The author watched this beautiful 11-pointer work a mock scrape for two mornings in a row before finally getting an opportunity for a shot on Nov. 10, 2006. The 155-class brute was 4 1/2 years old. Photo by Don Higgins.

I thought it odd that the doe working her way through the cover in front of my stand was alone. The date was Nov. 9, and since she didn't have a buck immediately trailing her, she should have had a fawn or two in close proximity. After browsing on vegetation near my stand for several minutes, she became alert and focused on the thicket behind her. Almost immediately, a 2 1/2-year-old 8-point buck burst from the cover, and the chase was on. I enjoyed the show as the pair made a loop past my stand and then angled away toward the cover north of my position.

A half-hour later, I had forgotten about the doe and her would-be boyfriend when I saw what looked to be a mature buck on a field edge a little over 100 yards from where I sat. Ironically, he was within 20 yards of a tree holding another one of my tree stands. Because of the wind direction that morning, I could not use that stand, so I was forced to sit elsewhere. I watched through binoculars as he entered the cover and stopped to investigate a mock scrape that I had positioned within shooting range of that unoccupied stand.

As he raised his head from the scrape, I focused my binoculars and instantly recognized him, because of a forked G-2 tine on his right side, as the dominant buck in the area and the buck I was after. As he stood near the scrape, I realized that he had two likely travel options as he made his way deeper into the cover. One path would take him in my direction, but the most likely route would take him away from me. Again, wind direction had dictated where I would sit that morning, even though I knew that some of my other nearby stands had been placed in much better locations.

MAKING SOMETHING HAPPEN
I decided to try to give the buck a reason to head in my direction, and I fished around for my grunt call. All it took was a couple of notes on that call! With a slow, purposeful gait, he headed right for me. I reached over to turn on the video camera, and when I looked back at the buck, he was sniffing the ground where the young 8-point had chased the doe earlier. With his nose to the ground, he made a 90-degree turn and followed the path the other deer had taken directly away from me and into the cover. Even though I had grunted this buck to within spitting distance twice during the previous season, he wasn't about to give up a hot trail to investigate the sound.

The rest of the morning was uneventful as I sat trying to formulate a plan for the evening's hunt. I figured the doe was either in heat or close to it. I had another stand in the direction the buck had gone, but the cover in that area was limited and I figured the deer were likely bedded within it. It might seem like a simple matter of slipping into that stand for the afternoon hunt, but as is so often the case, there were issues to deal with.

To start with, the wind was border- line for that particular stand. I knew that a slight variation in wind direction could easily give me away. Even if the wind held steady, though, there was a chance that the deer could still get downwind of me. Of course, this concern all hinged on me even being able to get in the stand undetected. I figured the deer were likely bedded close to where the stand had been hung. The stand was situated on the edge of a small bedding area. I normally only hunted it during the early season when the vegetation and leaf cover allowed me to get into it without being seen.

MAKING THE PLUNGE
Something else made me consider this stand for the afternoon hunt, however. Over the years, I'd learned that when you know or suspect the location of a mature buck, you'd better get aggressive rather than be passive. He probably won't be there long, so the best choice is often to make your move even if it involves some calculated risks.

With that in mind, I started my midafternoon stalk toward the stand near the spot where I suspected the deer were bedded. I first had to cross about 400 yards of open field, hoping that any deer bedded in the cover would not see or hear me. When I pulled that off without busting any deer, I then faced the challenge of getting up the tree and into the stand undetected. The wind was calm, and that made any inadvertent noises even more noticeable. As always, my tree steps had been placed on the side of the tree away from where I expected any deer to be bedded.

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