It takes perseverance and luck for a chance to harvest a trophy but the harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.

Story and photography by Bob Zaiglin

Now that we are in January, the clock is winding down, it’s cold, you’re tired, but still in the game; however, it appears as though the bucks have vacated the premises.  It’s an annual occurrence in South Texas with buck movement escalating the last two weeks of December followed by an abrupt decline in activity beginning the first week of the New Year.  Hunting definitely gets tough in the waning days of the season, but there’s a saying ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going.’  In order to realize success, one must practice a ‘stick and stay, make it pay’ attitude.

The one characteristic all trophy deer hunters possess is perseverance.  One cannot harvest a buck of their dreams if they don’t leave the cabin.  Successful hunters remain in the field for extended periods of time, even if it means missing a NFL playoff game because they never know when a mature buck supporting a rack of huge proportions will show up.  It’s the paramount reason sportsmen invest so much time, effort, and money in their sport.

Pursuing an older, elusive buck that has evaded its principal predator, man, for six years or more during the post rut period is an endurance test, but with an adequate amount of knowledge about white-tail behavior, it can be rewarding.

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