A friend of mine spotted a big buck in a field near his house. He patterned the deer all summer, glassing from a distance. He sneaked in a month before archery season and set up two stands along likely bed-to feed trails. He continued to watch the buck from 400 yards until Friday before opening day. So far, so good.

Saturday was windy and unsettled. A storm was moving in. Nonetheless, my pal was beside himself with excitement. He climbed in his first-choice tree stand and sat all day. Breezes blew from every point of the compass, and deer blew and stamped around him. Morning and evening passed without a glimpse of the buck.

My buddy set his jaw and spent the next two weeks perched in his two pet stands. He had decided to tough it out, but bulldog determination did not do one whit of good. Fourteen days later, he still had not seen the trophy deer.

Hard hunting is important, but smart hunting also counts. Hunter-shy whitetails are incredibly sensitive to intrusion. They detect more than normal levels of lingering human scent. They depart if they hear or see another deer moving away in alarm. I believe they even sense lower than normal numbers of other animals in a particular area - critters pressured to other locales by hunters. Big deer do not return to an area right away after they have been spooked. If you spook a big buck repeatedly, like my dogmatic buddy obviously did, the deer may never return.

It's okay to scout from a distance before deer season, but careless glassing from field edges can alert smart bucks to impending doom. It's also okay to traipse throughout the woods during midday hours to hang stands and look for sign. Most deer are accustomed to farmers and other workers invading their turf. But scouting and setup must be occasional....not repeated or prolonged.

In my experience, the chances of success in a choice deer location go down every time you sit that spot. The first sit is almost always the best sit, provided you slip in when conditions are exactly right. After two or three fruitless hunts, it's time to try another place and let the original hotspot calm down.

Take my frustrated bowhunting buddy as an example. He should have avoided his number one deer spot until weather moderated and winds once again blew true. He should have picked a cool, calm day for maximum deer movement, and hunted only morning and evening to avoid fickle midday air. With conditions just right, the buck he so badly wanted would probably have appeared on the first or second hunt. But by being mindlessly persistent, my friend soured the area and tipped off the animal with scent, movement or noise.

The best hunters have multiple deer spots from which to choose. Some locales are potentially better than others. But all have a purpose. On marginal days with unpredictable wind, overly hot weather, or very stormy conditions, you should hunt lower-odds places where you won't be so worried about spooking deer. You might get lucky and you might not, but there's not as much at stake.

Under more promising conditions, you should hunt your sweetest places. I save my most exciting ambush locations for perfect days - good wind, cool and calm weather, etc. I avoid these hotspots until things are right. I hunt my second, third, fourth, or fifth choices when conditions are less than ideal. In my very best deer spots - places like the setup my friend scouted so carefully - I might only hunt once or twice during an entire season. But when I do hunt, my odds of success on an unsuspecting buck are high.

There's only so much you can control on a bowhunt - even when conditions seem perfect. An old doe might spot you in the treetops, blow, and thunder right past the buck you've been waiting for all morning long. The wind might change, or wild dogs or other hunters might barge past you at prime hunting time.

However, there are some factors still under your control. Wear all-rubber boots, and spray your lower body with Scent Shield to eliminate human foot trails to and from your stand. Use a Scent-Lok or Scent-Blocker Suit to minimize human scent drifting from your ambush site. Slip in well before deer are apt to appear...an hour before dawn for a morning stand, and no later than mid-afternoon for an evening hotspot. Move straight to your tree, climb quickly and quietly, and settle in at once with little movement or noise.

If you slip in and out of your pet deer spots like a puff of smoke, and hunt only when conditions are exactly right, you'll do much better on big deer. By all means be persistent, but don't over-hunt your favorite deer areas.

Chuck Adams is the world's best know and most widely published bowhunter. During the past 26 years he has written 3,950 magazine articles and nine full-length books on archery/bowhunting.

Chuck Adams' bowhunting prowess is without equal. On Jan. 4, 1990 he became the first archer in history to harvest all 27 species of North American big game, a feat called the Super Slam. He has also bagged more official Pope And Young record book trophies than anyone else, 102 at last count. These include three world records in Sitka Blacktail, Coues Whitetail, and Mountain Caribou categories. Chuck has more than 100 archery animals in Safari Club International record lists, another all-time record. Also more top-ten SCI animals than any other bowhunter.

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