8/8/2019 Whitetail Nation excerpt: "Game Face"

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When I turned the significant corner of fifty years, a sense of urgency began

to work at me. Id hunted as steadily as I could, for a man with a job, a family, and

some sense of responsibility to both, for more than a quarter of a century. It was

unlikely that I could hunt another twentyfive years. Id shot quite a few bucks,

including some good ones. But not a great one.

And I couldnt shake that image of the Picket Fence, sauntering across the

frozen plain. Another year slipped away, then another. The birth of my son, Luke,

was a joyous occasion, but afterward it was even tougher to focus on hunting. I had

to face the facts; I was getting older, the law of diminishing returns was kicking in. It

was time to man up.

Over the years, my aims and ideas about deer hunting also had changed. I

never fancied myself a trophy hunter, but I ingested all of the books and magazine

articles outlining the strategies for ambushing a big deer, learned all there is toknow about hunting transition zones between feeding and bedding areas.

I spent enough time in the woods to be able to tell whether a track in three

inches of snow was relatively new or old. Over time, I accumulated a bewildering

assortment of calls meant to mimic deer vocalizations, from the lost fawn bleat to

the aggressive bucks gruntwheeze. I bought rattling antlers that promised to lure

dominant bucks to the sound of combat between two younger peers, and camo

everything.

I had everything but the buck.

But in this year, the Year of Our Lord 2008, it was going to be different. I was

going to take up every invitation that came my way, from hunting acquaintances and

friends near and far, and make as much time as I couldwithout having to consult a

divorce lawyerto get myself a wallhanger.

Now, on the brink of another opening day of another deer season, one that I

wanted to be different from the ones that had come before, I was getting on my

game face.

Whitetail NationMy Season in Pursuit of the Monster Buck

By Pete Bodo9780618969968 $25.00 11/15/2010 Hardcover E-book