By Joe Wilson

Just to be clear, I love hunting my home state of Michigan. It’s tradition and will always hold a special place in my heart. But it sucks sometimes. While there is great habitat and deer numbers, there are also about 25 million hunters here (or so it seems) and just as the bowhunting is getting good, gun season comes in and turns the deer herd into schizophrenic homebodies who you swear wear invisibility cloaks.  Rather than whine about this year after year, I highly recommend taking an out of state hunting trip. These trips may seem like a dream that requires extensive knowledge and superior skills but they do not, I am evidence of that. The other thing they do not require is a small fortune. For three years I have traveled from my home state of Michigan to hunt both Ohio and Kansas. These are trips that all gave me legitimate chances at mature bucks and can be done by anyone with a little will power to save the money and a couple hours to plan.

Due to the fact that no one wants to read the novel I have prepared on this subject (unless of course, you are suffering from insomnia), I have split it into two parts. Here in part 1, I will describe to you how much my trips costs, how to find the money for the trips, how to find lodging, and how to apply for tags. In Part 2, I will discuss finding land to hunt, strategies to find the deer once you get there, and one subject some forget about; how to transport your deer home without getting a hefty fine.

Total Cost

Both trips were split two ways as I had a hunting partner. The more buddies you go with, the less you will pay for gas, lodging, and even food so start recruiting. Gas was estimated at $2.40 per gallon. Food mostly consisted of meals made in the kitchen with a couple dinners at restaurants.

Finding the Cash

Most hunters I know hear of my trips and say, “I wish I could take an out-of-state trip but I just don’t have the time or money.” What they are really saying is, “I would like to take an out-of-state trip but I have other things in my life that are more important. Also, I make dumb statements a lot and I probably voted for Hillary.” Okay, so the last part might not be true. The cost of a trip to a state like Ohio should be simple. $430 comes out to saving just over $8 a week. The Kansas trip was a bit more and equates to $82/month or $19/week. That seems like a lot? Do me a favor, keep track of your finances for one month. Put everything into a log and summarize it by category. Now take a minute to call out any expenses that are a want, not a need. Do you really need satellite TV? How many times did you go out to eat when you could have eaten at home? How many coffees from Starbucks did you get? What about that new truck payment, could you have gotten by with a used one? I guarantee you will find the money, it just depends on how bad you want a ticket to deer paradise. As for time? If you really want to go you will find the time. Even a long weekend is better than nothing.

How to Find Lodging

We stayed at a cabin that went for $375 per week. It included a small kitchen (which saved us money on food) and full bathroom with shower. To find it, I simply went to google, put in “Cabin rental (secret hot spot), Kansas” and saw what came up. Later on I even found a ranch that rented out cabins cheaper than what we found initially. Now if you think I am a princess for wanting to stay comfortable, you are probably right. The good news is you can save even more money by not doing so and camping at a state park which will usually have public land close by. If all else fails, find a cheap hotel room. Sure, it will be more expensive but you won’t break the bank.

Applications

Here is where it gets to be a bit tricky. Certain states require you to put in an application in order to draw a whitetail tag.  In some states (Iowa) you need a few years’ worth of preference points in order to draw certain areas. You can find the draw statistics (your chance of drawing) at the sites below. Below I have put together a quick rundown of popular Midwestern states and how to obtain a tag:

Ohio – Over the counter. Price: $150. Archery season: Late September – Early February. For more information go to http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/huntingandtrappingregulations

Indiana – Over the counter. Price: $150. Archery season: October 1 – January 1. For more information go to http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/2344.htm.

Wisconsin – Over the counter. Price: $160. Archery season: early September – early January. For more information go to http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/deer.html

Illinois – By application (application period is in June) but tag is nearly guaranteed. Price: $467.75 Season: October 1 – early January (closed in certain counties during firearm season). For more information go to https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/DeerHunting.aspx

Kansas – By application (application period is in April). Price: $540. State is split into 18 units. When applying you will choose the unit you are applying for PLUS one additional unit that touches your unit (Basically you get to hunt two units but they have to touch each other). NOTE: Kansas is getting more competitive each year. I suspect that soon some units may require a preference point to draw the tag. For more information go to http://ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Applications-and-Fees/Deer

Iowa –By application (application period is in May) Price: $549 + (depending on the unit) preference points ($52 per point). Season: October 1 – early January with a break in December during the Iowa Firearm Season. State is split into 10 units. You get to hunt one unit. For more information go to http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Nonresident-Hunting.

There you have it. Sit down with a buddy or two and hammer out details on which state you want to get a tag from, fill out your application (if need be), figure out your finances, find your lodging and you are well on your way. In part 2 we will discuss the more fun parts of process; finding land to hunt and then finding the deer.

