It was mid-October, and Missouri hunter Ashlea Neill was constantly checking her trail cameras for a target buck. That’s when she got the first photo of a great deer working a scrape. She quickly hung more trail cams in the area and even chose a spot to hunt the buck from a saddle with archery gear.

Image: rr_neill_1

Habitat improvement leads to big bucks for Missouri hunter Ashlea Neill. Images courtesy Ashlea Neill

If you followed last season’s Rack Reports, perhaps you remember Neill. She is the private land conservationist for Missouri’s Department of Conservation, and she and her husband, Cooper, put in a lot of time managing their hunting properties to hold and grow big deer. They’re also very selective when it comes to buck harvest, targeting only mature deer so that younger bucks can reach their full potential. The strategy paid off last year for Neill with a pair of outstanding bucks (read about them below), and it paid off again this fall.

Don’t Miss: MISSOURI HUNTER BAGS 2 TROPHY BUCKS IN ONE SEASON

Neill hunted her target deer several times during bow season but never saw him. “He was always one step ahead of me,” she explained. “I’d hunt one stand, and he’d show up on camera at another spot.”

Image: rr_neill_4

The buck stayed one step ahead of Neill for most of the season.

Once firearms season commenced, Neill took a good friend out deer hunting. They were hunting together when Neill’s target buck stepped out. Since the focus was on helping her friend get a deer, Neill wasn’t ready. Her gun was on the ground nearby. When the big buck stepped out, she attempted to grab her gun and shift into shooting position, but the buck caught her movement and spooked.

Don’t Miss: COYOTE ALMOST STEALS RECURVE HUNTER’S BIG PUBLIC-LAND BUCK

“I thought for sure at that point that he was gone and wouldn’t be back,” she said. Her friend ended up connecting with her biggest buck to date later in the hunt.

Image: rr_neill_7

After spooking the buck while hunting with a friend, Neill worried he might leave the area.

Neill’s target buck did leave the area, but not for long. Five days later, she got his photo on a different part of the property. The huge buck was there two nights in a row, but Neill was out of town. On the third night, which was the last day of the firearm season, Neill knew she needed to be in her stand.

Don’t Miss: BOWHUNTER STALKS AND SHOOTS 185-INCH OHIO BUCK AT 15 YARDS

Ten fresh inches of snow had fallen, weighing down the warm-season grass field the buck had visited the previous two evenings.

“Normally, the grass is too high to see, but the snow made it to where I could sit on the ground in a chair with my shooting sticks and clearly see the corner he’d been in the past two evenings,” Neill detailed.

Image: rr_neill_3

Neill’s buck stepped out at 150 yards on the last evening of rifle season.

Around 4:15 p.m., a group of does and fawns stepped out into the field about 150 yards from the waiting hunter. Just behind them was her target buck.

“I immediately saw his crab claw and extra point as he stepped out of the ditch into the field,” she said. “I knew it was him.”

Once Neill had a clear shot at the buck's shoulder, she aimed carefully and squeezed the trigger.

“I prefer high-shoulder shots with a rifle,” she stated. “I don’t like to track, and that hit usually anchors them on the spot.” It worked; the buck collapsed in his tracks.

Once again, dedicated habitat work paid off. The field the buck was using had been burned back in the spring, then Neill turned her goats loose on it to remove some of the invasive plants from the area. The warm-season grasses flourished, providing both food and cover for wildlife.

While this buck was high on her target list, he wasn’t at the top.

Check Out Our Latest Camo Pattern: Realtree APX

“There’s another buck this year that is actually bigger,” she said. “He probably scores in the 170s. I missed him earlier during bow season. The secondary rut is kicking in, and I still have my archery tag, so I’m all in on him now.” (Editor’s note: This article was written in mid-December)

Her buck is a mainframe 6-by-5 with a split G-2 on the left side, totaling 12 scorable points. Heavy mass and long beams pushed the score to an impressive 162 inches, her biggest to date. Neill said: “I’m pretty content with the season so far, but I wouldn’t mind getting some redemption at the other buck.”

Don’t Miss: HUNTER TAKES BLIND-EYED KENTUCKY BOONER