Kansas elk (my hunt was 2023) adventures

[SSGOldfart]

yes sir I'll be watching for it, not up to 10 yet but I'm working on it. Looks like we may be back in the area in a couple of months my wife just received a trapping permit for Redtails hawks from Kansas

 

[Chris Mullins]

Have you been out scouting as of yet? I saw that Trail Cameras are allowed on post again this year.

 

[kansasdad]

Have you been out scouting as of yet? I saw that Trail Cameras are allowed on post again this year.

This weekend or perhaps next for a trip up to get my weapons registered, vehicle inspected and authorized and start to learn how the road system works in the recreation/training areas.

I havent put my KDWP hunter number on my old school (not cellular) cameras yet, but hope to get some in likely locations When I do go up. I’ve had some pointers starting to come in as to some good starting spots

 

[LFC911]

What an awesome story, I'll be following along for updates.

 

[kansasdad]

Ready for sighting in.

 

[Rack Daniels]

View attachment 286751
Ready for sighting in.

Forgive me for not going back and re-reading. I know you drew a cow tag but I didn’t see the muzzleloader spec. Is that what it will have to be for your tag??

 

[kansasdad]

September is archery or muzzleloader. November is any weapon (but some Areas are archery, archery/muzzleloader/shotgun only)

 

[SSGOldfart]

Yes sir it depends on the area he hunts which also depends on the area's that are open @the time.

Kansasdad have you hunted with a in line muzzleloader before ?? Sweet looking set up.

 

[kansasdad]

Yes sir it depends on the area he hunts which also depends on the area's that are open @the time.

Kansasdad have you hunted with a in line muzzleloader before ?? Sweet looking set up.

I have a grand total of two primer only shots to dry out the barrel tonight off the back porch. Tomorrow will be interesting.

 

[SSGOldfart]

remember a clean cold bore shot will most likely be a inch or two low I up my powder charge 5 gr. to offset this.
also does Kansas now allow scopes on a muzzleloader ? Last time I hunted in Kansas they were not allowed,you might want to check on this if you haven't.

 

[MO Betta]

 

[SSGOldfart]

View attachment 286786

I'll be the first to admit rules change,back in the 80's when I was a Game warden there, scopes were not allowed during the muzzleloader season, I've not hunted there for years now. I do like the change I think it's for the better less lost Game.

 

[kansasdad]

When I bought the gun, I purchased the CVA prepackaged muzzleloader accessories kit, which came with 295 gr powerbelt bullets. White Hot pellitized “black” powder with powerbelts is the combo that CVA recommends after working with all the powder and bullet manufacturers.

Today was my first day for me to shoot a muzzleloader. Starting at 25 yards, first shots hit under an inch of each other, low and to the right to the bullseye. After shooting 3 shots I concluded that the precision was good so I set in the shade to adjust the scope. The scope is standard Luepold 1 click = 1 MOA. Changing the elevation I didn’t feel the individual clicks at all at first. At shot four attempt I experienced my first missfire. The 209 primer did fire, but it failed to ignite The powder. I pulled the breach plug and saw that the pinhole was blocked. Cleaning it and screwing it back in, the next primer fired and everything just fine.

After 5 shots I could feel the bullet getting harder to seat, so I again retired to the shade and ran some patches and cleaned the breach plug.

After getting to the point where I was satisfied with the accuracy of the scope/gun/shooter/bag of rice shooting platform I did a couple of hunting scenario shooting cycles. one challenge was to shoot off sticks while seated, imagining that I was hiding under a cedar, and a couple of shots to simulate needing a follow up, practicing a speed reload for a final dispatching round down range.

Im feeling like I’d be lethal out to 150 for sure, with the powderbelt tables showing drops out to 300. I’m feeling like a self imposed limit of 175 or maybe 200 is where I’m gonna operate from. I do not want to have a cow take off towards a no-go zone and be lost to the coyotes.

 

[MO Betta]

I'll be the first to admit rules change,back in the 80's when I was a Game warden there, scopes were not allowed during the muzzleloader season, I've not hunted there for years now. I do like the change I think it's for the better less lost Game.

It seems as though rules change much more rapidly nowadays with advancing technology and the influx of hunters adopting it.

 

[kansasdad]

I have secured vehicle permit, conservation permit and elk hunter safety briefing/quiz is completed. Getting the weapons registered is in person only.

September 1st is coming quickly

 

[kansasdad]

Elk sized game bags arrived yesterday, as well as a bite the reed cow call. Started off on the call making sick hen turkey sounds, but it’s getting closer to a cow elk noise.

 

[kansasdad]

SCOUTING SUCCESS!!

On Friday I drove up to the post, having a nice drive north over the western edge of the Flint Hills, which are looking very green for mid August. Arriving at the visitors center, I made sure that I had all my paperwork together, and went inside to inform the SP (Security Policeman) on duty that I was there to register my firearms.

After filling out my portion of the registration form, the SP and I went out to complete the form with the serial numbers, and verify make/model of the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader. They weren't interested in my crossbow. The civilian at the Welcome Center asked for the appearance of my weapons, so I told him about the black Weatherby 308, the black/stainless muzzleloader and the black Winchester pump 12 gauge that I was registering. This registration is good for 3 years.