Just when you think you have it all figured out, plans change due to unforeseen circumstances. Long story short, I was not drawn for a Kansas whitetail tag for the upcoming 2016 archery season and I’m bummed, to say the least. Well, I guess I can say not getting drawn was not unforeseen but it was certainly something that was out of my control. Kansas has been my “go to” state for the last two seasons and ever since that first hunt almost three years ago, I’ve been in love. Although my number one focus in 2016 is the September archery elk season in Colorado, I can’t imagine not hunting whitetails come late October when the rut starts kicking in.

Last Summer I spent a few days knocking on doors in Western Kansas and picked up two good farms to hunt for 2015. After learning the properties and understanding the general deer movement from the first season, I was hoping to put that intel to good use for this coming Fall. I will miss that I’m not going to be able to build a history with the deer I encountered from the year before. I will sincerely miss hanging trail cameras, scouting, and hanging tree stands for the upcoming season. And above all, I will miss the relationships I’ve developed with the landowners who were so great to me, welcomed me openly into their homes, and made me feel like a part of their family.

Ok enough with the pity party… shit happens and life goes on! I’ve come up with a few options to consider for the 2016 deer season:

Purchase a Left Over Kansas Tag

This seems like the ideal scenario on paper but the problem is that it would require an eight-hour drive as compared to my five-hour drive last season, making the weekend hunts tough to manage due to a full-time job. The units that I want to hunt have zero leftover tags and I will have little time to scout due to the upcoming elk season.

I also have to consider the monetary costs of this tag in addition to the time spent traveling. This tag costs $550 which is a lot of money to spend for just a few opportunities to hunt.

It will be a tough to decision not to hunt in Kansas considering I shot a great buck in 2015!

Read more about my successful 2015 Hunting Season in Kansas.

Purchase a Nebraska OTC Tag

The area I have been scouting via Google Earth in Nebraska is roughly a six-hour drive from where I live, which means it will be manageable for weekend hunts. Nebraska also holds a good amount of public land and is known for great deer hunting. The downfall is that hunting pressure will be higher and private land would be harder to gain access.

Another thing to consider is that the Nebraska rifle season falls right in the middle of November, giving me a small window to hunt before the orange army moves in. A positive is that a non-resident tag only costs around $300, which is a pretty good deal in my mind.

Hunt an OTC Unit in Colorado

Colorado implemented an OTC whitetail tag for select units on the front range a few years back and it would only be a three-hour drive to the areas I am looking at. The downfall to this is that the season only runs December 1 – December 31, meaning I would miss the rut. Also, the whitetail densities in these units are low so my whitetail sightings would be few and far between.

The good thing is that the price for a resident tag would be a very low cost of around 25 dollars!

Hunt IL On Highly Managed Private Land

I have access to hunt a number of farms in West Central Illinois where the deer hunting is unreal and the stands are already set. Literally, all I have to do is purchase a tag and show up! The negative to this scenario is that I would not be able to hunt multiple outings because I live so far away, meaning I would only have 1 week to whitetail hunt this year. Also, I really enjoy the challenge and take pride in the work that goes into hunting new farms and/or public land.

Decisions, Decisions

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what I’m going to do for this Fall and I’m hoping that by writing this article it will help me make my decision. The good thing is that I have a few months to decide. In fantasy land, I would hunt 10 states and take off three months of work to do so, but the reality is that I have limited time and resources so I am forced to choose.

I love this view!

I’m also considering doing the IL hunt in November and then trying my luck with the OTC tag in Colorado where I can hunt the post-rut during December. In this scenario, I would get an awesome week of the whitetail rut and have a closer drive and cheaper tag for late season Colorado.

What are your thoughts? Leave me some words of advice in the comments section below!

Shed hunting efficiency comes in two parts:

1. Knowing where to look and spending the majority of time in those spots.
2. Navigating the high probability areas as quickly and effectively as possible with the right plan and equipment.

Finding deer antlers is hard enough on its own, but because my hunting property is located in Western Kansas, there are an added set of obstacles that I must maneuver in order to be successful. Have you ever heard of the saying “showing up is half the battle”? This directly applies to my scenario as I have a six-hour drive from where I live in Colorado.

I approach each weekend shed hunting endeavor as a mission-based approach with a set of guidelines; I have limited time, I’m new to the area, I live six hours away, and have a lot of ground to cover. Efficiency matters!

Portability

In addition to having an off-road suspension and a powerful electric motor, QuietKat is a great vehicle for covering multiple properties because of how portable it is. I have a few different farms that I hunt which are broken up into different sections of ground so I jump from property to property. Some of the sections are miles apart, others are closer together but traveling between them is super quick and easy to do because how quickly I can load and unload the QuietKat without the use of a trailer.

The QuietKat is extremely light weight and compact so I can easily load it into the back of my truck and quickly drive to the next farm where I can be off and running in no time at all. This is extremely helpful, especially when I have so much ground to cover in a short amount of time.

