Kansas 2019 - 12/22/19
Once again my father and I made the trek to south central KS to chase whitetails. Well, one of us would be chasing whitetails – I didn’t draw a tag this year. Record applicants in 2019 resulted in SKane relegated to coyotes and sitting with dad (Whelen Nut). Not having a tag didn’t take all that much shine off the apple for me as I flat-out look forward to just experiencing this place, visiting with the ranch owner and quality time spent with pops – all of it trumps the buck tag.
We generally arrive 3-4 days prior to the hunt and it was obvious this year would be a wee different – winter wheat that’s so prevalent to the region didn’t get a lick of precipitation since it’d been put in the ground 5-6 weeks prior to our arrival. Coupled with the mild weather, the deer really had no reason to be frequenting the river bottom and fields – opting for open pastures and cuts – many of them off the ranch (and staying off) due to the corn-flingers on what seems like every property that touches the ranch.
I managed to glass a good one the eve before the season but it’d be at least 4, maybe 5 days for the right wind to make a play on him and dad wasn’t having any of that.
His game plan was simple – if he was lucky enough to see a 4.5 y/o it’d be considered bird-in-hand – regardless of head gear or his either/or tag would go on a yearling doe toward the end of the season.
The first morning was rather uneventful with a couple of young bucks spotted. With a mid-day wind shift to the south, our options get a bit more limited so we opted to watch the back of a bedding area from across the river. As we approached the steep bank of the river’s treeline via field, I cautioned dad we’d best keep noise to a minimum as deer like to lay in the 20 yards of brush and timber on our side too. I’d no more spoke those words when a 3.5 y/o 10pt broke from the cover and into the river. Dad could see the buck and whispered “too small” but he couldn’t see the other buck I was looking at also standing in the river. I could hear another deer stirring below the bank and knew from both bucks’ mannerisms and failure to exit stage-right that it was likely a doe that was smelling about right. “Another buck I whispered – it’s your 4.5 y/o – shoot”. A large tree shielded dad’s view of the deer and he finally got to put eyes on him when he followed the doe scrambling across the river. “Too much brush in the way – can’t shoot”.
We stood at the treeline and watched both bucks on the other side of the meadow finally melt into the bedding area – seemingly unphased at what had just transpired. I mentioned to dad that if he wanted that buck, we could slowly get him into position on the edge of the river and I’d break out the horns and create war hidden from view in a shallow depression behind him.
“Yep, we’re sticking to my original bird-in-hand plan – let’s do it”.
I wouldn’t get to see the bulk of the action but I’d be able to see dad. I wasn’t 30 seconds into my commotion when dad gave a circular motion with his hand to keep it up. Soon I could see a set of antlers dancing above the grass on the other side, then another set that seemed to be a twin to the first. Then yet ANOTHER 20” wide 3.5 y/o and I said a prayer that he’d get a pass. Soon all three bucks were focused on my position, oblivious to dad, and when I saw a fourth set of antlers coming to the bank, I braced myself for the rifle’s report. His 7600/6.5 Creedmoor spoke, followed by the familiar “puck” and dad had his deer.
I quietly made my way to dad and we both stood there chuckling over what had just transpired.
Fortunately, some time back the ranch owner showed me a few trick moves in getting a vehicle back to that locale from the other side so I got to stay out of the river for retrieval.
The sun was fading fast when we finally got to the deer so we managed a few photos and took care of the field dressing duties.
Penitentiary face (*grins*) and his deer:
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/g7n4MEy.jpg)
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/6nUcd4C.jpg)
So now the focus turned to yearling does. And they were seemingly harder to come by than something with antlers. Countless does with fawns (that we refuse to target) seen and what seemed to be an above normal amount of small does (yearlings) with single fawns.
Dad managed a doe one morning with a special rifle that I had in my possession for the season. Some of you will recognize the BobinNH commemorative .270 on loan from battue. I got to use it for our WI deer season and it seemed fitting to bloody it in KS where Bob, dad and I shared a hunt together – before I pass along on to another member (thank you battue - your rock, my friend).
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/H0e1CmR.jpg)
The coyotes also caught some hell on this trip. And in my pursuit of them around the outskirts of the ranch, walked up on next year’s hope, totally oblivious to my presence. OK, all the stuff I said earlier about the shine not being off the apple sans tag - now I really wished I had my buck tag.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/vQOrBZf.jpg)
Couple of random shots from the ranch.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/8GmWHut.jpg)
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/WyFNFsM.jpg)
It's quite refreshing to hunt a place like this in a manner that's unlike the way most whitetail hunting is today - it's a working cattle ranch with no deer feeders, cameras or specialized food plots. It makes each year unique and we're never quite sure what we're in for - other than a great experience and seeing good (and uber-accommodating) friends. And a lot of Casey's breakfast pizza.
