Kansas Trip 2015

Spent 9 days hunting with my ML for a western Kansas WT. It was very hot the first week with temps in the upper 90's during the daytime and nights were down to upper 50's. Most deer were seen during the afternoon hunts. It rained a bit one afternoon and deer moved pretty good that evening. I did see one really nice buck one evening that was mature and a 5x5 with good mass. Then two days later on Saturday morning with temps around 37 I did see a really good 5x5 with 2 kickers at least and really great tine length. He was leaving a WIHA area and walking into private land wheat stubble. He went about 50 yrds and bedded down. I tried to move and use the terrain to sneak up on him but he was not having any of that even at 800+ yards. He ended up leaving back across the WIHA and then out again into a sunflower field. I hunted that area 3 more mornings and even walked out the CRP(320 acres) in the WIHA all 3 times but did not ever see him. Seen a lot of pheasants this year and numbers were almost double in the one large CRP area I hunted for almost every day I was there. Seen quite a few coyotes and turkey also. Seen more Swift Foxes in this trip then in all the other 3 yrs combined. I did a lot of walking low, weeded/grassy draws during the heat of the day looking for one particular buck. I walked up on 2 rattlesnakes one day mid-morning about 60' apart in the same draw. We saw 4 snakes total the whole trip.
Here a few pics of the terrain, game and areas I hunted while there.
CRP grass I hunted. It was 6-8' tall in some areas and waste deep most areas, with some areas being ankle deep. Kochia Weeds were 4-10' tall. All of it could hide a walking buck for the most part. Does were hard to see unless running or in the right spot.
I had a great trip even though I came home without a deer. Will try to head back in the rifle season(will have to use a ML then) to try again if I get the time.




Pheasant hunter that hunted everyday...


Deer would stand up in the Kochia Weeds or tall Indian Grass at anytime and start to feed or run into the corn.

This doe and fawn almost ran over me sitting and glassing from my truck.

Saw literally 100's of pheasants each day I hunted in the CRP areas. Some areas had very few while others were loaded with them. The grain, fallow fields and wheat stubble had a lot of birds in most of the ones close to grass or grain during the day. Seen all age classes of birds from a hen with some week old little ones to mature birds.

Great pics.

Awesome pics thanks for sharing.

How do you hunt in that flat country!!!

Great pics as always!!!

Why you keep telling me to hunt the trees...when you can't even see one

Great pics sir!!!!

Country looks 100x better!!!

Great pics, something tells me those big bucks better watch out in rifle season

Sounds like a great trip!

You must have used all the trees for firewood that colder morning

Great Pics Sir!!

Neat pics, especially like the one of the Doe flying Good luck when it comes to season

Always enjoy your pics and write ups. Nice trip

Great pics and write up.
Love the pics of the jumping doe!
Looks like a great time even though you did not connect on your target buck.
Man those pheasant are pretty birds.

Great photos, thank you for sharing.

Those areas were in much better shape this year. One area I hunted in Sherman County only had about 5" of rain last year and had 14.5" this year up till July then it stopped raining. The area these pics were taken in had 22"-28" of rain this year. The CRP was way taller and thicker this year than the last 3 yrs. One place I hunted on was said to have a good population of quail again. With all the dryland corn this year the deer hunting is going to be difficult until they get it all out of the fields. The irrigated was still pretty green looking. They were harvesting a lot of high moisture corn for the feed lots though.
Thanks everyone.

I really hoped you would get a stud this year. I had my fingers crossed for you. Regardless looks like you had a good safe trip!!! Welcome home

Glad to here it's looking up again up there!

The deer herd is recovering good from the drought(farmers hate that fact). Numbers of young bucks(1-3 yr olds) is really good and fawn numbers this year are really high. Very few mature does did not have a fawn with them. So the next 2-4 yrs looks great for numbers on mature bucks in the areas I was hunting. The buck I seen on Saturday morning when it was 37 degrees was a really good buck. He had 12"+ G2s and 10"+ G3s with 5" brows and G4s that were 6" or so. He had a kicker(s) off his left G2 also. He had long beams and could not tell much on the mass at 1/2 mile but he looked average for the sheds of bucks from that area. I would have liked to have gotten a better look at him at 150 yards or less I don't think I would have been disappointed

Great pictures and a fun write up of your trip. Can't wait to see what happens when you go back during rifle season

Sounds like a really good buck... Average mass comment makes me laugh. I'd take their average up there over mine down here

great pics, hope you get to make it back up there

Me too... The 5x5 that I saw a couple of days before was mature and had really good mass. He looked like a 130's type younger buck walking away in tall kochia weeds at about 500 yards. I could only see from his throat patch up when he was walking away. I walked closer and he came up out of the weeds in a drainage then popped over the edge broadside in full sun at 384 yards. I could see he was much older looking then. He walked towards the corn in the pics and then around the edge out of site. I took off that way and dropped down then back up. While I was down in the bottom some coyotes howled in several different areas. My friend was watching him from about 1/2 mile away behind me and said he was feeding along calmly until the coyotes howled. Said he looked up and trotted into the corn immediately. I was really hesitant to shoot this buck to early since there was a really big heavy horned wider buck in that CRP area. My buddy said he is very heavy bodied and mature. He told me you literally have to step on him in that grass to get him up and he has had his dogs point him when hunting pheasants in there. The area that bucks lives in is spread over about 2 miles/1200 acres of drainage and all in CRP. It so tall you can not see a deer walking in a lot of areas.

great pics stx

Right in my Bow Range

Great pics

Great pics!

Fred Bear approves this post

Beautiful pics

Great pics as always, ranchman. That is some intimidating country. Where to start? Deer could be anywhere in that sea of grass.

Great pics! Makes me even more sad that I couldn't get up there for ML season this year. Here's hoping for rifle season!

Great pics. That's why they call it hunting.

That's some open country. But I'm sure they can disappear in that corn and CRP when ever they decide to. How far can you shoot with that ML?

Good luck if you get a chance to go back.

You go up there to hunt or to take pictures!?

Looks like a fun time sitting behind glass.

My comfort range off of sticks is 150 yards but off of a good rest 200-225 yards it still has a good group.


Those pictures were taken the last 2 days I was there. Mature deer were not moving till very late at almost dark or right at first light, so to late to take pics.

Looks great up there. Sure miss chasing pheasants in ks. Need to get up there and some more hunting with my uncle. Great pics as always and it's nice seeing all the birds.

Walter

Great pics!

Beautiful shots!

Thanks again all

Gorgeous photos, stx. You sure have a good eye for photography.