The doe and small buck disappeared soon afterward. When the doe reappeared, the bigger buck was behind her. He was on a trail through thick cover, however, where it would have been impossible to get an arrow through. The trophy buck walked to a nearby pond for a drink. While he was quenching his thirst, Westbrook put the new grunt call in her mouth and gave it a try.

“The second time I made a grunt with the call, the big buck came barreling right toward me,” Westbrook said. “He thought the 6-point was after the doe and he was going to chase him off. When I saw the 13-pointer was coming, I got excited about the possibility of getting a shot. The grunt call was still in my mouth and, as my breathing accelerated, I kept grunting. I finally had to knock the call out of my mouth to quit grunting.

“The buck was only five yards away, straight down under my stand, when I shot him. He made it 20 yards into the sanctuary before dying.”

All of the book bucks Westbrook has killed have come from 63 acres she and her husband, Tim, own in Lenawee County. The pair have worked together to manage the property for deer, and the benefits from their efforts are obvious. They agreed to designate eight acres of thick swamp on the property as a sanctuary for deer that they never enter, except to retrieve arrowed animals.

The sanctuary encourages deer -- and especially adult bucks -- to take up residence on their land because the whitetails know there is always a place that is safe and secure when they are disturbed. Deer that are pressured elsewhere know they won’t be bothered in the sanctuary. Adult whitetails are good at locating and using spots where they aren’t bothered.

“After we bought the land, we read articles and attended seminars, and learned that habitat is everything,” Cheryl commented. “Trees and shrubs that deer like were planted. Two fields were signed up under a government program. Tim also put in three food plots consisting mostly of alfalfa and clover, which are deer magnets.

“The last major habitat improvement was to cut trees to thicken the woods. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool tree hugger, and Tim had a hard time convincing me this would be a good idea. Now that I understand the value of young trees to deer, we continue to cut mature trees. We leave the trees lay, and new growth sprouts up. When I can’t walk through a chunk of woods or see more than 30 yards, I know the deer will love it.”

Besides being able to hunt property that is well managed for whitetails, Cheryl said hunting as much as possible is responsible for her success.

“To grow as a hunter, you have to get out there and do it,” she said. “Practice makes perfect. I hunt every day after work and all weekends. Tim doesn’t mind my three-month-a-year absence, and sitting in a tree is a great way to unwind from work. When I’m in a tree stand, I witness a whole new world. I’m the fly on the wall, watching a fantastic drama where the characters are deer. As the days wear on, you have to want to be out there. I sometimes bring birdseed with me and watch the birds. I love being outdoors. That makes it easy for me to hunt day after day, even when I don’t get anything. When the rut is on, it’s like a soap opera out there. I just have to go see what’s going on.”

Tim also hunts, but he’s not as enthused about deer hunting from stands as his wife is. He likes more active types of hunting, according to Cheryl, such as hunting rabbits with beagles.

“Tim wants me to be successful as a deer hunter,” she said. “When it comes to fishing, he outfishes me big time!”