Prior planning prevents poor performance when pursuing whitetail bucks.
Story and Photography by Bob Zaiglin

Deer hunters often spend more time searching for a desirable piece of deer country than they do preparing for the hunt itself. Unquestionably, obtaining a quality deer lease is time consuming and often difficult, but even when one finds them self on prime deer country, there remains no guarantee to harvesting a buck of a lifetime without being prepared.
Even on premier deer country, particularly open range, bucks exhibiting Boone and Crockett caliber headgear are not overly abundant and often extremely difficult to find, making it paramount that deer hunters be mentally as well as physically prepared in order to locate, alone capitalize on that buck of their dreams.
No hunter ever wants to lose an animal to a poor shot, but it does happen. The following are a few basic guidelines that could enhance your chances of returning home this winter with fond memories of that buck that didn’t get away.
The number one prerequisite to successfully taking an outstanding buck is to hunt where “big deer” exist. In Texas, particularly South Texas, quality deer ranches stand out like diamonds in a coal pile, but getting on one of them can be challenging if not incredibly expensive.

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