Buck I hunted for 2 years killed
Whitetail Deer
I spent a week hunting this buck two years ago. Had him at 15 yards but waited for a better angle that never came. He was killed on the neighborhing property during Kansas’s early muzzleloader season this weekend. Wow!
Needed another 2yrs..... apparently =0 What a buck!
Here’s what he looked like the year I hunted him.
We never saw him last year on our side but the neighbors had pics,
Magnificent buck. 7 years old by my calculation.
The 'little guy' in the picture with him would be a trophy to most guys. Is he still out there? Some magnificent deer out thataway, a guy I know is retiring to Kansas (if he hasn't already, haven't seen him in a while...)
Wow! Great mass and main frame shape
Pat, did you have your Yeti hat on? Sure is a "monster" of a buck.
The neighbor must have had tastier bait piles. ;-)
Pretty buck. I love all the extras on his rack.
Matt
Great deer.I don't get the Lee and Tiffany pose nowadays way behind the deer no forearms visible makes the guy look like a little kid.Great deer though.
That’s the old pose. Most want to see the person posed up by the head for true scale. But when showing the pics to most people in the general public that pose above makes them think. Wow whitetails get to be 500 pounds?
Love all the trash! Any ideas on the score? Looks kinda like a mainframe 10 possibly, with lotsa junk.
What a great buck! Thanks for sharing.
thats tough but i'm sure he's alot bigger now than he was 2years ago
Wow, that's a dandy.
I'd never, ever expect to see a buck like that in my neck of the woods here in PA but hey, there is always a chance however slim. I'm not sure how'd I'd react if I did encounter a buck like that. I'd like to think I could calmly put my arrow where it needed to be but I might just pass out or shat myself. I'd like to find out either way.
Hope the other buck from your trail cam pic is still around and you have a safe and memorable season with some Bloodtrail Challenges for us.
Holy cow!! Thanks for sharing the pic.
Holy moly...monster!
I think the trophy pic looks great, too!
The “little” buck above 2 years later. Still alive now.
The “little” buck above 2 years later. Still alive now.
Supernaut, here’s the other buck last year
That's a bummer, but at least you know what happened to him. On the bright side of things, his genes have been spread out for how many years, go kill his off spring lol.
Wow! That’s a heck of “little” buck. Look at the mass
That "little" buck is another dandy!
Hope you get a shot at him if you're so inclined. Have yourself a safe and blessed season!
I am sure he would have been even better if he hadn’t caught Covid
WOW. What a beast. That little guy looks pretty awesome now too. Got some bases there.
Wow maybe you’ll get a shot at his little brother. The mass is insane
Was he killed on the Box Ranch?
Dang! Maybe Ill get lucky and get a chance at one of his offspring this year
Whoa! That's a super buck
Dang it man! Those guys shot a 217" two years ago!
It’s 9000 contiguous acres. They also lease a few thousand bordering properties. Kent’s land borders it. We hunted it for years. It’s mostly sand hills and prairie, very few trees. Imagine what you can protect with that much land.
Hard to compete with feeders so big, a large grain truck has to fill them. These are about a quarter mile across the fence.
Wow …. That feeder will feed a herd of cattle. Holy smokes
This is one area where, without bait, you could sit your entire life and never kill a buck or doe during archery.
I bet there’s no more than 200 acres of timber on the entire ranch.
"This is one area where, without bait, you could sit your entire life and never kill a buck or doe during archery.
Nonsense. I know guys who kill bucks every year in that area without resorting to bait piles.
Matt
Pats right. I guided on that ranch for ten years in the early 2000’s. You could bow hunt travel routes on the river but even most of the river isn timbered. The rest is sand hills. There are a couple small patches of trees maybe 2 acres a piece. The deer don’t naturally use those trees so without corn you are hunting on the ground and good luck getting a mature deer to walk by a blind in open sage hills. It would be like hunting non vocal elk above tree line with a bow. Possible but you better be a bad@$$. Killing any deer there without corn would be difficult but killing a certain deer without corn could be near impossible with a bow. There have been many big bucks in the middle of those hills that were never seen and only captured on camera at night even though it’s their core area. GG I’m sure you’ve had friend kill deer near there without corn. The thing is you go a little north or east and you have timbered creek bottoms and timbered field edges with natural funnels.
And he does it in a loin cloth and bare feet with a stick bow and knapped broadheads just like Matt does....
Least surprising thing in the history of ever, GG….
Pat, I've hunted a lot in that area over the last 5 years for birds, predators, and turkeys. Better deer density on the creeks than I've seen in most areas of Kansas. I found these plus 4 more on about 100 acres with no feeder on a creek crossing.
The Box has trees on creek bottom and I suspect that is where they are killing them. Giant cottonwood, elm, and cedar mostly. Last year, their new land manager starting cutting many of the cedars out.
I've put a sneak on deer there. But then again, I have not put a sneak on a large buck.
Yeah, stillhunting and woodsmanship seems a lost art...
LINK- get me permission to hunt deer or an opening for a management hunt and I think I could get a buck in 3 days with no stand or corn. Very similar to trying to sneak up on a deer in our Kansas sandhills with all the plum thickets.
