Midwest whitetails - Restart

Those who read the prior thread (that we now know was deleted due to Del's low esteem of whitetails ) have some background on this trip.

Quick background. I drew both KS (rifle) and IA (shotgun) tags this year. I had some great private land to hunt in both states, but decided the public land challenge was more my style, and as such, have told the private landowners "Thanks, but no thanks."

I drove to Kansas over the weekend. Two days from my home grounds in Montana.

I spent the first two and a half days scouting. Saw a total of eight deer. Found lots of other hunters doing the same scouting and noticed a lot of feeders located just off the public land where the outfitters were operating.

Today was opening day. I was awoken by the winds last night and by this morning, they were a steady 30mph, with gusts to 45mph. Absolutely terrible to try and hunt in. Combined with the temps in the mid-20's, I lasted until about 11:00 am. At that time, the snot-sickles were too long and I packed it up for the warmer confines of the truck.

Knowing that deer would be bedded in this wind/weather I decided the afternoon would be better spent scouting more. I put on a lot of miles, looking at many of the WIHA (Walk-in hunting areas). Most are 80-320 acres, with many being over-run with cattle, but a few occassional gems. I saw a lot of other hunters using these properties. Some looked very good from the roads, and those were the ones that hosted the most hunters.

I walked into a few that looked pretty mediocre from the county road. Most of them were mediocre. I did find one that was really good. I walked the permiter where it joined some nasty brush on private land, and found many rub and scrape lines. The rut is over, but it gave evidence of some buck activity in the last month.

In my mind, I am thinking some of these bucks probably got toasted in archery season, a season that ended in late November. I am more than glad to work on the leftovers.

I tried to stay out of the wind as much as possible, but it was, as Winnie Pooh would say, "A blustery day in the hundred acre woods." Very blustery. Hell, it was damn cold.

I did notice that the deer are feeding hard on the emerging winter wheat, now that the corn is harvested. The area I walked into had two long oval fields of winter wheat surrounded by heavy brush.

With about a half hour of light left, I saw a very big buck cross the back corner of one of those wheat fields and quickly jump into the brush on the private land boundary. I moved over to that property line hoping he would travel the additional 400 yards that would put him in my shooting range. No luck. I did see eight does feed out of that brush to the WIHA, but no buck.

I have concluded the rut is over, based on how secretive that buck was, and the appearance of eight does, with no buck nearby. The lay of this piece of ground is excellent for an ambush on this buck if he comes off the private onto the public. Whether or not he will, time will tell.

This was a really big buck. Just how big, I don't know, other than I would shoot him with any whitetail tag I have/had.

Unfortunately, I have this thing called "commitments," so I can only hunt five days. I will be leaving early Monday morning, giving me four more days to close the deal.

The forecast is for morning temps in the low teens, with winds around 15 mph. I think I can handle that for a while. Highs tomorrow are supposed to get in the hgh 20's, so I am hoping it will force the deer to feed longer in the morning and earlier in the afternoon.

Calling it a day now. Hope to have a real pic to post tomorrow.

Sounds like your on the right track.Keep us posted and take lots of pictures.

Keep it up. We are confident you will get it done. We all look forward to your nightly updates. Good luck tomorrow.

I talked to my cousin in Kansas tonight and he nailed a 31 inch 4x5 muley and my other cousin hit a "big" whitetail tonight but let it go until tomorrow to track.

Sounds like you're working hard like always Fin. Good luck over the next few days.

Good luck fin.. Make it happen.

Good Luck Big Fin,

Hope to see the big buck in front of the big grin.

Didn't some one who grew up in kansas mention green wheat in both prior thread?

Just kidding, keep after it. That big buck may just cross that same field again. Good Luck. Wish I was there.

Only Fin would quote Pooh Bear on a hunting thread!

Keep after em' Randy...looking forward to the exploits! hump

Am sending you a 'best of luck' before this sucker gets nuked.

Keep at it Randy. Good luck!

Big Fin, never give up

Before I get "nuked" I just want to say "git er done"hump

It's dark. I'm guessing Fin got his hands bloody today.

Actually I am thinking about deleting this thread so Fin can call himself a asshole again.

Go get em Fin

T Bone said:

It's dark. I'm guessing Fin got his hands bloody today.

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Yup, I did TBone. Walking in this morning, I grabbed a bush to pull myself up a muddy creek bank. Grabbed one of those plumb bushes and run this big thorn deep into my ring finger. Had blood on my hand before shooting light, and plenty of it.

This hunt is a ton of fun, but is turning into one of those circus type things where you have to laugh at much of what happens.

After getting set-up this morning, six coyotes came running down the trail I was set up on. Wanted to shoot them, but just knew the big buck would be around - NOT.

Early afternoon was spent sneaking around a place that looked like good bedding cover. I walked in, using the wind to my advantage. Settled in for a small while thinking the deer might be getting moved around by other hunters.

I look up and see two orange blobs moving toward me. I try to make myself visible, so I climb up the ridge in a more open area. I can now see five guys around me. One comes by and asks if I saw any deer. I give him the WTF are you talking about look, knowing a deer drive on these small pieces of cover pretty much destroys hunting that spot for a week.