Covering Ground

I would consider myself to be in pretty good physical shape and have absolutely no problem walking the entire day on rolling farm ground. Living in Colorado, I have become acclimated to the mountains where the air is thin and the terrain is rough, making Kansas much more forgiving. But remember, to my point of efficiency, I have limited time and I don’t have the luxury of walking out my back door to my whitetail hunting property. QuietKat is my go-to vehicle to effectively cover the most ground in the least amount of time.

When it comes to shed hunting large crop fields in Western Kansas, walking is simply not the best option for two main reasons:

1. Flat Terrain: Most of the landscape is flat so there is no vantage point from where you can glass an entire field and then set out on foot to retrieve the shed. I’ve found the best strategy is keep moving and glass periodically, which makes the QuietKat the perfect tool for my particular application.
2. Large Acreage: Crop fields are usually large tracts of land which range in size from 20 – 100 acres. If I were to walk a 100-acre flat field, it would literally take a few hours of grid searching to make sure I effectively covered the area. QuietKat drastically minimizes the amount of time it takes to canvas a field and increases my efficiency, which ultimately helps me find more antlers!

I like to stop and glass when something catches the eye!

When it comes to shed hunting, it really comes down to a numbers game. QuietKat allows me to shed hunt efficiently and effectively with my limited time and resources. So get out there and do some shed hunting of your own and let me know what you find! Tis the season for shed hunting!

For more information about QuietKat, please visit:

www.quietkat.com.

-Adam Parr

A puzzle, much like deer hunting, takes time and keen attention to detail in order to put the pieces together and for everything to align. Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle in a day and succeeded? No, I’m not talking about one of those 50 piece specials that you pick up at the dollar mart. I talking about the 2,000 piece popcorn kernel marathon that takes an hour just to get two pieces to match up! Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a successful whitetail pursuit for the do-it-yourself guys.

Make sure read Part 1 of this series, Taking Post Season Inventory With Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend: Part 1 as it will help paint a better picture as to what I’m doing at this time of year.

Putting The Pieces Together

When it comes to hunting mature deer, I’ll take any legal advantage I can get in an effort to put the pieces together towards killing a trophy buck. Big Tine is another tool in the arsenal and plays a valuable role in my post season scouting. In conjunction with trail cameras, Big Tine allows me to determine which deer made it through (or didn’t make it through) the season.

A small whitetail buck posing for a picture.

I’m not going to lie – I was hoping to showcase this article with all of the monster bucks I have on camera running around my hunting property but the truth is, my trail camera pictures are less than ideal. I put the cameras out for over three weeks and have a bunch of does, small bucks, and mule deer to show for it but no big boys showed themselves.

Does this mean that my hunting property is terrible? No. Does this mean that Big Tine doesn’t work? No. What I’m learning is that the properties I hunt do not hold the same amount of deer during the Winter months as they do during the Fall. I’m slowly putting the pieces together!

The pictures are telling me that there are indeed deer in the area but I’m certainly not getting mature buck pictures. My guess is that the majority of deer are wintering elsewhere due to the fact that the bedding areas and fields on the properties are now cow pastures. It is common practice for farmers to switch pastures for cows on a seasonal basis so that they can sustain them throughout the Winter months. Long story short; if cattle are present in both major bedding and feeding areas, deer numbers on the property will decline.

It’s Better To Know Than To Wonder

My trail camera pictures were not as I had hoped but at least now I know more about Winter movement and the reasons that may be affecting the lack of deer in the area. If it weren’t for putting out Big Tine and checking the cameras, I would have never known in the first place. Its better to know – knowledge is power.

One of the highlights of my weekend endeavor, in addition to checking trail cameras, was finding a matched set of antlers in close proximity to one of Big Tine sites. This little guy is an up-and-comer with great genetics for a 1 1/2 year buck! I believe I have pictures of this guy from last Fall so it will be cool to see what he turns into as a 2-year-old.

QuietKat is a great tool for shed hunting. I found this matched set within 100 yards of the Big Tine!

Learn more about how I use my QuietKat as an efficient shed hunting vehicle, HERE. I also found another nice 4 point side that had been laying a while (not fresh) and I also witnessed something that I have been wanting to see for a long time. I watched the bigger mule deer buck I have on camera shed one of his antlers as he was running away! After three hours of grid searching the spot where I saw him drop in knee-high grass, I was not able to locate his shed but it was still cool to see none the less.

Mule deer enjoy Big Tine too!

Never Stop Learning

I encourage you all to go out and run cameras over the top of Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend. It will not only help you discover what deer are using the properties you hunt but it will also add to your overall knowledge of deer movement and patterns. Whatever the outcome may be, it will make you a better deer hunter and will help you find the real reasons behind your results. It forces you to analyze and ask questions as to why deer are or aren’t there. And above all, it gets you outside doing what you love the most.