Thorton I have no pull or communication with the owner. No doubt you or I could kill a buck on that ranch inside of three days with a bow and no corn. That buck would likely be a 130” 2-3 year old. Killing one of the three biggest deer on the place would be a different story. You and I might hunt there a month without corn and only lay eyes on one of those three bucks one time. Every year I guided on that ranch there would be 1 or 2 180+ inch bucks. Most often we’d never lay eyes on those bucks even with corn. Countless hours spent glassing those hills and not turn em up. The river west of the road has no trees and the river east of the road only has trees for the 600 yards bordering the road. I could be wrong but don’t believe either buck was killed on that 100 acres of the 10000 acre ranch. With a rifle and your air plane would could get it done in a couple days. ;) When I win the lottery and buy that ranch I’ll let you bow hunt it for 5 days with no corn and see how it works for you.
How is the terrain and habitat any different than that of other western states where guys routinely kill big bucks without the aide of corn piles?
Sorry, I know I shouldn't scratch this scab. It's a sensitive subject for some here. But, I still think this comment is nonsense.
"This is one area where, without bait, you could sit your entire life and never kill a buck or doe during archery.
I also note Pat recently said he won't hunt over bait piles on his Ohio property, even though it's legal. I'm curious why he has a double standard depending on location.
Matt
If it makes you feel better I’ll just concede that you’re a superior hunter and you could kill any deer you want on the box ranch. Even though you never hunted it while I did for over a decade. I’m just not as skilled or experienced as you no matter how hard I try.
Nice cop out, Pat.
I never said I was a superior hunter, nor did I say I could kill any deer I want on the Box Ranch. I just question why the Box Ranch is any different than other similar areas where some guys routinely get it done without corn piles. And, why do you have a double standard on your own property?
Look, if you don't care to discuss it, I get that.. Just say so, without the snide comments.
Matt
Man O man that deer is a true giant. Kansas genetics are spectacular.
I have a good friend who owns a very large ranch within eyesight of the box. I hunt on it several times a year. I'd have to agree, the really big ones are few and far between. He updates me every season on what he sees while feeding cattle, and it is usually only one or two booners a year. His leesors manage about 1, 170" every year while hunting with rifles over feeders. He said in the mid and late1990's there were several big ones on the area, one of which sounded identical to the Kansas King buck. He saw it twice. Once on horseback at 50 yards, and again later at 600 yards. He suspected it was ranging several miles. He shot a 190" later that year and has not gotten one bigger. In my 5 years down there, I've never seen anything over 150"s. Neat area though and I love my visits. Not sure why we're even arguing, because I remember Pat sneaking up on a broken antlered 150" and passing it a few years ago.
Apparently some can't distinguish between "arguing" and having a civil discussion.
So far, everyone who has hunted on or near the Box Ranch claims that Booner class bucks are few and far between, and are difficult to kill. Name any area where that isn't the case. Isn't the fact that true trophy class bucks are rare and difficult to kill the reason they are considered "trophies"? Does their rarity and difficulty to kill justify conditioning them to come to corn piles so they are easier to kill?
I'll be happy to discuss this privately with anyone, if it's too divisive for you to discuss publicly.
Matt
Just goes to show what can be done if you convince enough people to buy $300.00 coolers.
That was their side gig invention from what I'm told. Their big money came from some other business venture. Either way, they have millions of dollars invested in growing those big bucks. They built a huge lodge in the middle of that ranch and they have a full time land manager. They are always trying to buy up more land around them as well. I remember when that ranch was listed on Landwatch, and they marketed it as having mulies and whitetails if I remember right. My friend said he hasn't seen a mulie there in decades.
Okay, now you guys have me curious, what's up with the cooler thing?
That sure is a monster buck. I wouldn't bother to shoot it though. I hunt for meat and the gravy would be tough on that one.
Zbone, the ranch that deer was killed on is called the box ranch, it’s about 9k acres and was bought by the two brothers that started Yeti coolers. Prior to them buying it the ranch was owned by a group of investors. Before the investors it was leased to our outfitter for about 10 years.
It’s mostly grassland and prairie with very few trees, maybe 2-3% of it has suitable cover for bowhunting. We literally bowhunted only one 90 acre spot with a patch of cottonwood trees. It was outstanding hunting only because it was so large that the bucks had no pressure and there was a great chance that every buck we let go would survive. There was some big ones there for sure but it was difficult to bowhunt. I’d say 90% was damn near impossible to bowhunt, especially the areas burned up three years ago.
Some choose to make their hunts tough. Some choose to make them as easy as possible. Some choose to give themselves every advantage then criticize others for doing the same. There are many ways that people choose to give themselves a leg up in their hunting endeavors. I don’t mind anyone using what is legal but I don’t think we get anywhere trying to claim our hunting style is better, tougher, or more ethical. Most of us live in glass houses, best not to start throwing rocks.
LINK,
That's a beautiful bull, and I compliment the hunter for using a e-bike for transportation, instead of a noisy, stinky ATV. ;-)
I'm not sure where you guys are reading that I've claimed my "hunting style is better". I agree, hunters should be allowed to choose any style of hunting that is legal.
LINK, you've already stated to me that you'd like to see baiting in Kansas outlawed, so I know where you stand on the issue, and we agree.
Matt
Is that the elk you gut punched and lost? Gotta love a guy that insults someone then plays the victim. Then claims he just wanted friendly dialog.
They've got stands and towers all around this foodplot.
Thanks for the info Pat...