He was actually a nice guy and we visited for about ten minutes. They were doing a drive (they being 8 guys from PA). I felt like the Japs watching the marines slowly climb Mount Sirabachi at the battle for Iwo Jima - armed people everywhere I looked. Resembled a pumpkin parade. I thought my friends back home in Minnesota knew how dress in orange. Well, looks like the Pennsylvania crowd could give my MN friends a run for their money.

Spent the late afternoon shivering in a 15mph wind with temps in the teens. Eight does came out within a hundred yards. It was the same spot I saw the big buck cross last night, so I was sure he would be close behind them. If he was close behind, he didn't come out until after dark. I left as discretely as possible, hoping to sneak back in for the morning hunt.

These hunts always have something that makes me laugh. Today, I stopped at a little restraurant, similar to the one my mom used to operate in MN. Great homemade roast beef sandwich with mashed spuds and gravy. Locals all talked to me like I had grown up there.

Here is the funny part. I walk out of the restaurant and there is a guy who has laid out seven racoons and two badgers like loaves of bread. Being a trapper in the past, I start talking to him about how he caught them, blah, blah. Says he is waiting for the fur buyer to show up. I aksed if he was going to skin, flesh, stretch, etc. before selling those fur. He tells me the buyer just buys them "in the round," no cleanin' needed.

I'm thinking this is pretty funny, given a fur buyer would stop by my mom's restaurant and buy fur that had been properly cared for. So, I stand around visiting for a couple minutes, and as a big truck and horse trailer pulls up, the guy gets all excited and starts chattering so fast that I can't understand what the hell he is saying.

Well, turns out the horse trailer is the fur buyer. As quick as he comes to a stop, guys come out of the woodwork carrying arms full of 'coons, badgers, and coyotes. The buyer has to tell them to form a line, as he can't handle them all at once.

The buyer pays by the head. $4.50 for smalls, $6.00 for medium, and $8.00 for big coons. Badgers are $25, and coyotes $20. Every person haggles and tries to get a better size, and to make them feel like they got a deal, the buyer always rounds up to the nearest $5. He writes them a check, on the spot. As quick as they are paid for their fur, they drive over to the gas station across the street, fill'er up, and come out with a twleve pack of what ever beer is on sale. Friggin' hilarious. If I didn't know better, I would think I was back home in Big Falls, MN.

I asked the buyer if I could peak in his trailer. He had the entire back two thirds of the trailer loaded with coons and was now tossing them into the front portion where he had tried to keep the coyotes and badgers separated. I love it. This is my kind of folks. I just wish I would have brought my bib overalls and my John Deere cap.

Strange as it may sound, the lunch and fur buyer episode might be the highlight of my trip. These are the kind of people you can't help but like. They have no need for cell phones, new vehicles, fancy clothes, or any of the other things many of us seem to view as life's necessities. If Jeff Foxworthy had been with me for the hour, he would have another year full of "You might be a redneck" material.

Not a deer story I know, but for those of you who grew up in these small rural towns where trapping was not a moral issue, but just another way to make some Christmas money, you know why it gave me that "warm and fuzzy." It was the best "trip back in time" I could have ever asked for.

Damn, I love small towns. Even if the deer aren't cooperating.

Anyhow, I will back in the woods again before daylight, avoiding the plumb bushes, and hoping this buck makes himself visible in the daylight. I still can see him trotting across the opening. He is a real good buck, and the sign he has left in the form of tracks and rubs confirm what my eyes told me - shoot first and ask questions later.

I think I am done searching for places that might be better spots. I plan to work this two hundred acres for the remainder of the hunt. Can get boring at times, but I need to be there IF and when the big guys passes through. If he sticks his head out, I can only hope it is in one of the areas I can cover from this location. I am sitting on a small knoll that has a thick creek bottom to my west and two small winter wheat fields to my east. Thick private bedding cover to the north and south.

As much as I want to hold out for Big Hank, I may shoot any mature buck that comes by, with mature being defined as 3.5 years or older. Hell, last day may be doe day.

Don't think for a second that the notion of hunting the private land I had secured permission on hasn't entered my mind every hour. I am having a damn good time, so I am not sure it really matters. Shooting a buck on some exclusive private land would probably be fun, and I am sure I would be seeing a lot more deer, but if it is about having fun, I am succeeding in a grand fashion, even if I am freezing my a$$ off.

More tomorrow, I hope.

Big Fin.. Sounds like your having a great time and on track to get your buck. Keep having fun and all else will fall in place. Good luck tomorrow.

Big Fin, being from minnehaha, you know first hand it isn't any warmer on those private lands. maybe more action, but not warmer. good luck on the rest of your trip. you just pretty much described my hometown of St. Anne.

That is a great story. I hear ya about the small towns. My kind of place. Keep it up and good luck tomorrow.

Keep it up Randy, can't wait for the results..

PM me where you are hunting if you don't mind. sounds like might be my hometown. My folks would be glad to give you a hotmeal.

ARCAT said:

sounds like might be my hometown.

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Heck, the fur buyer story sounds like my home town in Wisconsin, growing up in the 70's.....cept coons fetched a far better price......and I was too young to go to store to buy beer after liquidating my cache!

Neat story so far Fin.