##
We generally arrive 3-4 days prior to the hunt and it was obvious this year would be a wee different – winter wheat that’s so prevalent to the region didn’t get a lick of precipitation since it’d been put in the ground 5-6 weeks prior to our arrival. Coupled with the mild weather, the deer really had no reason to be frequenting the river bottom and fields – opting for open pastures and cuts – many of them off the ranch (and staying off) due to the corn-flingers on what seems like every property that touches the ranch.
I managed to glass a good one the eve before the season but it’d be at least 4, maybe 5 days for the right wind to make a play on him and dad wasn’t having any of that.
His game plan was simple – if he was lucky enough to see a 4.5 y/o it’d be considered bird-in-hand – regardless of head gear or his either/or tag would go on a yearling doe toward the end of the season.
The first morning was rather uneventful with a couple of young bucks spotted. With a mid-day wind shift to the south, our options get a bit more limited so we opted to watch the back of a bedding area from across the river. As we approached the steep bank of the river’s treeline via field, I cautioned dad we’d best keep noise to a minimum as deer like to lay in the 20 yards of brush and timber on our side too. I’d no more spoke those words when a 3.5 y/o 10pt broke from the cover and into the river. Dad could see the buck and whispered “too small” but he couldn’t see the other buck I was looking at also standing in the river. I could hear another deer stirring below the bank and knew from both bucks’ mannerisms and failure to exit stage-right that it was likely a doe that was smelling about right. “Another buck I whispered – it’s your 4.5 y/o – shoot”. A large tree shielded dad’s view of the deer and he finally got to put eyes on him when he followed the doe scrambling across the river. “Too much brush in the way – can’t shoot”.
We stood at the treeline and watched both bucks on the other side of the meadow finally melt into the bedding area – seemingly unphased at what had just transpired. I mentioned to dad that if he wanted that buck, we could slowly get him into position on the edge of the river and I’d break out the horns and create war hidden from view in a shallow depression behind him.
“Yep, we’re sticking to my original bird-in-hand plan – let’s do it”.
I wouldn’t get to see the bulk of the action but I’d be able to see dad. I wasn’t 30 seconds into my commotion when dad gave a circular motion with his hand to keep it up. Soon I could see a set of antlers dancing above the grass on the other side, then another set that seemed to be a twin to the first. Then yet ANOTHER 20” wide 3.5 y/o and I said a prayer that he’d get a pass. Soon all three bucks were focused on my position, oblivious to dad, and when I saw a fourth set of antlers coming to the bank, I braced myself for the rifle’s report. His 7600/6.5 Creedmoor spoke, followed by the familiar “puck” and dad had his deer.
I quietly made my way to dad and we both stood there chuckling over what had just transpired.
Fortunately, some time back the ranch owner showed me a few trick moves in getting a vehicle back to that locale from the other side so I got to stay out of the river for retrieval.
The sun was fading fast when we finally got to the deer so we managed a few photos and took care of the field dressing duties.
Penitentiary face (*grins*) and his deer:
So now the focus turned to yearling does. And they were seemingly harder to come by than something with antlers. Countless does with fawns (that we refuse to target) seen and what seemed to be an above normal amount of small does (yearlings) with single fawns.
Dad managed a doe one morning with a special rifle that I had in my possession for the season. Some of you will recognize the BobinNH commemorative .270 on loan from battue. I got to use it for our WI deer season and it seemed fitting to bloody it in KS where Bob, dad and I shared a hunt together – before I pass along on to another member (thank you battue - your rock, my friend).
The coyotes also caught some hell on this trip. And in my pursuit of them around the outskirts of the ranch, walked up on next year’s hope, totally oblivious to my presence. OK, all the stuff I said earlier about the shine not being off the apple sans tag - now I really wished I had my buck tag.
Couple of random shots from the ranch.
It's quite refreshing to hunt a place like this in a manner that's unlike the way most whitetail hunting is today - it's a working cattle ranch with no deer feeders, cameras or specialized food plots. It makes each year unique and we're never quite sure what we're in for - other than a great experience and seeing good (and uber-accommodating) friends. And a lot of Casey's breakfast pizza.
##
![[Linked Image from emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com]](https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/apple/237/thumbs-up-sign_1f44d.png)
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/U1jL13b.jpg)
