(Story told through the eyes of an outfitter)

In 2016, in the later parts of winter, I traveled 7 hours from my then home in Wisconsin to check on a farm in southern Iowa I was interested in buying. It was a draw farm consisting mostly of row crops (corn stubble that year) and one main draw that weaved through the entire farm from its SW corner to its NE corner with several fingers and ditches. There was very little cover on the farm itself as the row crops came right to the draw’s edge, but even then scrapes and giant rubs were abundant. Between lack of funds and procrastination, that farm slipped through my hands becoming nothing more than a memory until the winter of 2019.

This winter that farm I wanted to buy a long time ago fell into my lap in the form of a hunting lease. I jumped on the idea of leasing. Remembering my scouting from a few years ago I thought for sure it could provide some great hunting for several hunters out of my guide service. I leased the farm without looking at it again and was disappointed when shed season came to find very little sign on the farm at all. The farm was converted to CRP, and with row crops gone, and very little food in the area, it was apparent that this farm was void of deer in late fall. My heart sank. But I also remembered what it once was. The CRP grasses gave it much more cover, all I needed to do now was get some food in there and they’ll come I thought.

A draw farm is different than the classic timber farm. With a timber farm, I love setting up classic bed to feed patterns and then exploit those patterns with transition areas…all man made. With a draw farm, deer can and do bed everywhere. They are difficult to hunt because the deer don’t stick to just the timbered draws. But, my strategy was simply to provide multiple small green food sources in the main draw to direct or funnel activity in the timbered draw itself. Each small plot had a mock scrape setting the scene for a long travel pattern for any bucks looking for does during the rut. A larger main destination plot to the west was planted to soybeans so that deer would have a main destination plot available. The final stage in the plan was to let the farm soak…no hunting and no pressure so that the local deer herd could establish their daily patterns in and along the mile long draw that ran through the farm…from plot to plot to plot to destination.

Before we go further! Many hunters in their life will only ever be able to hunt young yearling deer. Mostly because of extreme hunting pressure, the thought of even seeing a buck older than their first birthday is only a dream. Then there are the hunters that have carved out nooks and crannies in the whitetail world and consistently have the chance to hunt adolescent 2 and 3 year old deer. Many of these deer sport nice racks, but still because of hunting pressure, they rarely get beyond their adolescent years. Few hunters can consistently hunt areas in our country that grow mature deer. There are pockets in every state that because of low hunting pressure and/or private management consistently offer local hunters big mature deer to hunt. These are sought after areas that most hunters dream of. A mature deer can have a huge set of antlers or a small rack, depending mostly on the luck of genetics and then available nutrition. The size of the rack in nature has very little to do with what deer is the most dominant. In nature the biggest, most ornery, ill tempered buck regardless of antler size with take the throne. This is where my personal definition of a mega giant comes in. A mega giant is not just a mature buck…but a 6, 7, or even 8 year old stud that with just a glance, or puffing up of hair can put any other buck in a subordinate role. He will breed the first doe that comes into heat, the last doe available, and many in between. Regardless of antler size, a mega giant stands above all others in dominance. In all my years of hunting, I’ve had the opportunity to hunt hundreds of mature bucks…but I can only count on one hand the number of mega giants I could hunt.

With all the interior green plots planted, and almost 4 acres of soybeans in the main plot, the stage was set for this new farm. But as September came and I started running cameras, I could only pick up a bunch of young and adolescent deer. The deer were back on this farm, but I wanted mature age class deer for clients to hunt. My experience told me they would come. With the right habitat and planning, they would come and then stay for future years. And then they came. And then the mega giant. He was a giant 8 point, bigger body than any other deer, by far. Not just mature, but 6 or 7 years old. As I logged camera data, he was only showing at night. Usually by himself and if other deer were around they were submissive. The farm was soaking, the plots were starting to get hammered, and the pattern I was trying to promote was getting better day by day. Deer were pounding the main draw, spending little time out in the CRP, and using the main plot as their primary destination. The stage was set.

Then, with no hunting pressure at all (that’s soaking), the mega 8 started working the mock scrapes, the draw, the plots all day, every day. And with perfect timing. Mark Carpenter was coming in from Colorado on the 6th. His first hunt would be the evening of the 6th. It was a warm balmy day as I showed Mark the farm, the access points to the different stands for different winds. But this day, the winds would be switching from warm southerly, to strong and cold north winds. There was one stand that fit the bill, perfect for a north wind and right in Mega’s round house.

Mark got on stand early. Immediately there were deer. Using the main draw, hitting the plots. But even with all the planning some does were getting down wind of him. Then out in front, across a small pond to the east of the plot, a grunt and a glimpse of antler. There were does over there too. Mark made a couple grunts not knowing if he was grunting at a shooter or not. Then here he comes, straight on. Was it one of the smaller bucks? The Mega 8 had big brows…he couldn’t see them. Then as he got close there was no doubt, it was the big 8…the Mega 8. He was chasing those does around but came for the grunt, then turned to go out to the plot. At only a few yards he was quartering away but the shot was steep…drive it home…aim for the off shoulder!

I got the text from Mark while hunting myself. I knew he had hit the Mega, but was it good? Did he see him go down? Was he confident in the shot? After a few texts were exchanged, we decided to be safe and wait till morning. 13 hours later we got our answer, a perfect shot and a mega giant on the ground!