Out of necessity, I had waited for the conditions to be perfect. Setting up during midday on the very edge of the buck's bedding area demanded it.

Typically, a setup such as this is best saved for an all-day hunt, when you can slip into the bedding area before the deer get there. However, in this case, I was willing to take a chance. I was in the midst of a seven-day hunt at Bucks & Beards Outfitters in north-central Missouri, and my hunting time was swiftly slipping away.

On a scouting trip in October, I had marked this a definite stand site. With the hunt now under way, each day that passed while waiting for the conditions to be right to hunt the spot had gnawed at me. Finally, a midday shower back at camp, accompanied by the right wind direction, had allowed me to slip into the stand undetected.

Now, as I watched the majestic buck take his last wobbly steps before expiring, I couldn't help but marvel at how nicely everything had come together. This truly was one of those rare but special times when a hunter lays a thorough and carefully constructed plan and things fall into place just as intended.

THE FIRST STEPS
Each year I'm blessed to be able to go on one or two out-of-state whitetail hunts. Because of limited time and money, it's crucial that I make the most of them. Many of you know what I'm talking about.

Fully outfitted hunts with high-quality operators in great trophy areas are certainly hard to beat. But a lot of whitetail hunters have something of a do-it-yourself mentality. If you're one of them, how do you turn that dream of an away-from-home trophy buck into reality? To illustrate how it can be done, let's examine the full story of my recent Missouri hunt, which combined blending my own hunting skills with those of my outfitter host.

This trip took place in the fall of 2000, but it had its origins many months before. As I talked with other hunters following the conclusion of my seminar at the Mid-America Deer & Turkey Classic in St. Louis, I noticed a gentleman hanging in the back, patiently waiting for everyone else to finish.

Once everyone else had left, Donnie McClellan approached me and introduced himself. He explained that he was beginning an outfitting business and that he would be accepting hunters for the first time in 2000. After detailing the more than 5,000 acres of hunting property he had put together that year, he asked if I'd be interested in looking at his aerial photographs and providing recommendations on how he could further improve the habitat for deer and game birds.

Studying harvest data, record books, aerial photos and maps can help you find a trophy hotspot. Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

I gladly agreed, and we laid out the aerial photos. As we pored over them, it didn't take long to see he had amassed some outstanding habitat that just seemed to scream "trophy bucks!" The chunk of rolling terrain Donnie controlled featured nice blocks of timber with many wooded fingers slicing through fields of native grasses and croplands.

From the diversity of the habitat, combined with the ample protective cover provided by the tall grass and brush-choked thickets, it was apparent that the land already should be holding some magnificent whitetails. When Donnie pulled out pictures of the 160-inch bucks sons Cameron and Taylor had harvested the season before, I knew I wanted to hunt there.

For me, the biggest thrill in hunting is figuring out a piece of land and selecting the stand sites I feel provide the best odds of having a mature buck pass within range. More often than not, an outfitter can do this better than anyone else on his lands, because of his intimate knowledge of the habitat and the specific animals it holds.

Also, few outfitters are comfortable with the idea of allowing hunters to roam free, due to the risk of disturbing natural deer patterns. This certainly is understandable; however, I find the thrill of scouting is so satisfying that I just don't enjoy hunting a stand I didn't select myself. Luckily for me, Donnie made a one-time exception and gave me a chance to do my own scouting in an area that wouldn't disrupt any of his other hunters.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Over the years, I've adopted a simple formula for making the most of hunting new areas during a limited amount of time. The formula is actually quite simple: habitat that holds trophy bucks + minimal hunting pressure + right time of the season + advanced scouting = a reasonable chance for success.

Let's face it: A week of hunting a place you've never been just isn't as forgiving as having all season to hunt the farm back home. Seldom are you afforded the luxury of making mistakes and still going home with your tag on a big buck. Even if you don't do a single thing wrong, hunts lasting a week or less can be challenging.

For starters, no matter where you go, there aren't trophy bucks behind every tree. What's more, the ones that are there aren't accustomed to making "yearling mistakes." Combine that with the potential for uncooperative weather, the myriad things that can go wrong and your lack of experience in that habitat, and harvesting a mature buck in only a few days becomes a real accomplishment.

Because of the potential obstacles to success, I strive to see that each element of the above formula is met. Only when that's the case do I feel I have a fighting chance to take a big buck on my own in under a week.

BREAKING DOWN THE FORMULA
Access to land that holds big bucks is the obvious first requirement. You just can't shoot a trophy without one being there. And to take this concept a step farther, remember that it becomes progressively easier to score as the number of big bucks increases.

When hunting with an outfitter, I rely on the following to help ensure that a respectable number of trophies exist on his land: success rate of past clients; references; viewing the trophy book; phone calls to the local wildlife biologist; and, whenever possible, a tour of the property well before the season.

Minimal hunting pressure is also a key, particularly for stand-hunting success. A property that has been overrun with other hunters before your arrival can ruin a trip that otherwise would have held great promise.

Aubrey Gale, a key member of Scent-Lok's staff and a guy who goes on more away-from-home trips each year than most of us will in a lifetime, agrees. "There have been times when I have crawled up into trees before dawn, only to see the area littered with cigarette butts and pop cans once the sun rises," he remarks. "I don't care how many nice bucks are running around, when I see that I know I may as well pack my things and go home. When an area is overhunted, especially by hunters who don't control their scent, you won't see many big bucks during the day."

