I lived in northcentral Iowa for many years and bowhunted hard. During the 1980's I trapped full time which menat I was on the back roads every day during November. I started in NC Iowa where I trapped for about a week and then moved to Central Iowa for about a week and was usually in Southeast or SOuthwest Iowa a few days before Thanksgiving. I was basically staying ahead of the freezing water coon and mink trapping.
I was sually running traps from about 2-3 am until early afternoon each day.
Beginning in 1988, due to depressed fur rpices, I was no longer trapping full time, I went to college and got a degree in journalism. I went to chasing whitetails and writing about it. I was privileged to know Tom Miranda through my trapping and he and I teamed up on a couple videos and I wrote a book about farmland whitetail hunting which he co-authored. From the late 1980s all through the 1990's I spent virtually every morning in November chasing whitetails. I glassed and stalked primarily, I had a dozen top spots that I would glass every morning looking for bucks to stalk when they bedded. I would be at the first spot at first light and arrange the locations in the order that I thought I would have the best chance of seeing the bucks that particular day. I figured I would have about 45 minutes to an hour before the best part was over, a little more on foggy days. Some days when the rut was really burning it would go well into the morning. This was in NC Iowa, where the country is flat and open and there are not nearly as many big bucks as other parts of the state, but they are easier to find if you know how to do it. I developed this system as a response to the terrain. And I shot a lot of good bucks. I had two shots at 150's and I missed both of them. One because the arrow hit a brabed wire fence and the other I just don't want to talk about.
My point in telling you all this is that I think few people realize the staggering numbers of big bucks that are out there that are almost never seen. ALl those miles of glassing and trapping in good areas all over the state and I have seen quite a few legitimate booners. As far as I know, my friend Matt Modeland shot the only B&C buck that has ever been registered in WInnebago county and I can say that I have seen probably half a dozen of them in that county. I have seen things in the headlights at 3 in the morning that would make your head spin. I saw a legitimate 200-inch typical in 1989 ten miles from the Minnesota border and had the good fortune that I had a friend with me that saw it too so everyone doesn't think I am crazy. We got a good long look and if I close my eyes I can still see him now. Never saw him again or heard about anyone ever seeing him.
Needless to say I have developed some thearies about these big bucks. Some of them are unbelievably paranoid. I believe many of them go entirely nocturnal and simply become unkillable by legal means.
There are a lot more big bucks out there than the average guy will ever see by choosing a treestand to sit in during november.
