This is my third year hunting the Kansas rifle season, second without an outfitter. My cousin Steve and friend Brad joined me. Steve and I arrived on Tuesday in time to do a short scout and give him a feel for the area. We kicked up one deer and decided where we wanted to set up the next morning. Brad arrived later and knew he wanted to hunt the same spot he killed in last year.
Sunrise on opening morning, frosty and cold.

Sounds like you're on your way to some great hunting.

I was hunting a thin line of trees that led into a thicket filled ravine with a pond in it. Steve was hunting a fence corner East of me and Brad was South of me over a ridge. Wind was light from the S/E. By 9:00 I had not seen anything but heard a shot from Steve's direction. I sent the boys a text asking if they had seen anything, no and no was the answer.
It was cloudy but the sun would pop out occasionally. About 9:25 the sun lit up the open hillside beyond my ravine and I saw a deer. Quick look through the binoculars confirmed it was a nice buck so down goes the binoculars and the rifle comes up on the shooting sticks. I had already ranged this hillside at 155 yards. Deer was calm and walking slow and feeding. When I got the crosshairs on him he was quartering away so I held behind the last rib and touched it off. At the shot the buck kicked and ran out of sight over the crest of the hill.
I waited about 15 minutes and headed over to track him up. No blood where we was standing but 10 or 12 steps in the direction he ran and I could see him laying in the open just beyond the hilltop.

Ten point with a broken G2 on the right side.

Used my Kimber Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor shooting Hornaday 143 grain ELDX. I have had good luck with this load and in this case it hit where aimed and damaged the liver, one lung and top of the heart. Deer traveled less than 50 yards.

Text from the boys when they heard the shot asking if I needed help. Brad headed to the truck to get the deer cart and Steve headed my direction.. I had predicted one of us would tag out the first day.

More later, I need to go feed the dogs.

Thanks for sharing. Very cool and congrats!

We took the obligatory trophy pictures then started the field dressing chores.

Looks like a grand time. Private ground I assume?

I'm always amazed to kill a deer out is this open country.

Congratulations. That is a nice buck.

Loaded him on the cart, collected our gear and started the near mile trek back to the truck. Reminded us how old we are getting and that two of us had sugery this year.

Very nice congrats...

Back at the truck by 12:30. Do the online check in, grab a drink and sandwitch then Steve and I head to the processor and Brad heads back to the field. When Steve and I return we get a visit from the game warden. Quick check of our license and Steve heads in to hunt and I continue a pleasant conversation with the CO. Nice guy that was looking forward to a day off so he could hunt.

I stay at the truck to bring in the deer cart if anyone scores on the evening hunt. I do get some more visitors.

Awesome buck! Congrats.

The goat herd was in the pasture across the road. They had a good boy protecting them.

The sun sets on day one. Brad saw a big buck at about 100 yards but he spooked when Brad brought his gun up for a shot. He hunted his way back to the truck and saw a buck with two does within a couple hundred yards of the truck but didn't shoot him because his rack was busted up. Steve saw nothing.

Day two dawned a little warmer. Again I stayed at the truck while Brad and Steve headed in. Ten minutes after legal shooting time I hear a shot from Brad's direction. He sends me a text that he shot one at 50 yards and it ran out of sight. He would wait another 20 minutes for better tracking light. I got the cart unloaded.

Soon get another text, the deer had ran about 80 yards. Tall eight point.

More pictures, more gutting, but a shorter drag to the truck. Load him in Brad's truck and off he goes to the processor. Two down, one to go.

While Brad is gone I get another visitor. This lady was the manager of the Walk in Hunt Area program and she gave me a survey card and asked how we were doing and if there was any other pressure on this property. She encouraged me to fill my doe tag at a new property that had joined the program too late to be included in the brochure. It was about 10 miles away and she showed me on her map. The owner had signed up due to crop damage.

Good story and photos, congrats on the nice bucks

Keep it coming!!

Steve finished day two without seeing anything. It didn't help that two German guys came in from the East with a bird dog, camera, no guns and no fluorescent orange and went right by Steve. When they came back down the road they stopped and told Brad and I they were falconers looking for quail coveys. I told them they better get some orange on if they were going in the field during deer season. They didn't seem concerned.
Day three we dropped Steve off and Brad and I headed to town for breakfast and fresh donuts.

After breakfast we head over to check out the new WIHA property. Picked corn fields between wooded creek bottoms. We took Steve there that afternoon but again no luck. Steve hunted Saturday morning but this just wasn't his trip, never saw a deer while in the field. I picked up my processed deer and we packed up and headed home at noon. To rub salt in Steves wound he sees a nice buck in someone's driveway as we leave town.

Overall another good visit to Kansas.

Good LOOOOKING buck, uh the guy ???

