Sutter tagged a 12-point 162-inch trophy buck on his home farm in 1999 that illustrates his point.

"I was watching the edge of a standing corn field when I saw this doe pop out of the corn," he recalled. "Right behind her was a big mature buck. Then another mature buck appeared in a nearby pasture about 200 yards away, walking toward them and deep-grunting. The two bucks squared off, and the intruder buck chased off the first one. When the doe and the buck left, I hit the horns, and the first big one just came in on a string. That was being in the right place at the right time, but it was also being ready with the tools that were needed. I never go out without rattling antlers, but I'm careful about when and how I use them."

The final phase of Wisconsin's long archery hunt occurs in the December late season, according to Sutter's theory. Just as in the first few weeks of September, the December hunt is largely conducted over food sources, where post-rut bucks come to re-energize after an exhausting, demanding rut.

"For me, the best opportunities come on food plots that are designed specifically for the late-season hunt," Sutter noted. "I plant them with specific tree-stand setups in mind, and the stands are carefully thought out. They can only be hunted in specific wind directions, and I won't sit them unless everything is perfect."

And, though Sutter said big bucks can be highly vulnerable then, the conditions have to be right.

"You need snow and extreme cold for it to really happen," he said. "Unfortunately, those conditions are as hard on hunters as they are on deer! For example, a few years back I had a really nice buck coming to one of my food plots. Right after Christmas I got the wind direction I needed for one of my stands. The buck showed up with plenty of shooting light left and walked within 10 yards of my stand. Unfortunately, I had sat there long enough that I was too cold to even pull my bow back! That buck never knew I was there, and I just had to watch him walk out of my life. When he disappeared, I just walked back to the truck and had to open the door handle with my bow because my hands were too cold to function!"

PARTING SHOTS
Though some hunters would moan about their bad luck after such a hunt as that one, Sutter does little but chuckle. The veteran hunter has never lost sight of the fact that chasing whitetails -- even big, wise, challenging bucks -- is supposed to be fun, and not the deadly-serious business some people want to make it.

"I've been very fortunate to be able to hunt, and harvest, some great deer," he said. "But the minute I stop enjoying myself is the minute I quit. That's one of the points I stress when I give talks about management to different groups. I've seen friendships ruined over big deer and managing for them, and it's not worth it. The only way for any management scheme to work is for everyone to agree first and to keep the enjoyment in the process alive.