By Scott Bestul

Archery season opens in less than three weeks here in Minnesota—even sooner in several other states—and I’ve got several buddies in a severe panic right now. Sure, there’s the usual small stuff to sweat; assembling gear, prepping stands, broadhead shooting, final hunt planning…But that’s not what they’re worried about.

The bucks they’ve watched all summer are disappearing.

By Dave Hurteau

Today I’m turning it over to my friend John Barsody of Frigid Forage Inc. in northern Minnesota. For any of you who think you’ve missed your window for putting in a food plot or two, John has some good news—and has generously offered to answer your questions about fall plots in the comment section below. (For those of you who cringe at the very idea of food plots, be nice.) Here’s John:

By Dave Hurteau

Last year for the July 2009 issue, I edited Dave Petzal’s “No B.S. Accuracy” field manual (not that Dave needs much in the way of editing). He wrote: “It’s common advice that you should squeeze the trigger so that you’re surprised when the rifle goes off. This assumes you can hold the rifle perfectly still. I can’t do that in the field. I wobble and weave—not much, but enough. Instead, I pick the precise instant when the crosshairs are where they should be and then pull that trigger smartly.”

Dave actually gave me this advice almost 15 years ago, and since then I’ve done just as he describes. In the field, hunting deer, I pull the trigger. I don’t squeeze it. I try to pull it straight back with minimal extraneous movement—but it is not a surprise when the gun goes off.

By Dave Hurteau

And we have a winner.

But first, let me detail just how good you people are. In the last contest, an astounding 20 percent of contestants guessed within 5 inches of the actual total gross score of our four bucks. I figured you’d have a tougher go with sub-P&Y-class bucks this time around, and you did. But not much. Twenty-three contestants—more than 15 percent of you—guessed within 5 inches, including former winner buddyboy25 and former finalists mwmrtn and Taylor1. You guys are studs. Okay, let’s get to the buck’s: