Kansas 2026 Pronghorn
- Thread starter kansasdad
- Start date
Friday afternoon hunt tale
Getting back to the SUV and quenching my thirst, I decided to drive back to a place I had pinned with dove possibilities. As I drive past 40+ of them took off from the electrical line. That’s almost the entirety of roosting place for doves as there are almost no trees out here.
Buttering up slices of Cheesecake Factory dark bread I decided that I would head towards the private ranch where I saw my first unit 17 antelope, but planned to keep my eyes open for antelope on the drive there. As I drive past a farm hq complex with three large silos I looked south and thought I saw two white dots in a grass field a long ways off.
Binos out and find the white dots, and watch those white dots morph into two antelope. Now consult with OnX. How big is this Wiha? Big enough that these guys are on publically accessible land. Heat shimmers are strong this afternoon but I can tell that there is a buck/doe pair and measuring tool says 1200 yards to get there.
Consult with app and there is a gully, arroyo, or wadi as we called them in Kenya. It looked like I would be out of sight of the antelope for a long safe walk, and I would try to figure it out from there.
As the wadi started to turn towards the east, I slowed my pace and kept scanning the new territory opened up with every few steps. Antelope!
They were descending from the bedding flat and feeding northwards, which was partially correct for me as I needed NW movement.
I backed up the arroyo and prepared to crawl to a yucca grove to observe their movements. Walking in my knees, I recalled Tim Conway’s character Dorf, as it must have looked like is was a penguin limbering along.
Finally getting to the yucca clumps I set up my glassing seat and had an amazingly frustrating good time watching. She was in the lead. Like other bucks this week, when he saw her squat, he was there to check it in no time. As nice of a buck as he is, she seems to be equal or larger in rump size. Equal or taller in shoulder height.
Watching them duck the fencing wire and again commence feeding, I tried to work out a way to close distance. It felt like I was stuck, but a morning attack plan was developing.
Finally the sunset time was approaching. These antelope were grazing uphill as fast as the final rays of light were traveling up the hillside. Finally after sunset they returned to the bottom of the bowl and looked like they were going to nestle down for the night as true darkness was
moments away.
Moving out of sight I shouldered my pack and rifle and started back up the wadi and the car.
My plan for Saturday morning was to come in from the east and get to the edge of the bowl, and be ready to tak a shot if presented. Either one of them.
Getting back to the SUV and quenching my thirst, I decided to drive back to a place I had pinned with dove possibilities. As I drive past 40+ of them took off from the electrical line. That’s almost the entirety of roosting place for doves as there are almost no trees out here.
Buttering up slices of Cheesecake Factory dark bread I decided that I would head towards the private ranch where I saw my first unit 17 antelope, but planned to keep my eyes open for antelope on the drive there. As I drive past a farm hq complex with three large silos I looked south and thought I saw two white dots in a grass field a long ways off.
Binos out and find the white dots, and watch those white dots morph into two antelope. Now consult with OnX. How big is this Wiha? Big enough that these guys are on publically accessible land. Heat shimmers are strong this afternoon but I can tell that there is a buck/doe pair and measuring tool says 1200 yards to get there.
Consult with app and there is a gully, arroyo, or wadi as we called them in Kenya. It looked like I would be out of sight of the antelope for a long safe walk, and I would try to figure it out from there.
As the wadi started to turn towards the east, I slowed my pace and kept scanning the new territory opened up with every few steps. Antelope!
They were descending from the bedding flat and feeding northwards, which was partially correct for me as I needed NW movement.
I backed up the arroyo and prepared to crawl to a yucca grove to observe their movements. Walking in my knees, I recalled Tim Conway’s character Dorf, as it must have looked like is was a penguin limbering along.
Finally getting to the yucca clumps I set up my glassing seat and had an amazingly frustrating good time watching. She was in the lead. Like other bucks this week, when he saw her squat, he was there to check it in no time. As nice of a buck as he is, she seems to be equal or larger in rump size. Equal or taller in shoulder height.
