Let me start by saying this is going to be a long post. My 2018 Kansas gun season was 12 days of highs and lows. I only had one deer on camera that I was excited to hunt on my place. So, I decided to hit the road and do some scouting. On Thanksgiving morning a week before the season opened I was glassing on a big hill from a dead end road. To my surprise, I had a buck walk thru some timber about 400 yards away and start rubbing a tree. It was pretty early but I new he would be worth the effort. It took me until late in the first day of season to finally track down the owner and get permission to hunt the property.
Since opening morning was upon us and I still didn't have permission, I decided to take my nephew to my place to see if we could get him one of the bigger management deer I had on the hit list. His wife was due with their second child any day and opening morning was going to be his only opportunity to hunt. In fact he went into work at 2:30 am and worked until 5:00 am so he could take off the morning to hunt. Since he is accident prone (he gets excited and shoots the wrong deer) I knew I had to take him. We sat until 9:30 am and didn't see a deer. On our walk out we spotted a couple of deer about 3/4 of a mile away milling around. I told him it was probably a doe and fawn and didn't give it another thought. As we got to the last rise where those deer were we slipped over the ridge and one of the deer was a good buck. I hadn't ever had this deer on camera and quickly told him to take the shot. He got pretty nervous and it took him forever to pull the trigger but he made it happen. We were both shocked when we got to the deer and realized he was a main frame 6x6 that grossed 183". The outfitter who leases the ranch next to me had 3 years of pictures of him. In all he had about 20" of tines broken off. He was a 200" deer.
It made me feel good to know we got one away from the outfitter. He was gracious enough to give us trail cam pics so we know what he looked like before he got busted up, so we can have him repaired.
Second morning of season, I missed the big buck that I had gotten permission to hunt. UGH!!
Not wanting to go back in that afternoon I was planning on doing some long distance glassing but I got a call from a buddy asking me to help him get a deer out for his sister, so that ate up the second night of season. Her deer grossed around 180".
The next morning I was back in hunting the big buck. I saw him again with no shot opportunity. Same thing that night. I saw him again but no shot. I got a call on the way home and had to help another friend get his buck out. He was a 160" deer.
Every year I invite a couple soldiers from a local Army base come hunt and shoot management deer. This year I had a big 6 point that was 5.5 and an 8 point that was really cool. Here is the 8 point.
He is one of those guys who gets excited easily but I let him sit alone since I was off hunting the other buck. He called to say he got the 8 point. I went to help get him loaded and was a bit surprised that he shot the wrong deer.
It's hard to get upset with a guy with a smile like that. He has served 3 combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has seen a lot of firefights. He is definitely a guy I want on my side and I couldn't be happier for him. His biggest buck to date.
Fast forward to the end of season. I had seen the big deer 9 times. I finally knew I had to do something different to get him. I slipped into an open pasture with no cover trying to get to a washout that was closer to where he had been coming from. I got picked off by some does and had to lay down in the short grass out in the open. After laying on the wet ground for about an hour and a half, I see him coming from the direction where I had been sitting the rest of season. He walked into a draw and after about 20 minutes I see him coming out heading my way. I am facing straight west at 5:00 pm with a bright sun in my face. I knew as soon as I came up on my knees to shoot he would see me because I was still in the open. I got the rangefinder up and he was 389 yards. I came up on my knees with the gun already on the sticks and settled on him. He stopped and I made the perfect shot. I was on cloud nine. I knew from watching him nine different times he was a mainframe 8 that would probably score in the 170's. When I got up to him, my heart sank when I realized I had shot the wrong deer.
This guy is still a stud with serious mass. His mass actually makes his time length deceiving plus he has long main beams. My best guess is he is 6.5 to 7.5 years old. I am not at all disappointed. He is awesome and I got to spend a ton of time chasing another great deer. I am 100% sure the deer I saw walk into the draw was the right deer but once he walked into the draw, this guy walked out. I never took the time to look at his rack once he came out because I knew there was no time to waste.
After season I went back and set out a camera for the first time to see exactly what the deer I was hunting looked like. I will post those pics in another thread. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did experiencing it.
Since opening morning was upon us and I still didn't have permission, I decided to take my nephew to my place to see if we could get him one of the bigger management deer I had on the hit list. His wife was due with their second child any day and opening morning was going to be his only opportunity to hunt. In fact he went into work at 2:30 am and worked until 5:00 am so he could take off the morning to hunt. Since he is accident prone (he gets excited and shoots the wrong deer) I knew I had to take him. We sat until 9:30 am and didn't see a deer. On our walk out we spotted a couple of deer about 3/4 of a mile away milling around. I told him it was probably a doe and fawn and didn't give it another thought. As we got to the last rise where those deer were we slipped over the ridge and one of the deer was a good buck. I hadn't ever had this deer on camera and quickly told him to take the shot. He got pretty nervous and it took him forever to pull the trigger but he made it happen. We were both shocked when we got to the deer and realized he was a main frame 6x6 that grossed 183". The outfitter who leases the ranch next to me had 3 years of pictures of him. In all he had about 20" of tines broken off. He was a 200" deer.
It made me feel good to know we got one away from the outfitter. He was gracious enough to give us trail cam pics so we know what he looked like before he got busted up, so we can have him repaired.
Second morning of season, I missed the big buck that I had gotten permission to hunt. UGH!!
Not wanting to go back in that afternoon I was planning on doing some long distance glassing but I got a call from a buddy asking me to help him get a deer out for his sister, so that ate up the second night of season. Her deer grossed around 180".
The next morning I was back in hunting the big buck. I saw him again with no shot opportunity. Same thing that night. I saw him again but no shot. I got a call on the way home and had to help another friend get his buck out. He was a 160" deer.
Every year I invite a couple soldiers from a local Army base come hunt and shoot management deer. This year I had a big 6 point that was 5.5 and an 8 point that was really cool. Here is the 8 point.
He is one of those guys who gets excited easily but I let him sit alone since I was off hunting the other buck. He called to say he got the 8 point. I went to help get him loaded and was a bit surprised that he shot the wrong deer.
It's hard to get upset with a guy with a smile like that. He has served 3 combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has seen a lot of firefights. He is definitely a guy I want on my side and I couldn't be happier for him. His biggest buck to date.
Fast forward to the end of season. I had seen the big deer 9 times. I finally knew I had to do something different to get him. I slipped into an open pasture with no cover trying to get to a washout that was closer to where he had been coming from. I got picked off by some does and had to lay down in the short grass out in the open. After laying on the wet ground for about an hour and a half, I see him coming from the direction where I had been sitting the rest of season. He walked into a draw and after about 20 minutes I see him coming out heading my way. I am facing straight west at 5:00 pm with a bright sun in my face. I knew as soon as I came up on my knees to shoot he would see me because I was still in the open. I got the rangefinder up and he was 389 yards. I came up on my knees with the gun already on the sticks and settled on him. He stopped and I made the perfect shot. I was on cloud nine. I knew from watching him nine different times he was a mainframe 8 that would probably score in the 170's. When I got up to him, my heart sank when I realized I had shot the wrong deer.
This guy is still a stud with serious mass. His mass actually makes his time length deceiving plus he has long main beams. My best guess is he is 6.5 to 7.5 years old. I am not at all disappointed. He is awesome and I got to spend a ton of time chasing another great deer. I am 100% sure the deer I saw walk into the draw was the right deer but once he walked into the draw, this guy walked out. I never took the time to look at his rack once he came out because I knew there was no time to waste.
After season I went back and set out a camera for the first time to see exactly what the deer I was hunting looked like. I will post those pics in another thread. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did experiencing it.
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