For more information about Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend and Attractants, please visit:

www.bigtine.com

– Adam Parr

Given that I didn’t have the luxury of scouting every weekend, I needed an extra edge in conjunction with running trail cameras. At this point in time, I had no information related to deer densities and if there were even deer that I would be interested in pursuing on the recently acquired properties. Long story short, I was looking to take a quick inventory on any big bucks roaming the farms I had access to hunt. To help me do this I implemented the use of Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend!

A Needle In A Haystack

Now before you jump to conclusions about the 7,000 acres of hunting land, let me paint you a better picture by stating that the acreage is not continuous and only about 1,000 acres is what I would deem “hunt-able”. Out of that 1,000 acres, there are less than 10 acres of trees, the landscape is comprised mainly of open grass, small draws and has a total of two crop fields. Do you get the picture? If not, I posted a snapshot below for your viewing pleasure.

With all due respect, I’m not hunting Iowa, people! This is Western Kansas, where the only trees you will find are located in and around dried up river bottoms or in the immediate areas surrounding homesteads. The wide open prairie makes the deer extremely tough to pattern so just hanging cameras in a “hopeful” location wasn’t going to yield the best results. Big Tine was the answer to my early season scouting success!

Yielding Results

Upon my first use and within hours of putting out Big Tine’s Cherry Rush Last Call, I had a mature buck in front of the camera during daylight. Below are a few trail camera pictures showing me putting out the mixture and shortly after, catching a mature buck coming out of the bedding area from behind to investigate. Although he is not a giant, he is still mature and I was blown away at how quickly Big Tine was able to bring him in front of the camera. See my trail cam pictures below where it shows the dates and times only hours apart on the first day I put out Big Tine.

One of the more successful camera locations was where I put out the Big Tine 30-06 formula; a perfect blend of minerals, corn, sunflower seeds, and cherry aroma to spark their curiosity! Within 2 days I had pictures of 5 different bucks ranging in size from 150” – 170”. Right then and there I had confirmed two things; Big Tine really does work and I had hit the deer hunting property lottery! See below for a sampling of trail cam pictures of the giants I was able to capture on camera. To view the full card pull, check out the Transition Wild Facebook Page.

All Season – All Purpose

My original use of Big Tine Deer Feed was used as a tool to help with my early season scouting efforts but I will also utilize Big Tine for my Spring / Summer mineral sites. Because of the desolate environment that Western Kanas deer are subject to, they do not receive maximum nutrition through their everyday diet. With the help of Whitetail Institute’s Imperial 30-06 Mineral/Vitamin Supplement, Big Tine is the perfect supplement for enhanced antler growth and an overall healthier deer herd.

Although I can’t credit Big Tine entirely for a successful deer season, it did play a big part in my scouting efforts which was the first step towards completing my end goal of killing a mature whitetail in 2015. After many failed attempts and close encounters, the cards were finally dealt in my favor and I was able to arrow my biggest whitetail to date on November 20th. To read more about that memorable hunt, click HERE.

Don’t just take my word for it. Stop by your local retailer today and pick up a few bags of Big Tine and start experimenting on your own property. They have a wide range of products in addition to deer feed including; food plot seed, cover scents and mineral blocks. Regardless of what you use, I think you will be very pleased with the results!

To find out more information about Big Tine, please visit their website at: www.bigtine.com.

-Adam

I had been hunting hard all week and had yet to get a single shot opportunity on any deer, let alone a mature buck! Dustin and Steve tagged out earlier in the week and I’ll feature their stories in a later article. I had been seeing good bucks at the beginning of the week but they were all out of range for a shot. The 12 hour, all day sits with little deer movement over the past few days started to wear on my morale and hopes of putting my tag on a mature Kansas buck.

On the second to last day, I decided to pull the plug on an area I was hunting and move to a new area in closer proximity to where Steve and Wendell had been hunting. They were seeing a lot of does running around and a few good bucks so they told me to come try out this spot. At this stage of the hunt I didn’t have much to lose!

Setting Up For The Evening Hunt

Dustin and I decided to hunt together on Thursday evening so we brought two tree stands with the anticipation of hanging a double set. Upon entering this new area, it was really tough to find the right tree because of the thicker brush and the lack of suitable trees to hang a stand. We ended up walking around for over an hour before finally finding one that had some shooting lanes and was large enough to hold the both of us.

By the time we had all of our gear at the base of the tree, we were exhausted and drenched in sweat from the 60-degree temps and sunny skies. Since we had trounced around the area in every direction making all sorts of noise, neither of us had high hopes for the evening hunt.

After finally getting settled into the stand about 3:30pm, the winds died down and we enjoyed the view from 25 feet up. To the West was a river that ran North / South and to the East was a CRP field. We were positioned in a 100-yard wide strip of thick woods that ran between the field and the river. Without having stepped foot in this area before, we didn’t know what to expect for deer movement but it looked promising because of the abundance of rubs and scrapes in the immediate area.

