Kansas whitetail

ashersdad

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Joined
Feb 8, 2007
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Location
Happy Valley, OR
Made the annual 3500 mile round trip to Kansas last week. I've said it before but this is probably my funnest hunt every year. We stay with great friends and just have a blast.

Both my boys had rifle tags and I had a muzzleloader tag. Opening morning I was sitting in a field with my youngest when a buck came out. Since he has never got a whitetail buck he was pretty much going to take any buck. Luckily the wind was in our favor and he made a great shot at 120 yards. It was a decent buck that just didn't grow eye guards.

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Later in the hunt I got fooled by a big old buck. We had about 30 minutes of shooting light left when we saw a big buck chasing a doe up draw. We raced around to get in front of them. I had pushed that draw 2 hours before so I figured they would be the only deer in there. We got to the edge of the draw and immediately saw a buck on the other side. It was a long shot for the muzzleloader but after the smoke cleared I could see the deer was down. When we got over to it, it was just a small eight point. Not sure what happened to the big buck but I got fooled. D'oh!!

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My oldest has shot 2 nice bucks in Kansas the last two years so he was holding out for something bigger. He passed on several average bucks and ended up with tag soup. Still we came home with a bunch of great whitetail meat and memories that will hopefully last a lifetime.
 
Sneaky old buck sent his wingman out into the open on ya.

Do you do the drive non-stop? When will Asher be ready to spell you on the road?
 
Sneaky old buck sent his wingman out into the open on ya.

Do you do the drive non-stop? When will Asher be ready to spell you on the road?
Poor wingman made the ultimate sacrifice.

On the 24 hour drive out, Asher did 4 hours and we spent the night in Laramie. On the way home, the boys ended up staying in Utah with family so I drove home alone and drove straight through after a 3 hour stop at my folks place. 4 out of 48 hours is better than nothing I guess. :)

How's your mule deer hunt going? Have you made it out yet? Hoping you get a big one.
 
@ashersdad It is bit of a mind bender to go from whitetail hunting in Ag country to mule deer hunting in much more open spaces.

@Southwind has talked to me about pushing draws like you did to try to find your deer. I'm a tad concerned about trying to make a clean shot on an escaping wiley mule deer, but if I can't locate a moving buck or glass one out of the depths of a CRP draw, I might have to attempt such a move.

I think Miss Corona is fully over with the Wichita family (I had a negative antibody test, so there is something to be said for living in isolation), and Mrs kansasdad will be out of town this weekend so I will have the whole weekend to give it the full effort the tag deserves.
 
@ashersdad It is bit of a mind bender to go from whitetail hunting in Ag country to mule deer hunting in much more open spaces.

@Southwind has talked to me about pushing draws like you did to try to find your deer. I'm a tad concerned about trying to make a clean shot on an escaping wiley mule deer, but if I can't locate a moving buck or glass one out of the depths of a CRP draw, I might have to attempt such a move.

I think Miss Corona is fully over with the Wichita family (I had a negative antibody test, so there is something to be said for living in isolation), and Mrs kansasdad will be out of town this weekend so I will have the whole weekend to give it the full effort the tag deserves.
Good luck! Looks like you might have some decent hunting weather this weekend. We’re rooting for ya!
 
Made the annual 3500 mile round trip to Kansas last week. I've said it before but this is probably my funnest hunt every year. We stay with great friends and just have a blast.

Both my boys had rifle tags and I had a muzzleloader tag. Opening morning I was sitting in a field with my youngest when a buck came out. Since he has never got a whitetail buck he was pretty much going to take any buck. Luckily the wind was in our favor and he made a great shot at 120 yards. It was a decent buck that just didn't grow eye guards.

View attachment 165382

View attachment 165383

Later in the hunt I got fooled by a big old buck. We had about 30 minutes of shooting light left when we saw a big buck chasing a doe up draw. We raced around to get in front of them. I had pushed that draw 2 hours before so I figured they would be the only deer in there. We got to the edge of the draw and immediately saw a buck on the other side. It was a long shot for the muzzleloader but after the smoke cleared I could see the deer was down. When we got over to it, it was just a small eight point. Not sure what happened to the big buck but I got fooled. D'oh!!

View attachment 165384

My oldest has shot 2 nice bucks in Kansas the last two years so he was holding out for something bigger. He passed on several average bucks and ended up with tag soup. Still we came home with a bunch of great whitetail meat and memories that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Congrats awsome hunt and great looking deer 🦌
 
Ollin Magnetic Digiscoping Systems

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