Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Kansas 2021 report.

Well, another chapter completed in the wonderful sunflower state.

The year started off with a bit of a bummer in that my father (and favorite hunting partner) didn’t draw a tag. But that didn’t keep him from accompanying me on the trip – he’d be invaluable as another set of eyes and filling our limitless coyote tags.

Pops got a couple of coyotes out of the way prior to the season.




With unseasonably warm temps in the upper 60’s and 70’s coupled with near-drought conditions that stunted crops, we knew we’d be in for a grind. And our assumptions did not disappoint – deer movement in the morning would come to a halt by 8:45 each morning and not presume until late afternoon.

On opening day, dad and I shared a blind on his favorite spot on the ranch – a continuation of a draw that extends to a point into a large wheat field along the river bottom. There’s always a lot of movement there in the morning as bucks leave the pastures from the south to come to bed. The added bonus – they have to cross the field to get to the timber. We didn’t go long when a solid 3.5 (potentially 4.5) y/o 10pt burst out of the timber hot after a doe and not long after, two more of the same age class brought up the rear. I passed to some dismay of my hunting partner. LOL




A wind shift in the afternoon so I decided to sit the backside of the cover I watched that morning. A few 2.5 y/o bucks kept me entertained until the sun went down but that was it for deer movement.

Day two found me in one of my favorite pieces on the property – the head of a long draw that feeds down into the river bottom. The deer feed a mile to the north and begin their journey back to the ranch. In this particular spot, action is almost immediate at daybreak. And true-to-form, the first three deer through were bucks but nothing that I wanted to take home.




On the first evening of the season while driving around, pops saw a buck that he thought warranted a closer look so with a now-favorable south wind, I headed to that area for evening two. It’s a long wheat field that runs along the river. The deer cross the river to access from north but the majority of the deer come from the east here. And they generally arrive late as it’s but a ½ mile from the road so they’re quite wary of the stop-and-looks.

The first deer out was this really cool 1.5 y/o with distinctive all-white legs.



Just before dark-thirty, a buck popped out that got my attention (no doubt the buck dad had seen the night before). He was a solid 20” wide and tall. I studied him a bit in the binocular, then shifted to the rifle. I zoomed the scope, settled the crosshairs, set the safety off and studied him some more…….I contemplated and put the safety back on – young deer. That took a little bit of will-power. And in a text exchange with the land owner, he warned that with the extended week of high temps, I could come to regret that decision and I couldn’t disagree.

Each day seemingly had a different wind so I dotted the ranch based on areas I’d not hunted.
This third-morning spot would be second draw that feeds the ranch within the same pasture as I’d sat the previous morning. Some more rutting action by multiple bucks but not quite what I was looking for.





The buck from the second evening began to weigh on my mind. Rack-wise, he was there (sans the mass) but I just had to try to get a second look at him to make sure. With yet another wind switch that would make the spot he previously leaked out an impossibility, there was a narrow pocket of timber about a ¼ mile from the wheat field that I could access from the south to watch a corridor I’d assumed he’d traveled.




I was covered in deer (and some far too close for my liking) at dark-thirty but thankfully didn’t get busted even without the baking-soda concoction that makes deer oblivious to one’s presence.
They simply weren’t getting to the field until after-dark.

I ended up seeing a couple of bucks but didn’t get to put eyes on the buck I’d hoped for but my spotter saw the buck access the corner of the field again at last light. High hopes for tomorrow-evening’s hunt. 

The wind would be the same in the morning (4th morning) and this would be as good a spot as any now that I’d found a bunch of deer. Maybe I could catch a FNG here that we’d not put eyeballs on, then make a play for the intended buck in the evening. Lotsa deer, a handful of 2.5 and 3/5 y/o’s but nothing noteworthy.

