Hunting that one great buck can be an experience as daunting as it is rewarding. By nature, the larger bucks that have survived to sport the more considerable racks are not only more aloof but more evasive and much more intelligent than their smaller pointed brethren whom natural selection will remove at a younger age. These broad shouldered patriarchs, sporting a crown of double digit points, survive by being constantly aware of their surroundings, keeping out of sight for most of the day, and being built powerfully to bound out of range at the slightest evidence of a predator. To take the life of one of these worthy gentlemen, a hunter will need to respect him fully, and take the steps necessary to have a well prepared deer blind.

Location

The area will have to be well selected. Deer sign is fine if you’re stalking a buck, but if you want a properly placed blind, you’ll have to set up across from actual deer pattern and feeding or watering paths that the local deer use frequently. These routs will be easy to spot because they will be, quite literally, paths through the grass and brush that the deer have pushed aside with regular passing. It is very important to set up your blind down wind from any such deer pattern as a keener buck will catch wind of you long before he is even in sight. This is especially true if you’re baiting because he could be following his nose to the bait site, and be all the more attentive to any alien scent in the air.

Plan Ahead

While bucks do tend to roam during the fall when they are mating, don’t expect a buck to just wander in front of your blind for a few apples. A dominant buck will have lived in his territory for his whole life and would know his range better than any mere hunter passing through. The slightest change in his environment will catch his eye very quickly, and a smart buck will avoid it completely until he gets used to it. Even if it is a natural blind with no one in it, a buck with a strong sense of self preservation will give it a wide birth for well over a week. It’s for this reason that, even if you have the best deer blind, you should still set up at least two weeks in advance of your actual hunt. By giving the local buck time to get used to your blind, the likelihood of him passing in front of it or stopping for bait are much more likely.

Your Blind

While a natural blind made of local flora and tree bows makes for a more rugged, organic experience, a plastic tent-like blind has its advantages as well. It can be argued that a natural blind blends into the environment better and is therefore more likely to work. In practical application, however, the intelligent buck will be as just aware of a natural blind in a thicket as a bright “hunter orange” blind in the middle of a field. The point of a blind is actually to keep you, the hunter, from being noticed in a blind that the buck will be fully aware of anyways. A contained tent blind will not only surround you completely save for a few rifle slits, but it helps to contain your scent as well, further increasing your chances of going unnoticed. Mind you, a less alien looking blind will be less intimidating, so tying on several spruce bows to give it a more natural look and scent will only help.

Magic Hour

Larger bucks that have lived long enough to actually grow multi-pointed antlers tend to have set patterns of behavior that have served them well in their survival to this point. Quite literally, a buck will stay low during the day, and only move about during the haze-colored hours of sunrise and sunset. This is why if you plan on getting your dream buck, you should be in your blind long before that magic hour in the morning. Many hunters will actually have a path cleared to their blind so that they can find it easier in the dark without making a loud ruckus in the process. A major part of hunting in the morning is to set yourself up while it is still dark. This way you’ll be perfectly set when a buck struts past in the early morning.

Scent and Sound

Our image of the motionless sniper, unmoving for days in the forest while waiting for his mark, should be a mental picture you carry in your mind when you set yourself up in your blind. The slightest rustling from you shifting from one cheek to the other can be enough to seize the attention of a vigilant buck just a few yards outside of your line of sight. Since it can be a bit painful to do stay motionless for such a long period, try to make yourself as comfortable as you can while you are getting ready. You should be prepared to hold that position for at least the morning.

Scent will also play a major role in giving away your position as well. When hiking into your site don’t exert yourself to the point that you sweat. Take your time so you are nice and fresh, smelling only of the hunting clothes you’ve kept in a bag with balsam fir beforehand. You should shower that morning, but only scrub yourself with a facecloth without soap so you’re free of those tell-tale perfumes that a buck will catch quickly. Also, take the time to fully relieve yourself beforehand. Not only will it make things more “comfortable” but, in all honesty, you can’t ruin your blind site faster than if you step out to mark a bush close by. After all, going through the trouble of all this preparation only to spoil it by filling the whole area with the scent of human urine makes the whole process a waste of time. Either hold it, or hike back to the road you drove in on to do it there, well away from your blind site.

Hunting that one great buck with skill and technique can make the hunting experience all the more rewarding. Going through the careful selection of a site, regular baiting, setting up of the blind, and preparing yourself mentally as well as physically for the wait can be as much an art as it is a sport. When you have completely prepared yourself like an expert huntsman, and have come to appreciate your game for the incredible creature that he is, when he actually steps from the trees and in front of your blind, you may find yourself hesitating to pull the trigger for the few extra moments you will have to enjoy seeing this magnificent animal stand proud and tall as nature intended.