Grow the Hunt

Kansas Hunt Do-Over

- By Rich Miller

Ever since my November Kansas hunt I have regretted not getting a chance at one of those Midwest giants. Well, a few days before Christmas my wife suggested that we take a family road trip out there after the holiday festivities. As you can imagine as soon as she mentioned me going back out there and filling my bow tag, I was in. I immediately got my hunting buddy Mick on the phone to make sure it would be alright to come back out for a week and he was excited about the opportunity also. While we were talking he did mention that he had been seeing a lot of bucks lately.

The day after Christmas my wife, little boy, and myself loaded up the truck and headed west. Although I was very excited to get another chance to hunt Kansas, I was a little concerned about the weather. Aside from the bad road conditions the forecast for the days I had planned on being there was to be very cold. After driving all night we arrived about noon the next morning, there was about six inches of snow on the ground and it was 18 degrees. After settling in Mick and I checked out several different stand sites and with not many days to hunt, we settled on one in particular. It was a soybean field that still had some beans standing in one of the corners. The deer had the field torn up where they had been feeding on the standing beans to the point it looked like they had removed the snow. We popped up a Summit Run and Gun Ground Blind on a point that stuck out into the field and brushed it in good. We were going to make our stand in this spot and hope that it would pay off.

By the time we got the blind put up and brushed in we didn’t have time to go back to the house and get back in time to hunt so we glassed several other bean fields and eventually made it back to the field where we had our blind set up. When we pulled back up to the field we were on the road about 400 yards away and it was easy to see the antlers on the bucks that were standing in front of our blind. Man I wish I would have been in that blind right then and I would have been really happy to get a shot at three of the four bucks. After seeing all the buck activity in front of the blind I was really sure where I was going to spend the next several evenings.

The first evening we had deer activity as soon as we got settled into the blind. The first couple of deer were small bucks and following them was doe after doe. By the end of that first evening we had 27 deer in front of the blind and I don’t know how many we saw off in the distance, but not any shooters.

For the next several days it was the same thing: lots of does and just a few small bucks. It was a good thing we were seeing deer because if we hadn’t been I don’t know if we would have lasted in the frigid cold. I think that was the coldest weather that I have ever bow hunted in. The highs were in the twenties and the lows were in the lower single digits.

It came down to the last evening on the last day of the year, so we got in the blind pretty early just to be on the safe side and not spook any deer. As the previous days, we had deer in the field early and there were even a couple small bucks that we hadn’t seen in the previous days. As the sun fell behind the trees and the shadows got longer, more deer kept coming into the field but nothing that was getting our attention. With a little camera light left I told Mickey to get on one of the big does in front of us. If I couldn’t get a shot at a Kansas buck I was going to take out a trophy doe.

After ranging several times the closest mature doe I had was at 45 yards so when she quartered slightly I settled my pin and sent an arrow right underneath her. Luckily for me she ran about twenty yards and stopped looking back in our direction. I knocked another arrow and ranged her again but she was now at 62-yards. I settled my pin again and this time my Mathews and I sent an arrow through her boiler maker. As far as what happened on the first shot I could make a lot of excuses because I have thought of a lot of them, but all I can say is I shot where she wasn’t. Some people might say something about shooting at a deer at 62-yards and my response is I shoot my bow almost every day year round from 5 – 80 yards. Also if the conditions are right and I know my range I feel as comfortable at 62 as I do from 22.

It was a very long and frustrating deer season this year and even though I didn’t fill my Kansas buck tag, I was fortunate enough to get a couple of real nice South Carolina deer. The main thing is I had a ball doing what we all love to do and can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Border Bucks

- By Brandon Wikman

The Friday before Christmas, I scurried into my classroom to take my final exam for history. I gave my best effort trying to remember key dates, landmark cases, and notable historians of the last century. My mind melted like a pile of oozing lava, because all I could focus on was tall tines, massive beams, and pulling the trigger on a northwestern Missouri whitetail.

I scribbled into the last bubble on the test form sheet and was thankfully released free for Christmas Break. My plan was to drive throughout the afternoon to Missouri. It would mean that I’d be burning rubber into the wee hours of the morning, but I was willing to in order to fir a morning muzzleloader hunt in.

Northwestern Missouri is a spitting image of infamous Iowa. The land is carved with creeks, checker boarded with agriculture fields, and small parcels of trees wind across the rolling terrain. A vast majority of the male whitetail herd sport gigantic headgear and pack the pounds. The deer could be considered super-whitetail, considering the perfect recipe of land, deer management practices, and trophy genetics blend together and make this sweet concoction of whitetail paradise. Within the last few years, Missouri has ranked in the top five for savvy hunters dragging Boone & Crockett class bucks from their forest. It is no surprise when the area is covered with trophy animals.

I arrived to the official Border Bucks lodge this morning at 6am. The owner, Mr. Bill Hill and our guide, Dustin Fortner, happily greeted me. Both of these gentlemen are world-class people and whitetail wizards. I felt privileged to be at camp and experience the hype of hunting with this world-renowned outfitter. Mr. Hill has successfully downed an array of freak-nasty bucks in his time. The camp’s walls are a testimony of his passion and impressive accomplishments.

Mr. Hill’s hunting resume is infused with some of the most accomplished feats I’ve ever seen. He runs a strict, 140’ minimum and 8-point or better harvest rule. He prefers you don’t shoot any bucks that have a lot of busted tines or beams. Many of today’s most recognized hunting celebrities and TV hosts have also discovered the secret about northwestern Missouri. Realtree’s own, Bill Jordan and his son, Tyler were there a few years ago and laid down some incredible big buck footage that aired on ESPN.

I begin my hunt this evening. As many Midwesterners know, late season hunting can be fantastic. We’ve got the elements working for us as we speak. Cold weather, icy conditions, and heaping bounty of agriculture fields should boost our odds of striking a buck. Cut corn, soybean, and small custom food plots are strategically placed among all of the properties.

As I arrived, one of the clients harvested a giant 176-inch monster. The anticipation grows and escalates as I count down the minutes before I’m in stand. This will be my first time hunting in Missouri and marks my very first muzzleloader hunt of the year.

I will be excited in progressively developing my blog to relay my experience here. Good luck to all of those who are late season hunting. Stay warm and stay safe.