Watching them duck the fencing wire and again commence feeding, I tried to work out a way to close distance. It felt like I was stuck, but a morning attack plan was developing.
Finally the sunset time was approaching. These antelope were grazing uphill as fast as the final rays of light were traveling up the hillside. Finally after sunset they returned to the bottom of the bowl and looked like they were going to nestle down for the night as true darkness was
moments away.
Moving out of sight I shouldered my pack and rifle and started back up the wadi and the car.
My plan for Saturday morning was to come in from the east and get to the edge of the bowl, and be ready to tak a shot if presented. Either one of them.
Instead of sleeping in my car, I got a hotel room to shower, charge thee batteries and sleep on a comfy bed. I went to Syracuse and got a room. Fortunately my feet and brain remembered that the bed frame had no toe room underneath the box spring, and so I only stubbed my toes twice.
While checking in I learned that
the Syracuse football game had to be postponed, because parts of the field were still under water.
Setting my alarm for 4, I barely remembered that I hadn’t done my Wordle yet that day. Old Testament scholars and bankers know that word, thankfully I paid attention in Bible
101 class and kept the streak alive.
While checking in I learned that
the Syracuse football game had to be postponed, because parts of the field were still under water.
Setting my alarm for 4, I barely remembered that I hadn’t done my Wordle yet that day. Old Testament scholars and bankers know that word, thankfully I paid attention in Bible
101 class and kept the streak alive.
treydfoster
Member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2024
- Messages
- 33
Yes?
Saturday morning
The alarm went off way too early, and yet I was already awake. Exciting hunting plans tend to make me a much lighter sleeper.
Driving towards the WIHA I had been at the afternoon/evening before, my plan was to use darkness to cross some of the more open areas and sneak in close to where I had put the buck/doe to bed the night before. Driving along I saw two more swift foxes. One was in a new location a couple of miles from the first sighting, the other was at the same road intersection as before.
It was going to be a fair weather day all day, but it was staring off quite crisp for a Kansan who had lived through lots of high 90's and low 100's all summer long. Layers to be removed later if needed, water bottle added to the pack, and it's go time.
Walking in I used a two track and with moonlight I needed no artificial lighting to make my way safely towards my intended location. Getting deep into the WIHA I slowed my pace for noise reduction, but also to put my brain in ninja hunting mode.
The antelope had headed towards the top of the bowl at last light last night, so my goal was to get to the base of the bowl that had seen them trading back and forth all afternoon. Turning off the road into the bunch grass CRP, I found a game trail that was heading the same direction that I wanted to be moving.
The sides of the bowl were terraced, which I presume was done to slow water runoff in those irregular rain/snow events that happen out here. Cresting the top of the terrace gives the opportunity for sky-lining at the upper elevations, or simply more exposure to any game animal on the lookout for trouble approaching. Each terrace on this hillside was around 30 yards wide. Weeds were prominent on the crests of the terrace, while the downslopes were a mix of forbs/grass, and the flats more grass than other plant life.
Descending past the 5th of 6th terraces, I turned around and could see the eastern sky was in the first moments of lightening up. My time to move freely was gone. I found a section of terrace that had a bunch of yucca plants, and decided to sit down there to watch the morning awake.
Close to where they were last seen light, already on their feet and grazing, there was the pair of beautiful antelope hanging out close to each other. They were at the furthest south of the bowl, in a location that had me pinned down in my hideyhole for now. If they shifted easterly, they would be behind a hill that could allow me to advance, if they stayed or went westerly I couldn't move, if they moved into the base of the bowl I might be able to use the terracing to hide movement and close the distance.
As sunrise was promised by the first direct light touching the west crest of the tall hill to the west, I saw the antelope staring to the south. The buck was stock still, she was eating/staring simultaneously. A chorus of howling started from the direction they had been staring, and then there were howling locations east and west of where we were in the bowl. The sounds of the west, and I couldn't not sing in my head a couple of lines from "Home on the range".