Great write up and photos. Thanks for taking the time and effort.

Congrats


Jerry

Great Bucks! sounds like a nice Hunt! Thanks for the tale and the Pics!

Sounds like you fellas had a good time, and got some good meat.

Side note- photobucket stamp is annoying as heck.

Congrats, 54Woody.

Very nice!!!!

That sounds a great way and state to hunt. Not trying to know where y'all hunted, but is there a lot of WIHA all over the state?

Oh...and a couple of great deer!

For the most part, WHIA is in the western half of the state. There are some in the east, but not many and a much bigger population base to provide competition for those spots.

Got some nice bucks there, congrats.

KS WIHA online map

https://ksdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=43e5b96582704fc6a8abe3b29c159a6f

Thanks men! Might never make it, but dreaming doesn't cost anything!

Kansas is definitely a fun, yet different place to hunt. I hunted there last year and had wind, high temperatures and the super moon to contend with. Deer sightings were very few. Congratulations to you boys on these nice deer.

Yeah, I'm glad you had a great hunt with your friends.

Congrats on a very successful trip! I've already penciled in KS for a buck and bird hunt next year.

Good stuff 'Woody !

Did you do a Sioux Lookout moose hunt this year ?

99,

No moose hunt this year. I'm on a waiting list with my outfitter but it will be 2020 or 21 before he has room again.
I did take this whitetail at home with my 1957 Savage 99 F. I suppose I should post it on the Savage forum.

Another view of my Indiana 99 buck. An hour before I shot him I blew a chance at a bigger buck when his doe busted me. The one I took was the third biggest buck I had seen during bow season and had pictures of.

Ruger77,

As you can see by the map skeen shared there is a lot of WIHA around the state. We hunt in the East half. I stumbled on this program in 2016 when I was hunting the area with an outfitter and saw the signs. For the 2017 hunt we used OnX maps to look at several WIHA properties then went out a day before the season opened and walked a half a dozen properties. Some are wide open pastures, some have creek bottom cover, some are cultivated. Hunting pressure varies by location and day of the week but we haven't had any interference other than the silly German bird hunters this year.

Cheers, yeah, the whole moose tag situation up here is totally messed up !

Outfitter tags have been reduced significantly too.

Haven't hunted them myself in 4-5 seasons, since the quota was seriously reduced.

Keep your good season rolling !

Well done, 54Woody.

Great hunt there Woody and thanks for the information.

Don't listen to the WIHA lady. She has told that crop damage doe story to 100 other hunters as well. Congratulation to both of you on your deer.

LNF,

I'm sure she told others about that property, it's her job to promote the program. She said she usually just leaves the survey card on vehicles and doesn't get to talk to many hunters. I had told her Brad and I didn't intend to doe hunt but she really wanted to report to the land owner that she sent hunters there. Anyway, when we ran over there to check it out there was one truck pulled over on one field. When we went back that evening to drop my cousin off there wasn't anyone else there. Lots of deer sign but cuz didn't see any. I saw a buck and doe across the road on neighboring property. Still it was worth a look and good to remember for the future.

In addition to the over 1 million acres enrolled in the WIHA program, Kansas has another 300,00 acres of US Corps of Engineer lands open to hunting.

There is no shortage of public hunting opportunities in Kansas.

I did her WIHA job years ago for the state of Kansas. Contracting with the landowners, drawing the enrolled lands on county maps, posting all the properties in the counties for my area (and helping other biologist with their WIHA lands), talking to hunters and passing out the survey cards. But since I had been on all the properties at least twice or more; I knew what they held, their hunting potential and what I had seen. So when I'd talk to hunters; I'd steer them to where I had seen upland game or big game and get the groups spread out for success, not stack them on top of each other on one piece of property for safety reasons and because those deer will split the scene, come back the day after hunting season ends and the crop damage continues.

LNF,

Good insight and great approach to the job.

Great trip Woody, and great bucks!

Woody, well done!
Did you see a bit of rutting activity just prior to the season?

We certainly did on our trip, then the switch got flipped on the last bit of rutting activity the day the season opened.

I arrived about 2:00 pm the day before the opener so no time to get much observation in, especially since my buck was the first deer I saw opening morning. My buck was traveling alone and feeding. Brad saw two bucks traveling alone and one following two does. On Friday afternoon I saw a buck dogging a doe from the road. I think the rut was winding up fast. Talked to one hunter over lunch that said the rut was cranking just before Thanksgiving when he was taking his son out bow hunting but it was like a switch was thrown at the end of that week shutting it down.
Looking forward to your report.

Woody

breakfast AND fresh donuts.... I like your style.

54 woody, you done good man. Nice Bucks and Nice Shootin' on your and your partners part!

That's a cool pic