The stands are pulled , the gear all stored , and my rifle has a fine coating of oil on it to take it through another long off season siesta ; once again deer season is over in most of the whitetails range .Think again! Now is high time to find my buck.

In the last four or five years several things have changed in my approaches to hunting trophy deer. First and foremost is when I do the majority of my hunting. Post season scouting is the best way to find mature whitetails. Inevitably, trophy classed deer that will survive "hole up" during the latter parts of the regular hunting season. It is a survivors game that for the most part trophy bucks win. Dodging bullets and even eliminating any visible encounters with hunters is one thing for a buck, but leaving no trace, impossible.

Where did he go?

On the last day of the season my good friend Wayne Mogy and I are walking out to our best bet stands . On the way in there right on the road, is a track . This is not your typical deer track either, it is well over 4 inches from tip to dew claw and three inches wide. Now were on to something, a survivor! In an extremely taunting manner this buck had strolled right down the main thoroughfare on our property most likely late the night before.

For most hunters tracks head one direction, foreword. My instinct, turn around and see where they come from. By looking back I can start to dechiepher the secrets of security for a big buck. "Where did he come from?", is a better question to ask. Without a doubt the tracks come from a tangled mess slipped neatly into my hunting area. Its in these hideouts that I find the half-time chalkboard with many of the defensive plays scratched out. John Madden couldn't draw it any better!

Suprisingly, it doesn't take long after then guns are stored for a trophy buck to return to his usual routine of travels throughout his range, before this happens it is vital to read the sign. There is a two to four week window of opportunity to plow into these "pressure retreats" and see just how and why your buck survived. Sometimes I hit pay dirt and walk right into the bedroom. With a flurry of crashing, broken branches and glimpses of antler tell me I am home. Spooked? Only for the moment, next year he will be back. Even without the chance encounter with a buck, numerous rubbings both new and old, recent scrapes, and single bedding sites will tip me off to a bucks frequent usage of the area. However, absolutely nothing gets me more excited about the season way off in the distance than a real life post season big buck encounter. After an encounter such as this, many nights will be scents counting tines rather than sheep when I lay my head down.

Forming the Plan:

Out comes my own chalk board, trails are followed, rub lines pin pointed and escape and entry routes figured. At every step I take notice of the wind direction, contours which will affect the wind, and useable approaches to the hideout. Normally there are very few approaches to be had especially around bedding sites. It has also been my experience that very rarely will there be a great choice in trees for stand placement. Sanctuary areas for a big buck seem to occur in areas where the buck can eliminate the fear from above. Finding the right tree in these areas is one of the hardest parts of my game plan.

The Tree:

It is very tempting to follow the heavy trails in these areas pick a stand tree out and conclude that I have just out figured the buck of my dreams. Think again ! Even in these thickest of areas mature buck deer will avoid using well worn paths. He does not hole up here during the late season only to drop his defenses, when in this area he is making straight A's in security school. This is a different hunt than the old rutting buck game. I have to be thorough and locate the secondary use trails , trails used by wary, mature whitetail bucks. Carefully sweeping pine straw and leaves out of the trail many times will reveal the same tracks that led me this far to begin with. I pay particularly close attention to trails that have been used in both directions by the buck. These are favored trails that most likely will be used again next year. Once a good secondary trail is found and followed deep into the thicket its time to pick a tree.

Picking out a tree in these areas usually comes down to taking what you can get. I try and locate a tree that will afford me excellent cover in a normally thin canopy and allow a high enough stand placement to get my scent way above a bucks nose. The tree needs to be downwind or slightly quartering downwind of the secondary buck trails I have found, while the wind position is sure to be less than perfect there is an answer to that problem. If I can get high enough in the tree without standing out like a vulture on a limb my odds are high that I will be able to hunt undetected.

At nosebleed heights, normally twenty five feet or more, cover will be the next important part of my plan. When possible I cradle myself into existing limbs that will fill with leaves in the coming spring, when they fill up with leaves a 2 inch section of the cambium layer of bark can be stripped completely around the limb. This will kill that particular limb and cause the leaves to remain attached to it long after Falls normal leaf drop. Brushible tars are available to cover up the wound to the tree helping to prevent disease and also conceal the fresh looking cuts. These existing limbs and added hunter installed limbs will provide late season cover for my hunting set up.

