It's always satisfying when you target a specific animal in your preseason scouting and then successfully harvest that animal. I had watched this nice buck from a distance on several occasions prior to the season, including just two days before the opener, when he was still in full velvet. At that time I could see there was something unusual about his rack, but couldn't tell exactly what until walking up to him after the shot. On September 1, the season commenced and I headed for his bailiwick late in the afternoon. He showed up on cue with two of his lesser buddies, one of which was acquired by Mike later in the season.
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This is one of the two bucks that accompanied the 5-point described above; although he doesn't have a very large rack, note its relative width. Mike wanted to keep his eye on the does that were hanging around this area and, just when the rut was heating up in mid November, the buck showed up to check the current state of affairs. Unfortunately for him, Mike was waiting.
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It pays to have a number of good areas to hunt, so you can rotate locations and give each more rest days than days hunted, or change plans on the spur of the moment should conditions so dictate. Three days after Mike shot his deer, I got this one from the same ground blind that we took two others from in 1994.
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Well, location 1 produced even more. November 24 was the second-last day of the season and the rut was in full swing. Aaron wanted to check out the same area that had been hot for us this year. We arrived a couple hours before the anticipated evening activity but this buck was already standing in a field in full view! It was just a matter of working into position for a good shot.
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