Urbas starts by shaving his legs, his arms, even his armpits. “I get my hair cut real short,” he said, “and I start a week before the season taking scent-free showers. I don’t take a regular shower again until the end of December. I brush my teeth in baking soda. I don’t drink alcohol. When I wash my clothing in scent-free soap, I use rubber gloves to take the clothing out of the machine and hang them outside. When I dress, I get dressed outside naked and I’m careful about the bottom of my boots, which I spray down heavily with Scent Killer. I even carry the scent-free wipes. This works well if you sweat a little bit. You can wipe yourself down with a wipe.”

According to Urbas, it is sweat that is the bane of archery deer hunting, and this has been a real problem in the past few years because it has been so warm around the opener.

“We had a really warm early season last year,” Urbas said. “That can make it tough. There were lots of days when the temperature was warm and the wind wasn’t right. I just wouldn’t hunt. It’s too high a risk with the sweating and the wind blowing that scent right to the deer. Once they know something has changed, the next time they come through will be midnight. You’ve forced them to change their pattern.”

Another change in the pattern happens when the deer move into the rutting period. At this point, Urbas changes from a late-afternoon-only hunter into an all-day hunter.

“During the rut, the big bucks are more active all day,” Urbas said. “You have to be very careful going in and out from the stand, but the rut is a period when you should be in your stand as much as possible.”

Urbas stressed that the most critical time for hunters targeting a big buck is when they are moving to and from their stand.

“When you are on your way to and from your stand, it is extremely important that you do not bump deer. Be very cautious and pay attention. If you have to go through a standing corn field to get to your stand, get two rows in to give yourself some cover. If you have deer come in while you’re hunting and they are blocking your route out, circle around so not to spook those deer. As soon as you spook any deer, you change the pattern of them all. A lot of people overlook this.”

Once on stand, Urbas relies very little on rattling or calls. “It’s very rare that I rattle. Maybe a little during the rut. I prefer no wind when I rattle. Ninety-nine percent of the trophy bucks I’ve rattled always circled downwind of where I was rattling. There are very few calm days in Minnesota, so I don’t do much rattling. While I have had little bucks come right into the rattles, the big bucks will circle so they’re downwind of the sound of the rattling before they commit. Sometimes I use a doe bleat call while the rut is going on just to get a buck’s attention or turn them, or to stop them for the shot.”