One of the first questions I ask an outfitter is the maximum hunter density at any one time on his land. No matter how good the area, if that number comes out to fewer than 100 huntable acres of habitat per hunter, I'm not interested. Even in good habitat, I'm most comfortable with an operator who has no less than 500 acres per hunter at any given time. In such a case, I'm confident of being able to find unpressured deer.

Next I ask about the total number of hunters hosted on that land the previous season. Again, if the number is too high, it tends to spell trouble. Those two answers can go a long way in determining how relaxed the deer will be on your hunt.

Along with this, asking the outfitter for references from previous hunters is valuable. When doing so, be certain to get a sampling of responses from not just those who shot big deer but also from those who left with empty tags.

Although a broad cross-section of viewpoints helps paint a more accurate picture, be careful not to allow the opinion of just one hunter to sway you too much toward or against an operator. Unfortunately, the world seems to posses a few people who refuse to ever be satisfied. However, if you notice a trend (either good or bad), you're wise to take it seriously.

Next we come to the time of season. Although many outfitters provide discounts for the "off" periods of season, in my experience, there's a reason for this. Mature bucks just don't move equally in daylight all through a long season. If I'm going to invest my time and money into a trip, I want to be there during the best times possible.

For me, the very best time to hunt big bucks is that two-week period right before breeding takes place. Aubrey agrees. "My favorite time of year to hunt is the late pre-rut," he says. "The bucks are more active during the day and can still be patterned. Once the rut (breeding) begins, you have no idea where that buck might show up."

This reality can be particularly frustrating on a short hunt. If both of the "hot" does in your vicinity just happen to be across the road for two of the five days you're hunting, there goes a big chunk of your time.

Please don't take that wrong, I like hunting the rut. If those does happen to come into heat on your side of the road, you could be in for a hunt of a lifetime. It's just that in my opinion, this period comes in second to the more predictable late pre-rut.

The first week of hunting season also can be very good, due to the "freshness" of the woods. Bucks are often following a rather rigid feeding pattern at this time and thus can be susceptible. And depending on the area and winter weather, the same often can be said for the tail end of the season. This is particularly true in areas that receive heavy snows. Food sources are limited, bucks need to fatten back up for winter and they can be patterned to perhaps a greater degree than any other time. Many of my best hunts have occurred during the last week or two of the season, which is even more remarkable when you consider how poorly regarded this time of year tends to be.

The final element of the formula is scouting in advance of the actual hunt. Granted, this isn't as critical when hunting stands set up by an outfitter, but it's practically essential when going it alone. I decided to include this because almost all of us find ourselves scouting new land at some point, regardless of whether or not we go the traditional route with an outfitter.

MIDSUMMER SCOUTING
Although I prefer spring scouting, midsummer was my only option on Bucks & Beards' property before that hunt in 2000. This added to the challenge. Sign from the previous year's rut is difficult, if not impossible, to find; the dense foliage often hides rubs; and scrapes are overgrown or covered by debris. Often, licking branches, tracks and droppings are the only visible clues. Also, deer are most widely distributed throughout the habitat during the summer. Cover is abundant, and does have spread out to claim fawning areas. All of this dilutes deer sign.

With that said, some things can be accomplished in midsummer. The trick is to focus less on details and more on a big-picture view of the property.

To begin, on new properties, studying aerial photos is beneficial at any time of year. Not only do they provide a new and unique overall view of the habitat, they often go a long way in showing overall travel patterns of whitetails. This can be especially true for determining potential hotspots for intercepting bucks that are cruising for "hot" does.

As you study a photo of broken habitat, many funnels are easily identifiable. Inside corners, pinch points in the woods and overgrown draws connecting wood lots are just a few of the spots that seemingly almost jump out of a clear photo. Combining these photos with USGS contour (topographic) maps can give you a real edge in predicting deer movement before you ever even step into the woods.

Having downloaded free photos and contour maps of Donnie's Missouri land from www.terraserver.com before our arrival, we already had a checklist of locations we knew we wanted to scout on foot. This was quite helpful, because we only had two days to scout in midsummer; it was imperative that we make the most of our time. These tools went a long way in ensuring that was the case. They allowed us to hit each spot on our list and move to the next swiftly. Without them, we never could have covered anything close to the area we did. As a result, we'd have gained a mere fraction of the overall knowledge we left with.

Aside from the big-picture view summer scouting can provide, it allows for more productive long-range surveillance of feeding areas than scouting during any other season does. For whatever reason, during the summer mature bucks seem willing to step into open food sources in broad daylight.

Not only does this provide a glimpse of the caliber of bucks in the area, it can also help you pinpoint specific trails. When a summer food source happens to still be preferred during the fall, bucks and family groups often access it by the same trails in October as they did in August.

CONCLUSION
Whether you hunt solo or with an outfitter, shooting trophy bucks on a tight time schedule always will be something of a challenge. Selecting land that holds a number of trophy bucks and has minimal hunting pressure will give you a real leg up on success. Applying the right scouting plan and hunting hard at prime time will further improve your odds.