September 28 - Mark Drury

Hunter: Mark Drury
Animal: 142 6/8" 4 Year Old 8 Point Whitetail
Location: Missouri
Weapon: PSE Dream Season GX

I always try to plant food plots just ahead of the first rain front after the 25th of August. This year was no different. I planted 9 food plots, had a chance of rain in the forecast for eight days, and was certain of awesome seed germination. I watched in dismay as front after front slid just north or south of the farm. Zero rain. Zero germination. To say I was bummed is an understatement. Sometimes mother nature just doesn’t read the script.

What do I do now? How do I get water on the plots? First off, I replanted everything. Then I borrowed a 1000 gallon water tank and pump from a friend who farms nearby. After some quick engineering to neck down the hose, we had the most advanced food plot watering system we ever created, blasting water some 60 feet into the air. For a solid week, we went plot to plot watering the seeds. If mother nature wasn’t going to do her part, we were going to do it ourselves. I thought if nothing else, by going through all this effort, it would rain for sure.

Missouri season opens, and for the first few nights none of the plots were out of the ground. So I decided to hunt a bean field where I encountered a great 160” buck. He worked his way in perfectly, but it was just past camera light so I passed on the shot.

Finally, by the week of September 25, the food plots were popping up and it actually looked like we were hunting over a green field. A major cold front passed through on the 28th bringing north west winds. We headed out to a new food plot that I had watered intensively due to a big buck I caught on my Reconynx cameras in the areas.

That evening we saw six bucks, two of which were shooters. All the work replanting and watering this plot paid off when a four and a half year old eight point strolled into the middle of the Biologic. With Reconyx pictures from 2 ½, 3 ½, and now at 4 ½, I had a history with this buck. The Rage found its mark, and now the rest is history. Sometimes when mother nature won’t play the game, you just have to take matters into your own hands.

Now, I’m on to Iowa. The season there begins October 1. Stay tuned!