To Hunt a Legendary Buck Deer
Day 4: The Overnight Hunter - Going After a Legendary Buck
Editor’s Note: Some sly, ole bucks fool so-many hunters and live so long they become legends. Hunting one of these trophies is a supreme challenge. A buck deer with a reputation may require a hunter with a reputation to take him.
 To take a legend in thick cover is a very-strenuous ordeal. Patience and physical stamina are mandatory.  Probably 90% of the hunters in this country can’t outlast a big buck in thick cover. However, the men who do are the true trophy hunters. They take the legends because they pay the price to go after them.
A legendary deer only may move during the first few minutes of daylight or just at dusk. When he does travel from one place to another, he may be well-away from a road or an easy access area. So, night navigation may be required to get into position to take a shot. The novice trophy hunter may know how to use a compass and a GPS. But he may be reluctant to stake his life on his compass and GPS reading ability for a 3- or 4-mile hike before daylight or after dark to take a trophy. But the legend hunter is an excellent woods navigator by day or by night both with his GPS and his compass.  He will enter an area and then after finding where the buck travels early and late, he’ll plan to stay at that place until he takes the legend. The seasoned woodsman expects to spend 1 to 3 days, kneeling on the ground well away from the other hunters. He anticipates eating cold food and spending the night without a campfire. He knows that if he does down the legend, he may have to wait until the next day to get the deer out. So, he’s prepared to field-dress the deer. And, he’s in shape for a long, hard drag the next morning.  Spending the night in the woods may include his being rained on or snowed on, but the veteran is prepared for whatever weather conditions are dealt him. The trophy deer hunter realizes that to take a legend, a higher price must be paid by the hunter. Lesser men will pay a lesser price for failure. For the legend, the hunter must equal the hunted trophy buck in experience and cunning.
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