As the light faded we had 2 does come behind us at 50 yards but did not make their way in for a shot. They ended up getting down-wind and slowly walked off back to where they came from. Even though we didn’t see much movement, it was great to be in the same stand with my good hunting partner again!

The Morning Hunt – November 20th

My alarm rings at 5:00am and I dread crawling out of the sheets but I know I have to keep pushing. Dustin decided to sleep in so I went out solo for the morning hunt with the anticipation of sitting the entire day. I parked the truck and began the walk to my stand; bumping a doe in the field but made it the rest of the way unscathed. I finally settled in about 20 minutes before first light and prepared myself for, hopefully, an exciting and successful day.

Shortly after first light, I catch movement to my left and notice two does moving slowly through the understory. I stand up to position myself in hopes that they come close enough for a shot but they slowly graze for a few minutes and walk directly behind my stand at 40 yards where I am not able to shoot. After standing directly down-wind for 5 minutes they push off to the North without offering up a good shot opportunity. Once again, I was bummed!

10 minutes goes by and I catch more movement to my left but this time, it’s within 30 yards. At first glance, I thought it was a lone doe but as it came closer I was able to make out two small spikes on the top of his head. He closes the gap to 10 yards, hits a scrape and walks off in the same direction the two does traveled just minutes prior. If only he was a little bit bigger!

The Moment Of Truth

At approximately 7:25am, an hour after first light, I see a bigger bodied deer moving out in front of me at 60 yards but could not yet determine what it was. A few moments later he clears the thick brush and I immediately determine he’s a shooter and my heart begins to race!

He moves his way in closer, alone and oddly enough, with the wind at his back as he funneled off to my right at 70 yards. Knowing he was too far for a shot and would likely move past me out of range, I reached for my Quaker Boy Bleat-In-Heat and let out a nice long doe bleat. It immediately caught his attention and fired him up enough to work a scrape that was close by. After he finished working the scrape he started walking my way, but once again, I had no shot opportunities as he paralleled my tree at 35 yards!

I let him move past me which gave me some time to reach for my Quaker Boy Brawler Buck Call and I let out a soft, quick buck grunt. In an instant he wheeled right around and made a bee-line right for my tree; quickly closing the distance to 10 yards! I don’t know if he picked up my human scent from the night before or if it was because he didn’t see the buck that should be standing in front of him but he got spooky and made a quick, 180 degree turn directly away from me. I used this to my advantage, immediately drew my bow and began looking for an opening to get a shot off. After holding for 10 seconds he made his way into an opening and I stopped him with a mouth grunt at 20 yards broadside.

I settled my pin on his chest, let off the shot and watched as my arrow flew directly into his chest cavity! The shot placement was absolutely perfect and upon initial impact, blood was pouring out of the entry hole so I knew I had hit him hard. I watched him run off, blood pumping from his heart and he started to do the “dizzy dance” as his run slowed to a walk. He stumbled out of sight behind a large cedar tree and moments later I heard him crash. In an instant, the woods were silent again.

At this point I completely lost it and was celebrating beyond belief; shaking uncontrollably in my tree stand. I could not believe it came together on the last day of my hunt and I was ecstatic to finally have a beautiful, mature Kansas buck on the ground!

I texted the guys and waited for Dustin to arrive so that we could track him together and allowing extra minutes of caution for the buck to fully expire. 20 minutes later Dustin shows up and we follow a blood coated trail to my buck that looks like someone dumped a can of red paint on the ground. I can’t say enough good things about Rage Broad Heads , they sure make easy work out of tracking a whitetail deer. I was using a Rage Hpyodermic and they are absolutely devastating, leaving a blood trail that you can run down if you wanted to.

It Can All Change in a Matter of Seconds

Bowhunting is a constant game of “cat and mouse” and the majority of time, I’m the cat who can’t catch the mouse. This year was filled with many highs and lows, multiple close-call encounters with mature bucks and one successful hunt to end my 2015 season in Kansas. You can go from zero to hero in a matter of seconds as long as you never give up and put in the time.

I’d like to thank my good friend, Dustin Campbell for telling me to keep grinding and for helping me with the long drag to the truck. Also, thank you for taking all of the great pictures; you certainly know how to capture my good side! I’d like to give big thanks to Wendell Trowbridge and Steve Trowbridge for pointing me in the right direction and putting me into a good area! I couldn’t have made it happen without you guys so thanks again!

These are the moments I live for and will cherish forever. I love deer hunting

-Adam

After a six-hour drive to my hunting lease in Kansas, I arrive at the farm around 11pm and quickly set up my tent in the gusting wind and darkness. I unpack my gear and settle in for a night of restless sleep as my mind races in anticipation of tomorrows hunt. Although I’m not planning on hunting in the morning, I plan to wake up at sunrise and drive the area to scout for deer movement.

