Kevin McDonald of Marengo, Iowa, arrowed this massive main-frame 6x6 on a small tract during the peak of the rut in November 2007. With 18 scorable points, the giant officially netted 180 typical B&C points, taking first place at the Iowa Deer Classic in March 2008.

Of those who know Kevin McDonald, few could disagree that he is anything less than hardcore when it comes to hunting whitetails. The 45-year-old public service worker isn't your average hunter. In fact, I'd be more inclined to say that he lives and breathes hunting wary whitetails 24/7, 365 days a year.

Last year, Kevin spent 32 straight days trying to close the deal on a big main-frame 12-pointer. It was the same deer he'd had a close encounter with the season before. In November, patience and persistence paid off for the 30-year veteran bowhunter with not only his biggest buck ever, but also the largest known typical taken by bow in Iowa in 2007.

SCOUTING
According to Kevin, the key to his success begins with aerial photos and topographical maps, locating the small pieces of satellite cover that many hunters overlook.

"I know a lot of hunters concentrate on big blocks of timber, but I focus more on finding those out-of-the-way places that mature bucks are more likely to seek out when hunting pressure builds," Kevin said. "The types of places that attract my attention are rarely more than 10 acres in size. An example might be a small woodlot, a brushy draw, a fence line, or perhaps a CRP field. In yet another case, it might be a tiny 2-acre woodlot well outside the city limits but close enough to an inhabited building where the 200-yard law comes into play. In other words, the deer can't be hunted with a gun.

"This was the case in 2006 when I had the big 12-point within 55 yards. Originally I had planned to hunt with a muzzleloader. But I couldn't because a farmhouse fell just inside the 200-yard envelope. Had I been hunting with a muzzleloader, it would have been an easy shot.

"Another way to locate areas that have the potential for harboring a mature deer is by listening to other people, regardless of whether they hunt or not. In fact, that's actually how I discovered the general area where I ended up shooting my big buck. Pete, a good friend, told me about a big buck that he spotted on the way home from church one Sunday. Had it been anyone else, I might not have given it a second thought, but considering the source I began scanning aerial photos, trying to determine where the deer might have come from. That summer I spent a lot of time knocking on doors, and it paid off with three new places to hunt."

After the preliminary homework is complete, the next step is finding the most likely travel corridors that link these pieces of satellite cover together. To do that, Kevin employs a method of ground scouting that he calls "reverse sign reading." Take a rub line for example; instead of following it to find out where the deer is going, Kevin works backwards to determine where the deer came from. Likewise, he does the same with big tracks to try to find their point of origin.

"Like most serious hunters, I shed hunt in the spring, but I don't put much weight on where I find them," Kevin continued. "Sure it's nice to find a big shed, but other than knowing that a particular deer survived, I'm not convinced there's much else to learn."

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