Temps had warmed to the mid 70’s during the day so I didn’t have much for expectations that evening but decided to give the spot we’d now seen the buck three times in as many evenings. I’d resorted to a long-sleeve shirt and running shoes as attire as the afternoon sun baked. It was dead-calm (a rarity) and arrived at the spot at 3:30, noting 2 fresh scrapes on my ½ mile walk in the thin strip of timber between the field and the river to the north.

I put my rifle in the saddle atop my tripod, loaded it and set the scope on 6x (normally it’s always on 2.5). If the buck showed and I actually decided to shoot, all I’d need to do is get behind it and shoot.

I decided a little housekeeping was in order around the base of the tree so I as quietly as I possibly could, removed the leaves with my foot (it was so dry the leaves sound like walking on potato chips). I’d just finished when I’d heard a deer running full bore from the east and it was getting close RIGHT NOW. I looked up and saw a tall-racked, fully mature buck with fire in his eyes running like a freight train on the cattle path I was standing beside. I grabbed the gun (still on the stinkin’ tripod) and got brown in the scope as he angled past me at 8 yards and put a 130 Accubond (6.5 Creedmoor) in him as he continued on. Yep, eight yards. (I could have punched him in the nose if he'd kept coming but he caught my movement)

He dropped about 15 yards into the short brush in front of me and I’d now gotten the gun out of the saddle and scope down to 2.5. I could see a motionless G2 in the brush so I took my first step on the potato chips and the bastid stood up so he got the coup de grace. How he managed to briefly shake off a shot that had caught both lungs and opposite shoulder is beyond me – other than he was charged up and looking to find a buck near the scrapes.

It was not the intended buck but a far-cooler buck. A big eight with killer G2’s:





There’s always some szchit that happens to us in KS – this one is definitely up there with the craziest.


And as it turns out, dad had let the buck walk a year ago and had all the proof one needs.
He really blossomed this year. Ummm, thanks dad!

Video of last year’s buck.



I’ve only seen one buck this lean in all my years:

Now it was time to turn the attention to the does. We always target yearling does and they’re bunched up generally away from the does and fawns. Dad had already had them pegged so filling the three doe tags was a formality in 3 sits.




We spent the rest of our time chasing coyotes in the morning and evenings and got the deer boned and on dry ice during the mid-days.





I’ll look forward to potentially helping dad find the other buck next year.
Once again – a huge shout out to the ranch owner. He’s a good friend and we pinch ourselves each year that he trusts us as stewards of his place. There’s so many good folks in KS and he’s king-of-the-hill in our book.


Some annual random shots from our hunt.

Another excellent SKane adventure! Cool buck under tough conditions.

That's pretty sweet. That buck literally didn't have an ounce of fat on him.
Congratulations!

Awesome write up Scott!!! Very well done, a fine buck indeed.

Thanks for the trip. You never disappoint. Looking forward to next year.

Unbelievable! A 6.5 Creedmoor?

👍👍👍🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

Any reason for killing 1.5 year old does and not older does?

That buck is awesome, just when I thought the 8 I shot this year was a big one…. Incredible how lean he was too, looked like he was already turned into jerky.

Congrats on another great trip.

Call and think of it what you will but I refuse kill mommas with babies (and the ranch owner shares the same perspective). I have killed mature does without fawns but that's generally a rarity.
And sometimes because we've taken so long to fill bucks tags, we need to fill doe tags in a hurry. Once you find the bunches of yearlings, it's not uncommon to shoot multiples in a sit.
Shoot one, they go back into the timber and reappear minutes later.

15 minutes of work a few years back:

Holy fücking pass shooting! Sweet buck Scott!

That was a great write up. Congrats on another good one Scott.

That thing is a fuggin' hammer of an 8 - congrats

Loved the story, Scott! That is a truly amazing 8...killer G2s for sure. Good for Dad for saving him for you last year. His turn next year.

Great buck, Scott! Fine, quick shooting on your part. Once again, thanks for taking us along on the hunt. Fantastic pictures too.

Congratulations.

Great buck and write up. Congratulations