My alarm goes off. I am tired from the work week and the long drive but I jump out of bed in excitement and anticipation of the morning scouting session. Its a cool 40 degrees, which is unseasonably cold for the morning low in mid-September so I am expecting decent activity. After three hours of driving, glassing and scouting from afar, tiredness sets in so I head back to camp.

It’s getting close to 10am so I decide to stop and check trail cameras in the immediate area surrounding the farm. Thinking to myself, “It might be too early in the day to check cameras and I should probably wait a couple hours” did cross my mind but the temptation was too much. After running a trail cam through the latter part of the Summer, I wasn’t getting any pictures of my target buck in this particular area of the farm so my intention was to pull this camera and move it to a different location.

As I close the distance to within 100 yards from my camera, I see a doe and fawn have picked me off. I don’t really think too much of it because there always seems to be a doe in the area no matter what time of day it is so I push on without stopping. As I get closer to the camera she starts to circle in front of me instead of running the opposite direction. At this point I stop and watch her run to another low area with thick cover, littered with willow brush and small trees. In an instant my heart sank as she alerted five does and three bucks from their beds not more than 100 yards from where I stood.

I am in utter disbelief! One of the bucks is the typical 12 point (pictured above), who is my number one target buck for the season on this particular farm and he is accompanied by the second biggest buck on the property which is a heavy 9 pointer (pictured above). None of the deer in the group spotted me or knew what was causing them to run but were alerted by the running doe that I had spooked minutes earlier. I watch them trot across the road as I shake my head and mumble a number of curse words for blowing these deer out of the immediate area.

Lessons Learned

You may remember from one of my earlier posts that I had laid out an exact strategy to hunt this deer throughout the early season. Read the full post: My Exact Strategy For Western Kansas Early Archery Season

The spot where I bumped them from was less than 400 yards from where my tree stand is located, overlooking the waterhole where I have numerous pictures of my target buck. The wind was perfect that evening for him to move during daylight but all bets were off because I had ruined the hunt before it even began. I sat the stand anyways hoping that they bedded up in the milo field to the North but all I saw were does and fawns.

Hindsight 20/20 I should have waited to check that camera until at least noon but I’m not sure if that would have made a difference. I think regardless of the time of day the same scenario would have occurred but I will never know for sure.

One of the main takeaways from this excursion was the realization that I didn’t need trail cameras anymore because they had already done their job. Because of my pre-season scouting, I knew there was a shooter in the area and I knew he was coming to the water tank on a regular basis. I positioned my tree stand accordingly so that he could not wind me on his approach, I put in the necessary work but all was lost because of my excitement and trying to nail down his exact bedding location. For what??

I follow a number of hunting shows where they are constantly running cameras to locate the exact travel pattern and bedding area of a hit list buck. Although this information is extremely benficial, it can also be high-risk, resulting in bumping deer and jeopardizing a hunting area. In this particular scenario, I was caught up in the mentality that I HAD to keep running cameras in order to kill this buck. That would be like me as a salesman getting a person to say “Yes, I’ll buy your product!” and then continue to explain features and benefits for another 10 minutes even though they have already committed to the sale. Ludicrous, right?? How much is too much? Sometimes less is more.

All things aside, it was a wonderful opening weekend and it felt great to get back into the stand with my bow in hand. As hunters, we are constantly putting together the pieces of the puzzle and trying to wrap our heads around these elusive animals in hopes of filling the freezer. After all, this is an entirely new property so I have to expect certain things like this to happen because of my lack of local knowledge. I came away with lessons learned and memories made, and in the end that’s all that really matters. I love deer hunting!

-Adam

My hunting partner and I stepped out of the truck for the first morning of scouting and we were about as lost as a couple of newborn puppies separated from their mother. All we could see were tall grass fields, a few scattered trees and an everlasting open prairie. After exploring the surrounding area for 20 minutes, we were convinced that deer just simply didn’t exist in this part of the state. We jumped in the truck and started heading to a different area and out of nowhere, a 160 inch buck with all sorts of trash ran across the road in front of us chasing a doe. I had never been so excited and confused at the same time. Those deer literally appeared out of thin air!

The last described scenario took place on public land. If you are hunting Eastern Kansas, then this article wont hold as much weight because the Eastern side is much like Michigan; lots of woods and crop fields with not much open ground.

This year I have the luxury of hunting some private ground on the Western side of Kanas and will be adjusting my hunting strategies accordingly. Here are four key tactics to implement while hunting during the early season on the West side of the state.

#1 – Hunt the Water Sources

Western Kansas is very dry with limited water sources so my early season strategy while the weather is hot will be focused around water. The majority of river beds on the western side are dry and standing water is scarce so if you are able to located a good water location, your plan should be focused around this.

During my last scouting endeavor I was able to locate a half-full water tank and since there are no cows in the pasture, the deer are taking advantage of this resource! My Covert Scouting Cameras had some great things to show me last weekend after the first card pull; view the pictures on my Facebook page, HERE!