For the next hour or so the antelope moved randomly on the south hillside of the bowl. The flat that they were bedded on when I saw them the day before was about 200 yards away from where they grazed. I imagined a scenario where they fed, and then would move to the flat for a mid morning rest, which meant that if they bedded in the back half of the flat I would have enough cover to move into position, and launch a crawling approach. I had already mapped out in my head how I might use the little gully to my right to get to the bottom of the bowl, and then using the WIHA lone tree as a guide on where they had bedded, work my way into an acceptable shooting distance, raise myself over the lip of the bedding flat and have a go.
Ahhh, the best laid plans of mice and man.
Around 8 am I heard the first truck of the day. He was up on the main road, and he stopped for a second where I had left my SUV. He then turned down the two track I had used to walk in this morning, and he continued further south.
I could here car doors slamming as the wind was from the south, and then within 5 minutes the first shots rang out. While I was watching the antelope, I had glassed through the arroyo, past the WIHA signs, and had seen the neighbors shooting range tables and elevated shooting platforms. Hundreds of yards away there was a series of shooting targets.
BOOM!....clang. Shot and hit steel a couple of moments after the shot.
The buck was already quite on edge just by having the truck drive by 5 minutes earlier picked up his head and headed away from the human generated noises. All day yesterday it was the doe in charge of where the pair of them would be. Up until this moment this morning she had been in charge of where they were going/grazing.
Mind made up, he turned WSW and started to gain elevation towards the far crest of the bowl. At first it didn't seem like she was aware of his exit plans.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
He wasn't just strolling now. Purposeful ground eating fast walking, he was picking up the pace. By now she had realized what was happening. She was going to be left behind. Now it was her turn to walk, then canter, and finally doe a short spring to close the distance.
It didn't take him long to crest the (false) crest and disappear. She followed within 60 seconds, and those last 60 seconds you could feel her panic that she couldn't see him.
BOOM BOOM
five minutes, more booms, more waiting and then more shooting.
I entertained thoughts. Should have I high tailed after them when they left my sight? Will they possibly come back for an afternoon bedding time?
BOOM BOOM.
No end in shooting promised.
I picked up my shooting sticks, glassing seat, pack and headed up the hill to follow.
The alarm went off way too early, and yet I was already awake. Exciting hunting plans tend to make me a much lighter sleeper.
Driving towards the WIHA I had been at the afternoon/evening before, my plan was to use darkness to cross some of the more open areas and sneak in close to where I had put the buck/doe to bed the night before. Driving along I saw two more swift foxes. One was in a new location a couple of miles from the first sighting, the other was at the same road intersection as before.
It was going to be a fair weather day all day, but it was staring off quite crisp for a Kansan who had lived through lots of high 90's and low 100's all summer long. Layers to be removed later if needed, water bottle added to the pack, and it's go time.
Walking in I used a two track and with moonlight I needed no artificial lighting to make my way safely towards my intended location. Getting deep into the WIHA I slowed my pace for noise reduction, but also to put my brain in ninja hunting mode.
The antelope had headed towards the top of the bowl at last light last night, so my goal was to get to the base of the bowl that had seen them trading back and forth all afternoon. Turning off the road into the bunch grass CRP, I found a game trail that was heading the same direction that I wanted to be moving.
The sides of the bowl were terraced, which I presume was done to slow water runoff in those irregular rain/snow events that happen out here. Cresting the top of the terrace gives the opportunity for sky-lining at the upper elevations, or simply more exposure to any game animal on the lookout for trouble approaching. Each terrace on this hillside was around 30 yards wide. Weeds were prominent on the crests of the terrace, while the downslopes were a mix of forbs/grass, and the flats more grass than other plant life.
Descending past the 5th of 6th terraces, I turned around and could see the eastern sky was in the first moments of lightening up. My time to move freely was gone. I found a section of terrace that had a bunch of yucca plants, and decided to sit down there to watch the morning awake.
Close to where they were last seen light, already on their feet and grazing, there was the pair of beautiful antelope hanging out close to each other. They were at the furthest south of the bowl, in a location that had me pinned down in my hideyhole for now. If they shifted easterly, they would be behind a hill that could allow me to advance, if they stayed or went westerly I couldn't move, if they moved into the base of the bowl I might be able to use the terracing to hide movement and close the distance.
