Andrew King's 21-point buck went 217 gross and green-scored 203 net in November 2025. He took it on public ground in Kingsbury County, where rolling hills, marshy draws, and CRP gave him just enough low cover to cut the distance from 800 yards to about 200.

This was not a stand deer. It was a glass-and-slip deer, found while the rut had him distracted near another 150-inch buck. Andrew steadied on a small tree with his father's Remington .270 and made the shot across a pond.

The milkweed pod beats your wind checker

Powder shows you the wind at your body for three seconds. A single milkweed seed stays visible for sixty seconds or more, and it maps the current your scent will ride across the draws, pond flats, and thermal shears between you and the buck. Almost nobody east of the Missouri River carries a pod.

𐂂 Pick pods in October. One pod is a full season of wind checks.

𐂂 Release one seed before every move and watch it the full distance, not just the first few feet.

𐂂 If it lifts, thermals are rising, so move now. If it sinks and runs a draw, that draw is carrying your scent, so back out.

Dale's note: Range the pond bank, fence post, brush clump, and field edge before you ever need them. Guessing distance is how good setups get wasted.

Dale's note: Small comfort keeps you still. Hunters who stay still see more deer.