#2 – Less Hunting and More Scouting

Hunting a new property is tough, especially when you don’t have any clue as to how the deer utilize the property and where the common travel routes are. Aerial and topography maps will only tell you so much before you have to put boots on the ground. I will be spending a good amount of time glassing from afar in the mornings and evenings until I have a good idea of how the deer are entering and exiting the property. When I do set out to hunt, my tree stand placements will be easily accessible with minimal risk of bumping deer.

I will also spend a good amount of time driving around the neighboring properties to get a better understanding of the surrounding area and how the property I’m hunting fits into the big picture of deer movement.

#3 – Find A Good Vantage Point

This tactic coincides with the “more scouting and less hunting” rule mentioned above but it’s definitely worth mentioning. Western Kansas tracts of land are so vast, meaning there is a lot of ground to cover. The best place to scout from is the highest vantage point or the spot where you can look over more ground. This really helped us learn the deer movements last year and played a key role for spot and stalk hunting later in the rut.

I put together a quick 2 minute highlight video of our hunting trip in Kansas last November. Click the video below and watch me put a stalk on a nice public land 8 point buck!

#4 – Wind, Entry/Exit, Food, Bedding and Travel Routes

The words mentioned above are pretty self explanatory and are applicable to any deer hunting scenario no matter where you hunt. Play the wind and plan your entry and exit routes to your stand locations so that you go undetected. Locate the food and the bedding areas and hunt the places in between. Pretty simple, right??

In my next blog post I will break down my strategy and exact game plan for hunting the biggest buck on the farm. This will highlight my tree stand placement and entry and exit routes in coordination with the right wind. Stay tuned!

-Adam

As mentioned in a previous blog post titled “Kansas Whitetail Deer Scouting Trip – July 2015”, I was able to pick up over 5,000 acres of private ground to hunt on this Fall. To be honest, acquiring the land was the easy part and now comes the meticulous planning and scouting to get a good buck on the ground this season.

The Real Work Begins

After a week long work-related road trip I was able to swing back to Kansas on my way home to Colorado to begin dissecting the area I will be hunting. Not all of the land I have access to is what I would call “prime habitat” but I would say about 70% is a mixture of agriculture, CRP and river bottoms.

I am hunting two separate landowner properties which are about 8 miles apart from each other in Western Kansas. Both farms have multiple parcels that are all within close proximity which allows me to have a good mix of terrain and area to cover. I almost prefer this because I can drive around to each property and glass from afar if I wanted to do a spot and stalk hunt.

Prior to putting boots on the ground I did many hours of research on google maps to get an idea of how I thought the deer were using the area and how they utilized the local terrain. This helps cut down on the time needed to physically scout the area and allows you to immediately zone in on areas much quicker.

Hanging Trail Cameras

A few weeks ago I purchased four trail cameras made by Covert Scouting Cameras and so far I am very happy with my purchase. I was amazed at how small they are and have heard a lot of great reviews. I decided to go with two MP-E6 infrared cameras and two MP-8 cameras with black flash. The MP-E6 camera is their lowest priced camera but still features a good 6 megapixel picture and in fared flash.  The MP-8 black flash cameras are the middle of the road and feature a camouflage pattern, black flash and an 8 megapixel picture quality. Check out their wide selection of scouting cameras at: www.covertscoutingcameras.com

I hung one camera in a crossing point in a dry river bottom, I hung two more in a funnel area next to a low lying area with lots of cover, and the last camera was positioned over a water tank. While hanging the cameras I did scare out a few does but did not see any bucks on the hoof.

Also, at each camera site I utilized Big Tine attractants which included mineral mixes, salt blocks and shelled corn. This will bring in the deer and will allow me to more quickly inventory the area for bucks I want to target this Fall. Visit www.bigtine.com for more information on their products!

Setting My Sights For 140”

I hate to admit it but the biggest buck I shot in Michigan was 115” which isn’t all that bad considering the majority of the state follows “If its’ brown it’s down” rule. Last year was my first season hunting in Kansas and from what I can tell, 140” isn’t out of the question. There are very few hunters, vast amounts of land, abundant food and good cover for whitetails to grow old! I know I am in a good area because this 180” buck was found dead on the farmers property a few years ago. I was happy to pose for a quick picture!

Next weekend cannot come soon enough and I am anxiously waiting to get back to the farms and check my trail cameras! If I end up getting a good buck or two I will begin formulating a more detailed plan of attack and maybe even hang a few stands and brush in a few ground blinds. If I come up empty handed I will revise my plan of attack and tweak my cameras to different locations. I love deer hunting!

-Adam

Kansas is one of my favorite states to hunt whitetail deer for a number of reasons:

1. It is a draw tag that is relatively easy to acquire for non-residents.
2. The hunting pressure is significantly less than Michigan and other parts of the midwest.
3. Kansas grows lots of big bucks.
4. There is an abundance of public land that holds quality deer.
5. Other wildlife such as grouse, bobcat, badger, pheasant, and hawks are abundant.
6. My hunting property is only a five-hour drive from where I live.