As sunrise was promised by the first direct light touching the west crest of the tall hill to the west, I saw the antelope staring to the south. The buck was stock still, she was eating/staring simultaneously. A chorus of howling started from the direction they had been staring, and then there were howling locations east and west of where we were in the bowl. The sounds of the west, and I couldn't not sing in my head a couple of lines from "Home on the range".
For the next hour or so the antelope moved randomly on the south hillside of the bowl. The flat that they were bedded on when I saw them the day before was about 200 yards away from where they grazed. I imagined a scenario where they fed, and then would move to the flat for a mid morning rest, which meant that if they bedded in the back half of the flat I would have enough cover to move into position, and launch a crawling approach. I had already mapped out in my head how I might use the little gully to my right to get to the bottom of the bowl, and then using the WIHA lone tree as a guide on where they had bedded, work my way into an acceptable shooting distance, raise myself over the lip of the bedding flat and have a go.
Ahhh, the best laid plans of mice and man.
Around 8 am I heard the first truck of the day. He was up on the main road, and he stopped for a second where I had left my SUV. He then turned down the two track I had used to walk in this morning, and he continued further south.
I could here car doors slamming as the wind was from the south, and then within 5 minutes the first shots rang out. While I was watching the antelope, I had glassed through the arroyo, past the WIHA signs, and had seen the neighbors shooting range tables and elevated shooting platforms. Hundreds of yards away there was a series of shooting targets.
BOOM!....clang. Shot and hit steel a couple of moments after the shot.
The buck was already quite on edge just by having the truck drive by 5 minutes earlier picked up his head and headed away from the human generated noises. All day yesterday it was the doe in charge of where the pair of them would be. Up until this moment this morning she had been in charge of where they were going/grazing.
Mind made up, he turned WSW and started to gain elevation towards the far crest of the bowl. At first it didn't seem like she was aware of his exit plans.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
He wasn't just strolling now. Purposeful ground eating fast walking, he was picking up the pace. By now she had realized what was happening. She was going to be left behind. Now it was her turn to walk, then canter, and finally doe a short spring to close the distance.
It didn't take him long to crest the (false) crest and disappear. She followed within 60 seconds, and those last 60 seconds you could feel her panic that she couldn't see him.
BOOM BOOM
five minutes, more booms, more waiting and then more shooting.
I entertained thoughts. Should have I high tailed after them when they left my sight? Will they possibly come back for an afternoon bedding time?
BOOM BOOM.
No end in shooting promised.
I picked up my shooting sticks, glassing seat, pack and headed up the hill to follow.
On my way to the the western ridge I explored the bedding flat. Yesterday when I first saw it I estimated it was 1200 yards from the road by using the OnX compass tool. The rangefinder confirmed it was 1225 yards to a silo on the road.
The bedding area as seen from the road was a lot more yellow than the bowl below it, and the reason for that was a near total lack of bunch grass, but much more bare dirt with sporadic yucca clumps.
Hoofing it up the hill to follow where the buck led his doe, I made a point to turn around and take in the entirety of the landscape.
And just when I thought perhaps the shooting range had gone cold…
BOOM. BOOOOM. BOOOOOOOOM.
Reaching the first “crest” I discovered it was really a terrace ridge with a couple more terraces still towards the actual top. Looking around, I felt like I was in one of the highest places in Hamilton county.
The corn fields to the west appeared to be completely dried and ready for harvest, but the combines will need the fields to dry out. Glassing the corn, pasture land and milo, there was no sign of the antelope. I did see the herd of bison that is adjacent to a nearby WIHA, and then several deer on the move.
Believing that the shooting range has had a significant desire to scram out of the general area, I knew that I needed to come up with a plan for an afternoon attempt to get close to an antelope.
The bedding area as seen from the road was a lot more yellow than the bowl below it, and the reason for that was a near total lack of bunch grass, but much more bare dirt with sporadic yucca clumps.
