Don’t flip-flop

Trey Lovertich said one of his secrets to archery success is focusing all his hunting attention on bow hunting.

“I hunt with my bow all season. I put the gun down in 2003,” Lovertich said. “I enjoy the thrill and challenge of trying to get that mature buck at 30 yards or less.

“My bow is very capable of longer distance, and I have killed farther out, but my goal is 30 yards.”

Lovertich uses Primos blackout cameras. He starts putting them out in July and runs them through February. He prefers the blackouts, or no-flash camera because he believes mature bucks will not walk or feed comfortably in front of those camera models that are constantly flashing.

“I have witnessed big bucks walking around cameras to avoid the flash” Lovertich said. “Since changing over to the blackouts three years ago, I get many mature bucks on camera on a regular basis.”

Lovertich also considers the wind important, especially since bow hunters have to get deer in so close.

“If it’s wrong, don’t force it,” he said of wind direction. “Wait for the setup to be right and your chances will go way up on harvesting that particular buck — especially during the early season.”

But he said he definitely prefers hunting mature bucks as early in the season as possible.

“Early (season) is one of my most-successful times to get on a big buck,” Lovertich said. “If you can pattern him with cameras before the season, he will continue that pattern for the first few weeks of the season. As the season progresses, that will obviously change.

“I have managed to kill a nice deer for the past several years ranging from Oct. 1 to (Oct.) 15 all because I knew he was there, what he was doing and waited on the right conditions before hunting him.”

Take a 5-year-old, 230-pound 8-point he killed last Oct. 11. The deer was one of five bucks Lovertich was seeing on one of his cameras. The big buck was running with a 3-year-old, 135-pound 10-point.

The hunter actually saw the buck from his stand on Oct. 2, but he was unable to get a broadside shot because the younger 10-point stood 25 yards broadside while the bigger 8-point stood straight-on at 40-plus yards.

Lovertich continued hunting the deer as conditions allowed, and the effort finally paid off.

“On my third visit to this stand, they both returned, and this time the 8-point walked through an opening at 32 yards,” Lovertich said. “His body dwarfed the 10(-point), so I knew he was a good mature buck to take out.

“After stopping him, he was slightly quartering away so I put my pin behind the shoulder and let it fly. I buried my arrow to the fletching and into the front of the offside shoulder. He went 50 yards and crashed.”

But he feels strongly that hunters targeting mature bucks must exercise self control.

“One other note that I’m big on is (that) from these setups that I’m seeing bucks from, I choose not to shoot does,” Lovertich said. “I like for everything to be as normal as possible for bucks, and to keep them comfortable.

“If I’m going to disturb a buck setup, I choose to disturb it with shooting a nice buck. I shoot does from doe setups.”

The importance of playing the wind was strengthened when Lovertich went after a nice 10-point.The hunter had been seeing the deer on the same camera as the mature 8-point, but Lovertich never saw it while in the stand set up on the food plot.

Lovertich put out a second camera on the edge of a green field about 200 yards to the north around the first week of November. He was getting images of the buck at night and early morning shooting light at camera No. 1, but he couldn’t hunt it in the morning due to the risk of jumping too many deer.

He believed the buck was bedding north of the green field. Sure enough, the second camera started capturing images of the buck in the green field during the last hours of daylight.

Again, wind was the dictating factor in when the site was hunted.

“I had to have a northwest wind for this spot,” Lovertich said. “He came out with a pretty nice 8-point and fed out in the field to around 45 yards. He was quartering to me, and I was thinking, ‘He’s coming.’

“All of a sudden, he whirled and ran out of the field. I guess the wind swirled or he sensed something.”

However, the deer appeared to remain in the area.

“I continued getting pictures of him, so I knew if I could get wind right, I may have another chance,” Lovertich said. “I went back on Nov. 15, and he came out with the same 8-point with about 15 minutes of daylight left.

“This time, when he crossed in front of me at 30 yards and quartering to me, I didn’t wait — I put (the pin) on the front of his shoulder and shot. He ran 75 yards and piled up.”

And then sometimes luck just overrides everything else, as Lovertich learned when he took an 8-point.

Lovertich killed the nice deer near the Mississippi River on Jan. 19 after he and his hunting buddies decided to do a man drive to see they could get some deer on their feet.

“When doing this with a bow, you have to be downwind as on any drive, but the trick is trying to figure out where to set up to try and get a shot at one of these moving targets,” Lovertich said. “I look for a heavily used trail, which are very visible in this area. Once you locate a good trail that they may travel, you look for blowdowns or water to help narrow their choices and hopefully send them in your direction.”

He found a good trail with a thicket on each side, climbed up into his stand and settled in. It wasn’t long before a group of does came by.

The hunter decided to shoot a doe that passed to his right; it ran out of sight, and Lovertich heard it crash.

“I knew this was a good sign, because if anymore deer came through, they would most likely use the same trails,” said Lovertich. “Fifteen minutes later, a few more does and several bucks came running in and stopped at 75 yards. The does hesitated for about 15 or 20 seconds, and then moved in my direction. They passed to my left, and all I needed were the bucks to follow.

“The bucks stayed up for three or four minutes, so I had picked out the shooter and ranged where the group of does crossed the road. Finally, the smaller buck took off and passed through a small, 30-yard opening. When the big 8(-point) proceeded, I drew my bow and was ready. As he approached the opening, I grunted with my mouth as loud as I could, and he stopped. I hit my release and drilled him through the heart. He went 30 yards and crashed.”

He said the adrenaline pump inherent in bow hunting is what keeps him picking up archery equipment.

“I love bow hunting,” Lovertich said. “If that doesn’t get your blood pumping, I don’t know what will.”

Lovertich’s TipStart scouting early, use non-flash trail cameras and hunt active trails.

Lovertich’s equipment:• Bow — Mathews Helim• Arrows — Gold Tip Ultralight Pro 400• Broadhead — Rage 3 blade chisel tip• Sight — Blackgold Vengeance• Rest — Ripcord• Quiver — Tight Spot• Release — Scott Archery Sabertooth• Game Camera — Primos Blackout