Amid negative circumstances, a positive attitude led me to this 1466⁄8-inch Wisconsin brute.

NEVER BEFORE HAD I prepared so well for a hunting season. I'd done extensive off-season scouting, planted a food plot, and fine-tuned my shooting skills. For several years I'd enjoyed consistent success on decent bucks, but this year, I would tag a truly giant whitetail -- or tag no buck at all. I'd laid out my plans perfectly. I'd spent many weekend hours preparing a food plot and got it planted right in the time window suggested on the bag of plot seed. Two weeks later it was growing incredibly. I was so excited I marked potential treestand sites and vowed not to return until conditions were perfect during hunting season.

One week later, I experienced my first setback of the season -- after four days of torrential rains I checked on the food plot and found it 90-percent underwater. My food plot was history.

All was not lost, however, as during summer scouting sessions I spotted several bucks feeding in farm fields directly surrounding my leased lands. Even without my food plot honey hole, the season still held promise.

Then disaster struck when I went to a wedding reception -- and sprained my ankle. I'd prefer not to go into detail. Let's just say it was a freak accident and left me on crutches with a badly swollen ankle. There was no way I'd be slipping on my hunting boots in two weeks.

Scouting and setting stands were completely out of the question, but I didn't need my ankle to shoot my bow, so that became my focus -- working on my shooting form. I'm not saying I didn't feel discouraged, but I tried to remain positive, never losing sight of my goal.

IN 20 YEARS OF bowhunting, I had never missed an opening day, and I wasn't going to break that streak now. So on opening morning, I hobbled into the woods on crutches. Unable to go far, I opted for my closest stand tree, and given the pain, I was able to ascend only 10 feet with my climbing stand. Still, I saw a few deer, and it felt good to be in the woods at the start of a new hunting season.

Over the next few weeks, I intensely rehabbed my ankle to the point that I was able to walk to all of my stand sites -- without crutches. I just needed to allow a little extra time to get there due to my reduced walking speed.

Then another disaster struck. In mid-October, I was hobbling into the woods I lease from a local lumber company when I soon realized something drastic had taken place -- the company had just started logging the land. Quickly, I called the company, only to learn they most likely would be working there through the entire first bow season. That took the wind out of my sails.

To add insult to injury, a few days later I learned that my back-up hunting land was about to be sold to become a subdivision. Over the coming weeks, survey crews and developers would be visiting the property, which would totally disrupt the deer movement. I won't lie -- I felt like quitting, and over the next few days I catalogued all the reasons why this season was shot.

Continued -- click on page link below.