Hoofing it up the hill to follow where the buck led his doe, I made a point to turn around and take in the entirety of the landscape.
And just when I thought perhaps the shooting range had gone cold…
BOOM. BOOOOM. BOOOOOOOOM.
Reaching the first “crest” I discovered it was really a terrace ridge with a couple more terraces still towards the actual top. Looking around, I felt like I was in one of the highest places in Hamilton county.
The corn fields to the west appeared to be completely dried and ready for harvest, but the combines will need the fields to dry out. Glassing the corn, pasture land and milo, there was no sign of the antelope. I did see the herd of bison that is adjacent to a nearby WIHA, and then several deer on the move.
Believing that the shooting range has had a significant desire to scram out of the general area, I knew that I needed to come up with a plan for an afternoon attempt to get close to an antelope.
EastTNHunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2018
- Messages
- 2,284
Don’t leave us hanging @kansasdad
This story better end with some sort of drop tine world record pronghorn on the ground! haha
Walking out I decided to walk straight to the road, dropped the pack and rifle, and then walked up the road to a cold drink and AC at the vehicle. The high temperature today would be in the low 80’s with no clouds at all.
I drove up the road a couple of miles to park in the shade of a big cottonwood to eat lunch. Finishing off the last of the potato salad and some block cheese chunks/Ritz crackers I sat there figuring out the afternoon/evening plan of attack.
I had only hunted the private ranch the first day of the season, but I had driven past it on some occasions looking for antelope. I determined that I would run the three roads (north, east and west) and should I see any antelope, figure out a way to make a play.
It was now getting close to 3:30 and I was slowly road hunting like a champ. Except that I failed to drive and scan on the ranch side as well as the private lands on the other side of the road. As I got to the WIHA across from the private…. tah-dah….there stood a buck 100 yards off the road. Startled, I slowed just a tad to bring binos up for a verifying glance, this buck would do very well.
I carried on down the road, planning on going the 3/4 mile to crest the hill and be out of view of this buck, where I could be prepared with pants/shirt/orange wear and shooting sticks ready at standing height, and a primer ready to be snapped shut just as I left the Highlandern.
In Kansas there are safety laws regarding discharging firearms and roads: no shooting from the road, or across roads. To be legal I would have to leave the road, get out of the barrow ditch and be clearly into the WIHA land. And where fenced, be inside the fence line when shooting.
When we lived in Kenya, I saw my dad use a barely moving vehicle to exit on the opposite side of the herd, having the VW microbus or Ford Bronco carry on down the track, with hopefully the animals none the wiser that there was a predator soon to be aiming and shooting. Most of the time there would be another adult in the car to do the driving, but sometimes 9 or 10 year old kansasdad would be in charge of creeping along in first or second gear to get the car on down the road.
Being by myself, I would have to drive slowly to my stopping place, slow is fast myself into the WIHA and get a shot off in the best road hunting mode ever.
Setting my shooting sticks to height, getting the muzzleloader placed in the floorboards of the back seat, primer in hand and a spare in my pocket, I three point turned around and headed back towards the WIHA.
Descending the hill towards the signage marking the start of the WIHA I was staring intently looking for the buck. Nothing. More nothing, and still no antelope on the WIHA. I had once again focused solely on one side of the road, so perhaps he had already crossed over to private lands to the east. I continued up the hill and did a three point turn and got out of the car to glass. Nothing seen on the WIHA. Nothing seen on the private across the road.
I saw another vehicle was coming my way. Slowing to a crawl, they passed the WIHA lands and slowed even more. Full stop at about where I had seen him 5 minutes before. Grumble grumble. What are they doing looking for my buck?
This dark colored suburban turned at the intersection and was driving slowly along the road that goes along the north end of the ranch.
I watched as this suburban slowly moved further east, and then it turned down a ranch two track. Getting my dander up, I was getting mad at the guys in the suburban. It seemed like they had seen something near the WIHA, and now they were going on to “my” ranch.
