The Aldrich buck has a gross Pope and Young score of 179 5/8, with 16 scorable points. It is the largest gross-scoring archery buck taken in New York in 2008. Photo courtesy of Jon Aldrich.

Sometimes a little "beginner's luck" isn't really luck at all. It's a combination of planning, execution and a good dose of optimism that puts a hunter in the right place at the right time.

Jon Aldrich of Victor in Ontario County found himself in that position last season, and the result was this state's biggest gross-scoring archery buck of the year!

After one season of bowhunting that was fraught with poor stand placement, arrows falling off rests and no luck at all, Aldrich decided it was worth modernizing his equipment.

He also decided that he'd better do some reading -- a lot of reading! He scoured magazine after magazine, absorbing tips on stand locations, scent advice, calling techniques, and even how to move on a stand.

By the following fall (2007), with some practice under his belt, Aldrich was rejuvenated and more excited than ever to get back into the field.

A BETTER START
The 2007 season had a much better start for the novice archer. With the application of his newly acquired knowledge, Aldrich successfully arrowed a nice 8-point buck as the deer moved through a hedgerow into a large, cut corn field where several does were feeding.

It was his first deer ever with a bow, and it was his first buck ever with any weapon.

During the off-season, Aldrich's bowhunting passion grew, and he continued to read. He noticed a growing number of articles about hunting suburban bucks, or "patchwork" bucks, as they were often described.

He was struck by the deer's ability to thrive in densely populated areas, and that got him thinking about a buck his parents had been watching over the past two years around their yard in the village of Victor.

ENCOUNTER WITH A MONSTER
Aldrich saw the buck for the first time in January 2007 and knew him to be a large 10-pointer with long tines and a respectable spread. In Nov. 2007, the buck was again spotted chasing a doe in the gulley of his parents' front yard. The buck had grown to an 11-pointer, managing to maintain his long tines while adding a great deal of mass.

Aldrich was able to get a glimpse of the big buck once as he was on his way to go hunting. The bruiser was trailing a doe across his parents' back yard. He was by far the largest buck Aldrich had ever seen, other than those pictured in the many stories he had read.

Needless to say, Aldrich's blood was pumping, and his mind was consumed with thoughts of this huge buck. To make things even more exciting, his parents' neighbor managed to get some pictures of the big buck fighting a large 8-pointer in his back yard.