Being serious whitetail hunters, we're always looking for ways to improve our odds of successfully taking deer.

Do your scouting in the post-season when possible. Locate heavily used travel corridors, prepare stand sites and get ready for all-day hunting excursions when November rolls around.

We work extra hours, squirrel away vacation days, save money and purchase the best gear available. We spare no expense, making sure we have the latest and greatest in everything related to our pursuit of big bucks. If money can buy it, we'll try it.

Here's where the beauty of all-day hunting comes in. Anyone can do it! Not-to-mention the fact that all day hunting comes in at an extremely appealing price--free! Furthermore, if done properly, it can lift your success rate on mature bucks by an extremely worthwhile measure. For me at least, all-day vigils have upped my success on trophy bucks by about 25- to 30-percent. Is there anything that you can buy, or anything else you can do, that you know of that can accomplish this feat? If you answer "yes," to this question I'll give you my phone number and you can give me a call and clue me in to the news!

Another reason (probably the best reason) to sit in your stand all day is to simply enjoy God's great Creation. In the hustle-bustle world we live in every day, we should treasure every moment afield we can get, and the more the better. Time away from the rat race is invaluable, a commodity worth far more than even the largest set of antlers. If we can sit on a stand from before sunrise to after sunset with this perspective, the entire experience will become much easier. And when sitting in a tree stand all day becomes easier and more fun, amazingly, the reward of more and larger trophies will fall right into place equaling two birds killed with one stone.

Midday Reality
Let's face some facts here. We wait all year for the peak of the breeding season. We've gained access to some quality habitat that supports a reasonable number of mature bucks. We make sure that we hunt the right locations, under the right conditions. With all of this going for us, we should get a chance at a good buck, right? Maybe; maybe not. After all, it's still a matter of time and luck. So what is the single greatest thing we can do at this point to swing the "good luck" odds in our favor? The answer is simple--all-day hunting.

As I've matured as an archery hunter of large-antlered bucks, nothing I've done has elevated my success rate more than remaining on stand all day. Of all my book bucks, fully one-quarter of them were harvested during midday times! In other words, I've killed five or six bucks that I would not have taken had I not remained on stand all day. What's that worth? Think about it. Hey, if you're a regular guy like me (no access to special privileges or places), this is a cheap way to run with the big dogs. Have you got the guts to get'er done? No one said it would be easy.