I called the land owner, getting his voicemail. I texted him telling him that perhaps I was witnessing trespassing onto his land. I could see one person out of the car, on the other side of a pasture fence,ninn hunters orange hat/jacket.
I called the patriarch’s phone, and got him on the line. I explained who I was (“the dentist from Wichita”) and explained that I was seeing what might be trespassers on the ranch. He replied that he thought I had given up and gone home, and that he had given permission to another hunter to access the ranch.
The adrenaline rush of seeing the buck on a WIHA property, and within range of the road, to be unable to find him again, to now think that I was going to be involved with a trespassing hunter, to realize they had permission lead to quite a let off of emotion.
The sun was nearing the horizon when I learned the hunters had permission to be there. I decided that I would continue down the west ranch road towards another WIHA and scout for tomorrow.
On the drive I saw a skylined doe at more that a half mile from the road. And no antelope on the next WIHA. I was looking forward to a burger in town, and to ve ready for my last day of antelope hunting.
I drove up the road a couple of miles to park in the shade of a big cottonwood to eat lunch. Finishing off the last of the potato salad and some block cheese chunks/Ritz crackers I sat there figuring out the afternoon/evening plan of attack.
I had only hunted the private ranch the first day of the season, but I had driven past it on some occasions looking for antelope. I determined that I would run the three roads (north, east and west) and should I see any antelope, figure out a way to make a play.
It was now getting close to 3:30 and I was slowly road hunting like a champ. Except that I failed to drive and scan on the ranch side as well as the private lands on the other side of the road. As I got to the WIHA across from the private…. tah-dah….there stood a buck 100 yards off the road. Startled, I slowed just a tad to bring binos up for a verifying glance, this buck would do very well.
I carried on down the road, planning on going the 3/4 mile to crest the hill and be out of view of this buck, where I could be prepared with pants/shirt/orange wear and shooting sticks ready at standing height, and a primer ready to be snapped shut just as I left the Highlandern.
In Kansas there are safety laws regarding discharging firearms and roads: no shooting from the road, or across roads. To be legal I would have to leave the road, get out of the barrow ditch and be clearly into the WIHA land. And where fenced, be inside the fence line when shooting.
When we lived in Kenya, I saw my dad use a barely moving vehicle to exit on the opposite side of the herd, having the VW microbus or Ford Bronco carry on down the track, with hopefully the animals none the wiser that there was a predator soon to be aiming and shooting. Most of the time there would be another adult in the car to do the driving, but sometimes 9 or 10 year old kansasdad would be in charge of creeping along in first or second gear to get the car on down the road.
Being by myself, I would have to drive slowly to my stopping place, slow is fast myself into the WIHA and get a shot off in the best road hunting mode ever.
Setting my shooting sticks to height, getting the muzzleloader placed in the floorboards of the back seat, primer in hand and a spare in my pocket, I three point turned around and headed back towards the WIHA.
Descending the hill towards the signage marking the start of the WIHA I was staring intently looking for the buck. Nothing. More nothing, and still no antelope on the WIHA. I had once again focused solely on one side of the road, so perhaps he had already crossed over to private lands to the east. I continued up the hill and did a three point turn and got out of the car to glass. Nothing seen on the WIHA. Nothing seen on the private across the road.
I saw another vehicle was coming my way. Slowing to a crawl, they passed the WIHA lands and slowed even more. Full stop at about where I had seen him 5 minutes before. Grumble grumble. What are they doing looking for my buck?
This dark colored suburban turned at the intersection and was driving slowly along the road that goes along the north end of the ranch.
I watched as this suburban slowly moved further east, and then it turned down a ranch two track. Getting my dander up, I was getting mad at the guys in the suburban. It seemed like they had seen something near the WIHA, and now they were going on to “my” ranch.
I called the land owner, getting his voicemail. I texted him telling him that perhaps I was witnessing trespassing onto his land. I could see one person out of the car, on the other side of a pasture fence,ninn hunters orange hat/jacket.
