What’s the key to harvesting Monster Bucks consistently? It would have to be finding them, right? It doesn’t matter if you are the best bowhunter on earth and you can hit a paper plate consistently at 100 yards on every shot, if he doesn’t live where you hunt you won’t kill him! There’s an argument for scouting too, you can’t shoot a giant year in and year out unless you put your time in and burn up some shoe leather figuring out what they do and how they do it! What about the element of surprise? Could the key to wrapping your tag around a giant rack every fall be a stealthy, secretive hunting strategy where the buck your after never knew you were there? It’s tough to decide what’s most important when it comes to hunting Dominant Bucks. My success has come from paying strict attention to detail, and all the tactics above have played a huge role in my sucess. I’ve always believed that the more I can do to “stack the deck” in my favor would have to increase my chances on harvesting giant bucks. It seems like in this day and age, everybody is looking for that one thing that will bring them success overnight, that one magic lure, that one product that will make them virtually scent free, or some gimmick that will bring the bucks running. I don’t believe such a product exists, and you get out of it what you put in, it takes a lot of work, but man is the reward worth it!
I guess you really need to ask yourself a question, what is it worth to me? What are you willing to do to shoot a giant buck? How much time and energy are you willing to put in to tag a giant? We all have limited time and funds, some more than others, and different levels of responsibility to our families and jobs. I know, I’m a little different the than the average guy, and spend more time than most in the field. Remember this though, all of my columns are written from years of trial and error, in the field experiences and based on solid facts that have worked for me. I don’t own my own property, and when I hunt out of state, I normally don’t hunt with an outfitter. When I do, I do my own scouting and hang my own stands. My point here is this, what I do and the success I have in the field can be duplicated by any one of you, its not rocket science and I’m by no means smarter than the average bear. I’m patient, persistent, and willing to put the time and effort in to reap the rewards. You can too! I have been laying it out for you, step by step, the exact tactics that I use year round to locate, scout, and surgically remove giant bucks from the face of the earth. It’s not a secret, there are no magic lures in my bag of tricks, no gimmicks, and I’m not 100% scent free! Please go back and read my past columns, what has worked for me will help you too, I don’t make a living at writing, I’m doing it to help others enjoy the success I have had.
It’s like a game of chess, your opponent is a survival expert, and you have to predict his moves two, three, even four steps ahead of time. You have to anticipate with some amount of certainty, what he’s going to do before he ever does it! There’s no way you can do this without putting your time in! You know, I’d rather be lucky than good anyday, sometimes they come easy but never consistently easy! Next week, I’ll discuss spooking big bucks and some tips on what to do when it happens and why in some rare circumstances you may want to do it intentionally.