The Approach:

Approachability is the key to a good stand anywhere I hunt, while hunting pressure retreats for big bucks extremely early,ans quiet approach it is vital . Without a doubt the options of approach will be slim , very little good downwind access, brush and heavy cover, and water obstacles are common. This area was picked by the buck for good reason. I have taken to adopting a deer trail as my way in. Taking a heavily used doe trail and opening it up just enough to allow quiet (nose into the wind) entry is usually the only way in. By letting the does prospect my trail, I am assured of having a good stealthy approach. Does are better at picking trails than me for certain! Many may question this strategy as it could spook deer but later on my adoption of this trail has a very thoughtful purpose.

The Stand :

Crooked trees seem to be the rule when I find my ultimate set up. Less than perfect for climbing stands, I prefer to use "loc on" types. I will go ahead and install tree steps as soon as I have decided on the tree.. For me it is much easier to climb silently into place on tree steps than to transport set up and climb into position with a portable. If I can manage it, I will set up two or three trees in the same area which will allow me to hunt consecutive days next season without spoiling a single stand site.

Visibility and shooting lanes :

Without fail every season, I have a client who will refuse to hunt a stand due to lack of visibility. Shame, shame, this hunter has just cut his odds 80 % or better at going home without a buck. When I set up a "pressure retreat stand ", I cut small holes instead of shooting lanes. Cutting a wide swath through these areas only ruins them. I pay attention to the detail of the bucks travels and plan my shots months ahead of time. Two or three looks is all you get in a thicket, pick a hole, widen it up just enough to allow a shot and remember that is all you get. When I set up a stand like this 9 times out of ten my shot is taken exactly where it was planned months later.

Hunting the pressure retreat:

Late season is a long way off. Checklist : Get your scent-free rubber boots ready, condition your muscles in other stands for a long motionless sitting, and polish up your shooting skills at other stands. STAY OUT OF YOUR PRESSURE RETREAT STAND AREA JOHN !

It's late season now, Checklist : de scent as much as possible, set up a doe scent drag, walk the doe trail in very quietly in rubber boots being extremely careful to not touch anything, and stay all day. I know he will be here it is just a matter of time and patience. The fresh smell of doe scent I left an hour before the first hint of light was in the sky is sure to calm him some. No grunt calls, just quiet non obtrusive hunting till the crack of a limb, swish of grass, or displaced water splashing gives up the approaching buck.

Sticking to the plan :

This season I had five pressure retreat stands set up and ready for me and me only to hunt. Temptation caused me to give in and hunt two of my stands prior to the expected late season disappearance of our bucks. In my opinion I blew it! By hunting these stands while the rut was still in full swing I changed the usefulness of the areas for the entire herd. Sure, I took bucks in both of these stands but not the buck I had focussed on, he was out and about doing what dominant bucks do, breeding most of the does throughout his entire range. Its a tough call but to be successful at this late season game I have to try and keep from selling myself short by harvesting a lesser buck early on. By hunting the pressure retreat stands early I contaminated the area with scent, shots, and educated my true quarry to my own use of the areas. Poor decisions that caused these two stands to stop producing well short of the late season bonanza I had expected. My bucks picked new hideouts that are now sporting tree stands in them for next year!

The three stands I managed to stay out of until December were a different story. My number one stand gave me a thrilling 5 yard peek at a PY buck just after legal shooting light was passed. My number two stand produced a fine miss at 17 yards on a monster 10 pointer I had found the previous season. Number three stand produced also. On a generous day a friend hunting the "swamp stand", had a close encounter with140 inches of 8 point buck. Prior to that day, his opinion of our herd was that it was small bucks only.

To many of my hunting friends and most certainly my wife, heading out just after a long deer season seems rather ridiculous, and bordering on obsessed. After everyone else has given up, declared the bucks as ghosts or long since harvested, some of us are still seeing and taking trophy bucks by taking a little time to prepare early for next years late season. Ask the newest potential South Carolina state record holder where he took his buck December 23 and my bet is he will tell you, "I took him out of a little stand I only hunt once or twice a year way back in that messy thicket!" A184 inch 10 point isn't a bad Christmas gift now is it?

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