For all of these reasons combined is why I LOVE to hunt in Kansas!

Putting On The Miles

I woke up last Saturday morning feeling a bit tired and groggy after a two-day event in Denver but knowing that good hunting land opportunities were on the horizon, I crawled out of bed and pushed on. I had done a bit of homework prior to this trip and located a general area (three counties) where I wanted to hunt so I headed out to the open prairie.

Since I already had a tri-county already in mind, I resorted to using the Arc GIS app for iPhone, developed by ESRI. This shows you on a real GPS map where Walk-In Hunter Access (WIHA) properties are in proximity to your location. The cool feature is that it is an interactive map so you can click on various properties and it shows you how much acreage the property is, what species can be hunted and what dates they can be accessed. Click HERE to find out more information about WIHA maps and related software programs.

Zoning In

After I had a general area picked out, I started to key in on areas with concentrated WIHA property. My next step was to then start zoning in on river bottoms with trees in close proximity (within a mile) to crop fields for optimal travel routes and food. Once I had located a property with these characteristics, I drove to the area and put the binoculars to work!

After spending some time glassing fields, river bottoms, and ravines, I decided that this particular section was worthy of trying to get additional private land access so I set out to start knocking on doors. It never hurts to have more options! “I have way too much hunting property” said NO ONE EVER!

The First House

First off let me start by saying that the people in Western Kansas are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. By the time I pulled up to the first driveway it was already 95 degrees outside with about 90% humidity and it takes by breath away when I leave the comforts of an air-conditioned truck. After knocking on the door I was greeted by a young guy about my age named John. I explain why I am there and he invites me out of the blazing sun into their cool air-conditioned house. I thought to myself “Wow, you don’t find people too often these days who just let you in to their house after 10 seconds of conversation”

I get to talking with him and his family and next thing I know he gives me permission to hunt the family farm. He starts explaining all of the property in the area and he offers to ride along in my truck to show me exactly where each parcel is, where to park and the best access locations. His family doesn’t really hunt and John is moving to Illinois to move in with his fiancé. I seriously can’t thank him enough for him letting me access 5,000 acres of good hunting property. John, I owe you big time!

My Secret Scouting Weapon

Below is a quick 30 second video of me using my QuietKat to quickly scout potential ground. It came in useful after gaining access to some new property!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LflqzunmRo

The Next Attempts

After leaving John’s house I headed up the road to talk to the neighbors to the East because the property had good characteristics and was hoping for more success. Upon talking with the owner, he stated that his son-in-law hunts the farm, meaning no hunting privileges for me. It was still really good to talk with him because he said there are some big ones in the area and he had a pile of shed antlers in the yard to prove it! I thanked him for his time and headed on my way.

My next move was to head to the neighbors to the West. After speaking with him I was also denied access due to other people already hunting the property. Once again, I received great info from talking with him and he too had a bunch of fresh sheds lying around the yard. He said he doesn’t actively look for them but instead picks them up out of the pastures when he lays an eye on one.

After leaving the last farm I chose to head further East. After a few miles of driving I spotted a few good farms mixed with river bottoms and crop fields so I had to stop. I too was denied access to these properties because they already had hunters. Both guys mentioned that there were a lot deer in the area and how they wished there weren’t so many!

Picture Time

Below are a few pictures from the open prairie of Kansas. The photo of the building is actually an old school-house. One of the neighbors I talked to said he actually attend school there as a young boy.

My Luck Strikes Again

After many failed attempts I connected on another farm about 5 miles from the first property. This parcel is much smaller at 500 acres, but when you are coming from Michigan, 500 acres is still a lot of hunting ground! Although smaller in size by Kansas standards, I really like the way this property is laid out.

This piece of property is located where a river bottom and a ravine intersect in to each other; both natural funnels. The other reason I really like this piece is because it has a water tank on the property, making it very attractive to thirsty whitetail deer! The river bottoms in the area are dry which could mean great success if I can set up a stand or ground blind along the travel route to and from the water tank.

Scouting Trip Recap

All in all I was very pleased with my results for the trip. I scouted thousands of acres of public land and picked up approximately 5,500 acres of solid private land to hunt on this fall. To say I’m excited for the season to begin is an understatement!

Already, I have learned a lot about the area by seeing it in person and talking with local land owners. In the coming weeks I will write a blog post showing how I will hunt these properties and how my tactics will change as the season progresses. Hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to get back out there with some trail cameras and really begin scouting.

In closing, if you are actively looking for private hunting land this Fall don’t be afraid to knock on doors. Sometimes it can be intimidating but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. It’s a numbers game; meaning the more houses you approach, the more likely you will be able to gain access. Keep going and never give up.

-Adam