Photo Credit:  Britton Wasmer / FST Outdoors

The first cold front in October can be a magical time in the whitetail woods.  With testosterone levels rising, the only thing these bucks need is an ignition source to get the fire going.  The Good Lord blessed hunters across the country with a cold front at the perfect time for this to play out before our very eyes!  Here’s the story of how I used this opportunity to capitalize on a buck that I have three years of history within the Mountain State!

As the weekend cold front approached, I knew I had to burn a vacation day and head towards the stand!  The plan was to head to West Virginian and chase a few mountain bucks on a property that I share with my buddy.  I knew I couldn’t make the long drive on Friday morning before sunrise, so I settled for a quick local hunt in hopes of crossing paths with a buck near a historically good scrape line in a low gap.  As the Friday morning sun rose, I found anxious for what daylight would bring and thankful for the opportunity to be in a tree.  It was an uneventful morning with very few encounters, but my optimism was high for the weekend as the temperature began to fall.    I scouted my way back to the truck and confirmed that it’s just a little too early for this property right now, but it won’t be long and a few shooters will come strolling through the area and when they do, I’ll be here waiting.  Until then, I’ll stay out and let my  Spartan cellular trail cameras do their job.

The drive to southern West Virginia took forever and I found myself being late to the stand but just in time to see a flock of turkeys and to have my hunt ruined by the other hunters.  I swapped out the batteries in my cell cam and headed off the mountain with high hopes for the next day.  As the day slowed down, I checked my Spartan Mobile App and there were two shooters on camera, one in the daylight on the other side of the property and one after dark in the stand I had just hunted.  The decision was simple, hunt the buck that was kill-able when he’s kill-able.  The only problem, there were no climbing sticks in the tree where the daylight buck was, so it meant I would have to wait until the evening.

Saturday morning was spent in a treestand, just not where I anticipated to fill my tag later that day.  I slipped into the stand at daybreak because I didn’t want to walk upon a deer in the dark and ruin the hunt before it started.  This was the same treestand location that failed to produce the evening before but I knew there was a chance that something could stroll through the area at any time.  Shortly after I settled into the stand, the woods woke up with a loud grunt and short chase.  Oh, how I’ve missed this sound!  The commotion sparked a flock of turkeys as they yelped and clucked for the next half hour but the buck never showed.  I grunted with hopes of enticing the buck into sight but he didn’t take the bait.  That was all of the excitement that the morning produced at this location but the other stand location showed my target buck sneaking through by to bed down for the day.  A year of planning and preparation was coming together perfectly.

Here’s the background to this stand location.  It’s always had deer sign around it but it seemed un-huntable due to the amount of pressure nearby.  In 2018, we discovered a community scrape but shrugged it off as being too close to the access road to hunt and assumed this sign was created at night.  The following year I decided to put up a trail camera nearby and I was blown away at how many opportunities we could’ve had if we had been hunting here.  Nearly every buck on the property funneled through this area at one point or another.  So as the 2020 season approached, I knew we had to have a stand hung and a Spartan cell cam running.  We also found a great summer bedding area nearby and an annual bedding area further down the hill.

After climbing down, I went straight to the other stand location to prepare the tree for the evening hunt.  The stand had been hunt in August but the climbing sticks were removed to prevent theft.

I still had an hour to kill, so I headed towards my evening stand location and started the long walk.  It’s an odd feeling walking to the stand without a bow in your hand.   I was early and tired, so I took a quick power nap before climbing into the stand.  There’s no better place to take a nap than in the freshly fallen dry leaves on a sunny day.  I thought I woke up to the sound of elk running in my direction but it turned out to be a couple of chipmunks instead.  Those little nuisances are pound-for-pound loudest animals in the woods.

In an instant, everything changed and this perfect wind quickly turned into a nightmare!  The wind switched, blowing directly into the bedding area.  The same bedding area that I had discovered earlier this year and exactly where I expected this buck to come from this evening.  I did not panic though!  I was prepared for this moment.  My scent control regimen is strict and if you want to learn more about it, check out this blog post.  As an extra precaution, I began spraying Raw Frozen Scents Calming Scent from the tree.  I sprayed it on every leaf and branch that I could reach between be and my downwind side.

It didn’t take long and my scent control regimen would be put to the test.  A doe approached from my right and she made a 270-degree turn around me before dropping over the hill and out of sight.  Before leaving, she stopped to work the large community scrape and one smaller scrape before exiting the area.  Shortly after the first doe left, two more does approached from my downwind side.  They paused and smelled the air, licking their noses to activate their nasal glands.  Time stood still because I knew these does were the key to my success and if they blow, this hunt is over.

I sighed with relief as the does calmly made their way to the community scrape.  One doe was interested in the scrape and the other began to feed under my stand.  The doe smelled every branch and leaf that I had covered in Raw Frozen Scents Calming Scent just hours before.  She then went towards a smaller scrape nearby but a different scrape than the previous doe.  It appears that each doe uses the community scrape to see who is in the area, but the smaller satellite scrapes were more individual preference.  The does fed out in front of me, just 10 yards from the base of my stand.  I knew I couldn’t move while they were nearby, but I could use them to my advantage.  By interpreting their body language, I would know when another deer approached.

Suddenly, both does lifted their heads and stared in unison in the direction I anticipated the buck to come from.  Seconds later, the buck I’m after is 15 yards to my right with no potential shot opportunities on his current path of travel.  Then he stopped and stared at the does for a moment before making his way to scrape behind me.  This was the moment where two previous years helped create a game plan for.   Months of anticipation brought me to this moment in time.  A buck that I have three years of history with is about to enter my sight housing for the first and final time.  But there’s one problem!

Remember those two does?  There’s no way that I can draw back without getting busted.  Unless they read the script!   Chances are, these does won’t want to stick around with the buck and they will run away from him if he approaches.  When the buck finished working the scrape, he turned his attention towards the does and they bounded away.  The buck stepped into view of my Spartan Camera for the last time!  I said a prayer before coming to full draw with the pin settled on the bucks vitals.  My heart racing, the buck clueless to my presence.

The arrow found its mark and buck raced away but he was dead on his feet.  He expired within 30 seconds of the Rage finding its way through his chest cavity and I watched as he dropped off a small rock cliff, breaking the tip of his main beam in the process.  As I hung the bow up, the excitement consumed me.  Buck fever set in and my knees trembled.  I thanked the Lord for the opportunity and called my buddy Brandon to tell him the good news.  Three years of hard work, dedication, teamwork, and self-controlled to this moment.  Although my arrow brought this buck to the ground, it was a team effort that allowed me to have this opportunity and I was able to share the recovery with my buddy.

By most people’s standards, 2020 sucked!  It started with a painful divorce, followed by a global pandemic.  But during this time, I have learned how great my life really is and how blessed I truly am.  I’ve made new friends on this new journey and I’ve strengthened my relationships with old friends.  I’ve got a family that loves me and a trained shed dog/tracking dog that adores me!  Recently, I was allowed to turn my dreams into reality by purchasing Hunting Gear Deals.com!  I have big plans for this website, so stay tuned and be sure to sign-up for the daily deal email list!

Regardless of your circumstances, God never wastes an opportunity to show you his love.  Sometimes we must wait for the fog to rise before we see it but know that He has a plan!  Just have faith and let God move!