded or skinny deer around here."

The largest deer ever shot by a BuckLore hunter tipped the scales at 240 pounds, dressed. That's a 300-pounder on the hoof.

"We have bigger ones, too," Platoni said. "But you don't see them every day."

One of the first things Platoni and Rice realized when they opened shop was that it's hard for visiting hunters to pursue mammoth bucks after driving past field after field of big deer.

Platoni said there are plenty of magazine-cover bucks living on the thousands of acres he either owns or leases, but it takes a determined hunter to bag one.

He has a rack from such a buck hanging on the wall of the guest lodge. The bases of the antlers are about as thick as the handle of a baseball bat and the mass carries throughout the rack. Many points stick out in all directions.

"Those deer live in the swamps," he said. "There aren't a whole lot of deer there, so you might sit for a whole week and see three deer, But when you see a buck, it's usually a real hog."

To appease most deer hunters, Platoni leases farm fields where the deer aren't quite as big, but are far more numerous.

"It's easier for a guy to sit on a stand when he's seeing 20 deer every time he goes out," he said.

St. Lawrence County in 2002 and 2001 ranked fourth among all counties in new York for its buck kill - 5,664 last year and 6,161 the year before.

The three counties ahead of St. Lawrence are all in the extreme southwest corner of the state abutting Pennsylvania.

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Platoni and Rice didn't just stumble into the fine hunting country of northern New York for their BuckLore operation.

The couple studied many parts of the U.S. while they lived in West Chester in the mid 1990s.

An avid archer, Rice operated a graphic arts business out of her home in the Chester County borough. She designed the business logo for Lancaster Archery Supply when she lived and worked in the area.

Platoni worked as a taxidermist after owning his own restaurant in Virginia and working as a chef for Marriot hotels. (The latter explains the fantastic dining at BuckLore).

During their search for a home for their dream guide-service operation, the two quickly zeroed in on Maine, Minnesota and northern New York, because part of the business had to include bear hunting.

Platoni is a bona fide bear nut.
"Bears are the smartest animals in the woods, no question," he said. "You have to be totally committed to get a bear.

Fortunately for BuckLore's bear hunters, Platoni is totally committed. He's the reason for their success.

Rice said Platoni starts baiting his bear stands in April so that the animals are conditioned to frequent those areas come the September hunting season.

"First he goes every three days, then every other day, then every day as the season gets closer," she said. "He really works hard at it."

Last month, 11 BuckLore hunters killed 10 bears - the largest weighing 400 pounds.

"It was a good season," Platoni said.

The deer season in New York's north zone runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 17 for archery; Oct. 11-17 and Dec. 8-14 for muzzleloader; and Oct. 18 through Dec. 7 for rifle.

BuckLore books hunts for all three seasons. For information on the operation, go to www.bucklore.com or call Platoni at (518) 856-0138.


Next Week: My bowhunt for a trophy, northern New York buck.