I called the patriarch’s phone, and got him on the line. I explained who I was (“the dentist from Wichita”) and explained that I was seeing what might be trespassers on the ranch. He replied that he thought I had given up and gone home, and that he had given permission to another hunter to access the ranch.
The adrenaline rush of seeing the buck on a WIHA property, and within range of the road, to be unable to find him again, to now think that I was going to be involved with a trespassing hunter, to realize they had permission lead to quite a let off of emotion.
The sun was nearing the horizon when I learned the hunters had permission to be there. I decided that I would continue down the west ranch road towards another WIHA and scout for tomorrow.
On the drive I saw a skylined doe at more that a half mile from the road. And no antelope on the next WIHA. I was looking forward to a burger in town, and to ve ready for my last day of antelope hunting.
Last edited:
Sunday (last day)
I decided that with the ranch sorta off limits with the other hunter having permission, I would return to the WIHA where I had my shot ricochet away. I arrived with plenty of time to get settled before first light. Parking on the county road I walked the half mile and found a spot where I could hide in the ragweed and sunflowers.
Dawn arrived very quietly with no clouds in the sky.
Several times I imagined movement in the grasslands, willing a herd of antelope to appear. It wasn't to be. After waiting for what seemed the right amount of time, I got up to go look at the shooting spot and see if I could confirm how I failed to connect with the buck.
I had ranged the shooting spot to be 307 yards from the shed at the tower's base. Using the range finder and walking along the arc, I found the trampled grass. I did not find any definitive groove in the grass, or in the soil. I still have a hard time believing I was as far east as I was compared to my memory of where I was in the sea of wet grass in the midst of a monsoon.
Getting back to the SUV, I decided that I would drive (road hunt) the surrounding WIHAs and hope to find some white rumps glowing in the morning sun. Being so close to Colorado I crossed the border once again, finding out that the Kansas roads were in better shape than the Colorado roads.
Cruising past multiple WIHA, there were coyotes, pheasants and mule deer to watch. But no antelope to be seen. Some of the roads would have been completely impassable during the rain events, and one section was still a high risk endeavor.
Having no success in finding antelope I decided to return back the the more northern WIHAs where I had found antelope.
Getting to these spots I found myself very hungry. I pulled over and rummaged through the food box. Crackers and cheese and apple while driving, I drove on ever improving roads with no antelope sighted.
I was almost a 5 hour drive away from home. mrskansasdad and I talked on the phone. She asked if I wanted to extend my hunt until the last day if the season. I had patients scheduled to be seen and I knew in my knower that today was the last day for my hunt.
I thought that I’d just drive down the west side of the private land and start my way back home if I saw nothing. And as happened before as I slowly road hunted along, there standing in the WIHA was an antelope.
A smallish buck, but I’d take him in a hot second if I could pull it off. Driving further to a high spot in the road, I stopped to glass. And I saw a bigger buck just off the WIHA.
Watching these two bucks work there way up the terraces away from the road, I enjoyed watching Mother Nature do her stuff. And then a doe and fawn appeared walking out from behind an hill, heading towards the ranch. And then several more antelope on private more than half a mile away.
Consulting my watch, I decided that I would set an alarm for wheels up for Wichita. Even more far away antelope spotted. Where were these guys earlier in the week?
Tick tick tick.
The bucks were at the backside of the WIHA with high ground and a poor wind, I didn’t have it in me for a final futile Hail Mary attempt.
Driving towards the highway I knew I had 5 hours to replay my week in western Kansas. Weather wiped out morning hunting during the stand alone muzzleloader season. The roads were always a factor in getting around, although I never came close to getting stuck. I did get quite good at 6,10 and even 12 point turns to do a u-turn.
I saw antelope every day. I was within 3-400 yards of antelope everyday. Had I been rifle hunting……backstraps. A good time was had, with high adventure, heart beating excitement and the agony of a ricocherting bullet, all in all a grand adventure.
Thanks Kansas.
I decided that with the ranch sorta off limits with the other hunter having permission, I would return to the WIHA where I had my shot ricochet away. I arrived with plenty of time to get settled before first light. Parking on the county road I walked the half mile and found a spot where I could hide in the ragweed and sunflowers.