I also had to get a visitor pass to access the base. The woman who was in charge of issuing the passes was of two personalities. When she was talking with the other folks behind the counter, there was casual banter like co-workers might have. When she was addressing someone seeking access to the post, she switched it up to a suspicious hard nose inspector, all business and no monkey business. I replied to her question, "why are you coming to Ft Riley" with a reply to outdoor recreate and hunt elk, and she softened just a tiny bit. Imputing my SSN and pressing the finger print reader four times, and I was issued a visitor pass good for one week. Future entrance passes can be arranged on line and show my "enhanced drivers license" at the gate.

Arriving at the main gate, my visitor's pass was scanned electronically and I was wished a good day. Immediately next to the entrance there is a tank on display, and a welcome display, with some photos of past and current post activities, as well as a map of the cantonment (living/working areas of the garrison).

It was here that I saw the first of many signs that aren't usually seen off of military installations...



I first headed over to the Environmental Office (game wardens offices are here) only to find that they were closed this day.


I was going to get the equivalent to a permissible road/trail map, and to verify regulations regarding driving to collect downed deer/elk. I was also hoping to verify that my thinking of focusing on food plots that are scattered throughout the post was a good starting spot in my quest to locate huntable populations of elk.

 

[kansasdad]

Fort Riley has been a military post since 1853. Its location at the junction of the Republican and Smokey Hill rivers (to create the Kansas river) was important to protecting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. The original buildings started before the Civil War are made of native limestone. The first territorial legislative sessions of Kansas territory were held on the post. After the civil war, brevet General George A Custer was stationed at Ft Riley.

Always closely associated with horses and cavalry tactics, the golden age of cavalry had its epicenter at the post prior to WW I. The post was the home of the USA Cavalry School, and it was from Ft Riley that cavalry soldiers traveling to Europe to join in the fight in "The Great War", brought the Spanish Flu (H1N1influenza virus) to the world. This epidemic infected an estimated 500 million people over 2 years, with deaths estimated anywhere from 17-50 million.

As modern warfare transitioned from horse to mechanized and even air transportation the mission of Ft Riley has changed. The Cavalry School ceased operations in 1946, with artillery and tanks taking on more and more importance to USA weaponry.

In more recent times Ft Riley soldiers have been heavily involved in defense of western Europe, as well as large numbers of men/materiel heading to Desert Storm. Over 15,000 soldiers came to Kuwait's defense and expulsion of Iraqi troops in the hundred hours of combat of Desert Storm. The Fort also supplied lots of personnel and equipment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Numbers assigned to the Post have waxed and waned over the years, with the economies of Junction City and Manhattan rising and falling based on these numbers.

As a kid growing up in Manhattan it was not unusual to hear artillery/tank fire at any time of the day, with machine gun fire for accompaniment. At night there were often multiple parachute descending flares off to the southwest of Manhattan, which was used for nighttime maneuvers. Those type of activities continue to this day. As I was on post and learning the way of the land, I could see large plumes of dust in the gunnery range, and I saw active training on two different firing ranges.

One sign that I will see over and over in my time on the post:

And another sign not encountered often while hunting most parts of the world....


Another sign to be found in the entrances to the training grounds/outdoor recreation areas. There is a constant reminder that troop training comes first, recreationists are at the mercy of the training schedule.

 

[6mm Remington]

Best of luck. From the Kansas elk, it reminded me of this story. Quite a few years back a spike bull was radio collared up near the Canadian border in the area of the Milk river if I remember correctly. He took off on a walkabout and a few years later he ended up in Kansas as a 5 point bull. My understanding is on his journey he ended up getting hit a couple of times on highways by vehicles but was not seriously injured. I tried to find the story to see if I could pull it up but no luck.

 

[kansasdad]

Leaving the closed game/fish offices, I attempted to make my way towards the training/recreation areas. Unlike most surface roads in Kansas, the roads on post are not straight. They twist, turn, rise and fall with the terrain, and in the cantonment area there is a river bottom forest that blocks long distance views. I inadvertently saw more of the post than I have ever seen as a kid. Finally finding the main road north, I made it to the southern limit of the main recreation area.

Driving east I found the main small arms firing range. Lots of soldiers were taking a break in the mid-day heat as I drove past, and later I heard the unmistakable sound of automatic rifle fire. Topping one rise after another I finally stopped to do a little visual inspection of the impact zone. The far hills appear to have been burned. This is a common practice in grasslands of Kansas, but my guess is this was caused by exploding shells.



I feel like a primer of the formation of the Flint Hills might be in order. I have been taught that during the last Ice Age, huge ice sheets covered Kansas, and as they glacially flowed along, they flattened the surface of the prairie underneath. Eons of erosion than carved the valleys down off these flattops, where you would expect to find either intermittent or permanent water. Lying down on the treeless flats, you would swear that the entire area is flat. Until you get to the edge of the flats, and look down steep drops into the valleys below.

The limestone that was used in building structures in early Kansas is found along these cuts, quarried out of large limestone deposits. Other uses of this limestone include fence posts and gravel making. Traveling along roads made with this limestone rock will leave a fine white residue all over your car.