For avid whitetail hunters, it’s hard to beat a crystal-clear and cold morning during the whitetail rut. And as you’ll see in this early November 2021 YouTube video from Adrenaline Bloodline, the bowhunter’s plan comes together perfectly — until almost everything goes wrong with a mature 5x5 Michigan buck at only 10 yards. Rather than play the role of spoiler, I’ll let you watch the video and see for yourself.

A few comments that won’t spill the beans:

• The bowhunter does an outstanding job capturing all aspects of his hunt, including running a scouting camera that’s pointed at one of his shooting lanes. It’s great seeing the big buck from both the treestand and the scouting cam. I also enjoyed seeing the buck’s breath in the cold morning air; watch closely and you can detect that the wind is in the hunter’s favor.
• It’s a very quiet morning; the leaves aren’t moving and it’s easy to hear nearby birds. Getting drawn on a buck in these conditions isn’t easy, especially with the rising sun in your face. At one point the buck stops and looks up at the elevated bowhunter, but the deer isn’t able to figure out what’s going on because the archer has good cover around him. His hang-on portable isn’t placed in an isolated tree; he has neighboring tree trunks very close to help his hide. Smart.
• A woodland edge along a standing cornfield is an outstanding spot to encounter cruising whitetail bucks during the pre-rut and rut. These areas are often littered with scrapes, and the corn provides both food and cover for deer. Based on the fact that the rising sun is in the hunter’s face in this scenario, his shooting lanes must be east of his treestand, so kudos to him for having an ambush ready for an east wind. So many deer hunters plan only for prevailing west winds, with north and south winds also considered, but they never get a treestand or two ready to roll for an east wind.

Enjoy the video. If the whitetail rut is over in your area, it’s not too early to begin dreaming about next year.