Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Finishing My Hunting Season in Kansas

Started my season this October in the Yukon for moose, then Wyoming in November for mule deer, back home to Indiana for whitetail, then out to Kansas with my friend Brad for whitetail. Our plan was to hunt walk in access areas and see if we could take a couple bucks DIY style.
We arrived late Monday afternoon and drove around to get a feel for the walk in areas from the road. Tuesday we put boots on the ground and watched a good buck chase a doe across a pasture right off the bat. Saw another buck later in the morning. We scouted one piece of property from three different access points then scouted two other properties. For opening morning we had an A, B, and C plan depending on how many other hunters were at the access points.
Wednesday morning we got an early start but another truck was already at the access point. We talked to them and found out they were not headed where we wanted to be but they had seen a couple guys hang tree stands the day before where we had intended to spend the morning. Brad and I made a quick alternate plan and he headed to a draw that hit the fence line and I headed East to a small strip of trees. Wind was howling from the northeast but about 8:30 I see a buck 350 yards away, running toward me across an open pasture. I lost sight of him in a fold in the terrain and never saw him again. Rain began to fall about 9:30 and we headed to the truck. Brad had not seen anything except one hunter headed toward our A spot. We ate some breakfast then headed to plan B, no one was there.
We had seen three does here while scouting and I hadn't gone far before I kicked up a buck. Brad found a nice draw with a little water hole in it and we each decided where we wanted to sit for the afternoon and headed to the truck for lunch. About 2:00 we headed in and at 3:45 I hear a shot from Brad's direction. I get a text from him, he killed a 10 point following a doe to the water hole.

Brad gets him field dressed then heads to the truck to get the deer cart. I head over to help and we get him out to the truck just before dark. Nice dark faced buck. 160 yard shot and the buck ran about 60 yards and collapsed.

Good job, nice buck.

Morning of day two I headed into my spot and Brad sat in the truck. Warm day and I had not seen anything. About 9:00 Brad saw a buck and doe come off the neighboring property and jump the fence into our area. I never saw them. Mid morning we took Brad's deer to the processor and after lunch I headed back in and sat up near the draw Brad had hunted. Saw nothing but liked the looks of the area and decided to hunt it the next morning.

Morning of day three was the coldest morning yet, low thirties and a great sunrise.



About 15 minutes after legal shooting time I look to my left and see something odd looking in a small gap between some low brush and a cedar. I am tucked into a cedar and some limbs are blocking a clear view so I lean forward just as the odd shape takes a step and I can see it is the rear half of a deer. As I reach for my binoculars it turns 180 degrees and I see it is a buck. I pick up my rifle instead of the binoculars and need to scoot forward for a clear shot. He has stepped behind a thin limbed bush 85 yards away and caught my movement as I set up on the shooting sticks. He is facing me and I am concerned he will bolt rather than walking out from behind the bush. I decide there is not enough brush to worry about and put my crosshair at the base of his neck. I'm shooting a Kimber Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor, 143 grain ELDX. At the shot the buck runs to my left, head low, and is out of sight behind a cedar in two leaps.
I decide to wait 20 minutes before tracking. I call Brad because he was going to leave at 7:45 on a donut and coffee run. I tell him to stay put and I'll call him after I track the deer.

About 10 minutes after the shot I see two crows land in a tree to my left and one flys down to the ground. I think there is no reason for them to be there unless that buck is laying dead there. I use my binoculars to look through the low limbs of the tree and this is what I see.

No need to wait any longer to track him, he went 45 yards and piled up.

I call Brad and tell him to bring the deer cart. A few pictures and field dressing and we are back to the truck and headed to the processor.

So to sum up this trip, in one day of scouting and two days and 15 minutes of hunting we saw 7 bucks, all 8 points or better, 7 does, and took a 10 point and a 9 point on public access property. We accomplished what we hoped to.

Congratulations on a successful hunt!

I nominate woody for 24 hr campfire man of the year. Great pics and recaps of the years hunts, thanks for sharing.

Congrats on a good season and thanks for sharing the hunts with us.

Good going fellas! I'm a big fan of public diy hunts. Congrats !

Very nicely done!! A pard and I are thinking of doing what you two did next year and mixing in a bit (or a lot) of pheasant hunting.

Love the Pic's and Stories

Woody:

Sounds ;like you had a good time. Congratulations on nice bucks.

KC

Very good hunting for public access ground. There isn't that much public ground in our area. Just guessing but that looks like maybe in the south/east part of the state..

What a fantastic story and great job on putting those buck down.

Yep, a real pleasure to read and great pics of some fine deer. Well done!