GRANDVIEW OUTDOORS From the Archives – It’s hard to argue that the rut offers the best window to waylay a whitetail buck. Or is it? A mental debate was commencing in my mind last fall as the fourth buck of the evening passed casually below my tree stand. Should I take this one or continue my patient wait, hoping for an even better buck to show before sunset? I let the buck walk, and he hopped a fence to the lush alfalfa reward beyond. It wasn’t the rut. It wasn’t even close to the rut. The hunt took place in September, more than a month away from the rut. Had I not stumbled across a trophy mule deer later in the hunt, I have no doubt I would have tagged a whitetail on my Montana hunt. The odds were just too good.  [full article]