Dawn arrived very quietly with no clouds in the sky.
Several times I imagined movement in the grasslands, willing a herd of antelope to appear. It wasn't to be. After waiting for what seemed the right amount of time, I got up to go look at the shooting spot and see if I could confirm how I failed to connect with the buck.
I had ranged the shooting spot to be 307 yards from the shed at the tower's base. Using the range finder and walking along the arc, I found the trampled grass. I did not find any definitive groove in the grass, or in the soil. I still have a hard time believing I was as far east as I was compared to my memory of where I was in the sea of wet grass in the midst of a monsoon.
Getting back to the SUV, I decided that I would drive (road hunt) the surrounding WIHAs and hope to find some white rumps glowing in the morning sun. Being so close to Colorado I crossed the border once again, finding out that the Kansas roads were in better shape than the Colorado roads.
Cruising past multiple WIHA, there were coyotes, pheasants and mule deer to watch. But no antelope to be seen. Some of the roads would have been completely impassable during the rain events, and one section was still a high risk endeavor.
Having no success in finding antelope I decided to return back the the more northern WIHAs where I had found antelope.
Getting to these spots I found myself very hungry. I pulled over and rummaged through the food box. Crackers and cheese and apple while driving, I drove on ever improving roads with no antelope sighted.
I was almost a 5 hour drive away from home. mrskansasdad and I talked on the phone. She asked if I wanted to extend my hunt until the last day if the season. I had patients scheduled to be seen and I knew in my knower that today was the last day for my hunt.
I thought that I’d just drive down the west side of the private land and start my way back home if I saw nothing. And as happened before as I slowly road hunted along, there standing in the WIHA was an antelope.
A smallish buck, but I’d take him in a hot second if I could pull it off. Driving further to a high spot in the road, I stopped to glass. And I saw a bigger buck just off the WIHA.
Watching these two bucks work there way up the terraces away from the road, I enjoyed watching Mother Nature do her stuff. And then a doe and fawn appeared walking out from behind an hill, heading towards the ranch. And then several more antelope on private more than half a mile away.
Consulting my watch, I decided that I would set an alarm for wheels up for Wichita. Even more far away antelope spotted. Where were these guys earlier in the week?
Tick tick tick.
The bucks were at the backside of the WIHA with high ground and a poor wind, I didn’t have it in me for a final futile Hail Mary attempt.
Driving towards the highway I knew I had 5 hours to replay my week in western Kansas. Weather wiped out morning hunting during the stand alone muzzleloader season. The roads were always a factor in getting around, although I never came close to getting stuck. I did get quite good at 6,10 and even 12 point turns to do a u-turn.
I saw antelope every day. I was within 3-400 yards of antelope everyday. Had I been rifle hunting……backstraps. A good time was had, with high adventure, heart beating excitement and the agony of a ricocherting bullet, all in all a grand adventure.
Thanks Kansas.
Some random photography of my week's adventures:
Scouting the week before
First hunting unit antelope spot. Long ways off and a light drizzle, very low clouds....its coming!
Decoy set up, antelope on distant skyline
First buck spotted, she led him away
Tower buck. I don't think I ever got a photo of all 8 of them at one time
literally at the base of the tower
Scouting the week before
First hunting unit antelope spot. Long ways off and a light drizzle, very low clouds....its coming!
Decoy set up, antelope on distant skyline
First buck spotted, she led him away
Tower buck. I don't think I ever got a photo of all 8 of them at one time
literally at the base of the tower
More images
I believe this is the buck that I shot at a couple of days later
The "bowl buck"
The bowl buck the next morning
The only tree for miles in the early morning fog
Bowl buck heading out with the shooting behind him
Due to location, perhaps the first antelope I saw, nearly a week later?
I believe this is the buck that I shot at a couple of days later
The "bowl buck"
The bowl buck the next morning
The only tree for miles in the early morning fog
Bowl buck heading out with the shooting behind him
Due to location, perhaps the first antelope I saw, nearly a week later?
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