I heard a wise man once say “I believe in luck, I find the
harder I work, the luckier I get” After harvesting two 170 class bucks with
archery equipment in two years some people who did not understand the
preparation that went into those hunts
said my cousin Jeff Karl’s was lucky. This accomplishment might not even
seem worth noting, if you’re a hunting celebrity, spending time on guided hunts
or own your own property to manage intensely, but when you’re a small business
owner regularly working 60 + hours a week and spending your free time knocking
on doors to gain access to small woodlots that just might have what you’re
looking for its something to relish. Jeff
appears as just your average weekend warrior, hunter when you first meet him,
but strike up a conversation with him and maybe get lucky enough to be invited
to tag along with him as he prepares a stand site for the opener and you will
learn the system we have developed over the years and find out it’s not a
complex secret at all it simply involves a little research, some hard work and
most importantly obsessive attention to detail, discipline and perseverance.
The most important and obvious rule when hunting high
pressure bucks is scent control, this is where I feel Jeff really separate’s
himself from the pretty good bow hunters. Every tiny detail is of extreme
importance, the vehicle he drives is never allowed to have an air freshener
hanging in it, and each article of clothing including his pack is washed in
scent free detergent and stored in a scent sealed bag, rubber boots are a must,
dressing in the field in the freezing cold is no more optional than buying a
hunting license, human breath is a huge
red flag to a wise old bucks nose and must be covered, all of this adds up to
Jeff being able to honestly say he has never been winded by any downwind deer
since adopting these methods, he no longer is worried about scent, just making
a perfect shot.
The first Boone and Crocket buck Jeff took in 2012, was shot
using our method of getting as close to the deer sanctuary as possible and
waiting for the big boys to make a mistake and leave their safe haven. Any
hardcore bow hunter knows a place they would give their best trophy on the wall
to hunt, but the landowner for one reason or another does not allow hunting and
the deer know it, you drive by and see the big one’s feeding without a care in
the world, the mature bucks are not nocturnal, it’s almost like they don’t
realize hunting even exists, you dream about the perfect hunts you would have
on this land, but you sadly know it’s never going to happen. This is where a
lot of guys give up, but we are just warming up; we figure out the names of
every adjoining landowner to this sanctuary and begin the process of knocking
on doors and introducing ourselves offering up free labor and making it a point
that we do not care at all about gun hunting and won’t be around during this
time we only care to chase their deer with a stick and string. That gives the
bow hunter an edge over a gun hunter most landowners gun hunt or have family
members and friends that do, bow hunters are smaller in numbers and less
noticeable or invasive; if done correctly we can tread lightly and to a busy
landowner almost be non-existent. Once
access is granted to the second or third best option - type land in the area
that you know holds a crusher or two it becomes important to get the stands
hung in early summer and stay out of that area until the rut, trail cameras to
us are not necessary in these places and scent is left behind installing and
checking them. We always ask each other “do you want a picture of them alive or
do you want a picture of them with your hands wrapped around their horns?” After
all, we already know for a fact the big one’s are there we don’t need more
proof we have faith. Also, entering and exiting before the rut in our
experience only alerts doe’s to your presence and makes the land you hunt a
less appealing place for them to live; since the bucks we are after probably
don’t call this land home outside the rut, we are banking on one of these does
coming into estrous and attracting the buck off the sanctuary right into our
hands, we want those does feeling safe and sound around our tree stands and our
presence not felt until there is love in the air. This tactic played out
perfectly for Jeff on the eve of the first cold snap in late October, I was on
my way home from a South Dakota pheasant hunt when I received a text from him, I
knew immediately something was up since he never sends text messages. It simply
stated “when will you be home to help me track?” We went out the next morning
and found the massive and perfect five by five 75 yards from the stand, no
trail camera pictures of this buck that we ever knew of, never shined him
before, but I still scoff when people say it was luck. At the Wisconsin Deer
& Turkey Classic it officially grossed 174 6/8 and netted 172 1/8, first
“Booner” in the books for him.
The second 170 class buck of Jeff’s career involved a
slightly different tactic, but more of the same basic attention to detail; the
land the hunt took place on was only a three acre woodlot surrounded by CRP
grass, corn and soybean fields in a heavily pressured area, Jeff’s edge was a
man made waterhole as close to the thickest part of the woods as possible,
these deer now had food, water and security all in very close proximity;
something Marc Anthony (the master of all whitetail bow hunters) calls the 200
hundred yard rule. Jeff bought a special black flash camera he rarely monitored
and when he did check the camera, it was in full scent free camo, since as I
stated before he feels infared and normal flash cameras alert the big bucks to
your presence and intentions for them. For three years he watched this buck
grow and drink from his waterhole almost exclusively at night, but as the years
went by he seemed to get a little more comfortable coming in closer and closer
to dusk, until Friday September 27th, 2013 I glassed the soybean
field 40 yards from his waterhole and from 800 yards could see the giant body
and rack, I quickly called Jeff to let him know it was game-on this weekend.
Perserverance
For the three years Jeff hunted this spot less than 10% of
his sits involved even seeing a deer. Saturday was terrible weather, but Sunday
was a bluebird day, too hot I thought, but Jeff went hunting it took him 40
minutes of stalking slowly just to make it the 200 hundred yards through the
bean field to his stand and was finally rewarded for his perseverance, I
received that rare text again “I just shot him!” I read that and could not
help, but crack a giant smile; Jeff and I spoke all summer long about how if he
could take this buck and make it two 170 class bucks in less than a years’ time
it would be very special. We tracked this buck into the standing corn and the trail he made
running the life out of himself looked like someone drove a pickup through the
field knocking down all the corn, at the end of the trail was a massive horned and
bodied buck that weighed 258lbs field dressed later that day! The 5 ½ year old
tanker was well fed, his brow tines were unbelievably long and the entire rack
was just heavy. I was sore for days after another cousin of ours and I helped
him drag it out and load it in the truck, it was a rare and special moment to
share as a family that won’t soon be forgotten. As ecstatic as we were about
the size of the horns on these bucks that’s not what gives us the most
gratification anymore, rather we think the size of the trophy equals the amount
of effort put into the hunt any serious DIY bow hunter will probably agree with
us.
I think people will call a successful hunter like Jeff lucky
sometimes possibly due to jealousy, I don’t think seeing a successful person is
something to be jealous of, but to be motivated by; If Jeff can harvest giant
bucks anyone can do it (sorry buddy, haha). Most importantly it just takes
discipline. “Remember when you see a man at the top of the mountain, he didn’t
just fall there” – Anonymous.
