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Kansas Whitetails DIY

I posted on the big game forum and my buddy thought it might be better to move it over here. Looking to head out to Kansas next fall and will be staying with a relative near Landsing. Looking at OnX I don’t see a lot of public land. Am I missing something or is that pretty much how Kansas is.

Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Fat chance in hell you will get much help from residents. Tough crowd here. There is public land not sure where you’re looking but it’s there. Do your homework don’t expect anyone to just hand you it for free.

I can't say I am surprised, it was just a question on if I am missing something on how the public land works out your way. When I look a my home state PA, you can clearly identify the public and we have large amounts of it.

I am definitely not looking for hand outs, planning and scouting is the best part of the hunt.

thanks for the response!

There is a lot less public land than you will be used to.

there is opportunity end of October, but november means a lot of pressure in that neck of the woods.

You're fighting locals, diyers, and unlicensed outfitters putting up stands off of every parking lot. You can't "outhike" people deep. Most of the parking lots are less than a mile from a lake or river and people are coming in from the other side too.

Plan on people getting to spots at 3 am or setting up on top of you.

You need 10+ spots e-scouted and a few backups on private land, even if they're mediocre. It can be a battle. But you can also be successful. It will not be like the TV shows you've seen.

First of all there is no "Landsing" KS... secondly Confucious say: "No listen to hobo from NJ who sit in train car and stare at feeder"

We have what's called WIHA(Walk In Hunting Access), which has over 1 million acres of private ground enrolled. You can see it with your Onx app, but I think you need to turn on that layer. The NE part of the state probably gets as much pressure as anywhere, but you can find deer there. Plan on spending a day or two scouting, looking for sign, if you can.

No baiting allowed on public or WIHA ground, you'll have to hunt like a man. Good luck!

Great responses! We see a ton of pressure our way on public as well but you learn to adapt. I enjoy the challenge, just hope my 16 year old son can endure it as well.

Baiting is illegal our way as well so it didn’t even register as a tactic for me.

Thank you guys for your time, I’ll start looking.

Kyle is right, I’ve never figured out why OnX has wiha as a layer, but they do.

If you’re set on staying with your relative I’d familiarize yourself with the iWiha program (purple parcels on attached map) and be prepared to drive a lot to hunt public ground in that area. Or utilize any connections they may have for permissions on private. Otherwise stopping in at their place for a night on the way farther west and another night on the way home might provide a better public hunting experience.

Ryan...doesn't look like much public or WIHA opportunities near Lansing. Looks like you are going to have to drive to adjacent counties west and NW of Lansing (Jefferson/Atchison) for more and probably better public opportunities. Good Luck in the 2021 draw.

Look at ksoutdoors.com for the online public land map. It has state lands and walk in hunting areas shown. OnX may not show you the wihas

This land doesn’t sing big mature deer anymore...it’s a sad ole song. But if 2 and 3 yr olds toot your horn I’d say jump on the train and head out west. Probably do the scouting now though...right across the river back in 2011 I made the mistake of scouting some public ground in Northwest Missouri in August. I walked in and got carried out by ticks and chiggers. Took a few days before they decided to drop me to the ground. Oh yeah and I might add that in the last 4 years on Walk-In the pressure like Sito said has gotten pretty bad. KB I think your mistaken....it’s Unit 20 I believe and that’s nearly 100 percent on the draw.

Technically it’s Unit 10 as far as public land regs go. But you could draw a 9, 11, or 14 and attach a bordering unit to the west and still be allowed to hunt on private land in Unit “19”. Not familiar with 20. Is that the impact zone on Ft Riley?

Ryan, is your friend a resident bow hunter in that area? If so, he should have some idea of the lay of the land along with the amount of hunting pressure. Those links above for the WIHA and public land areas will help. Good luck and be safe.

KB I thought you were making a joke about Unit 19....so I was just carrying on. Never heard of 19 until I just looked it up and I’m still confused.

Double check the WIHA boundaries as I know some are wrong and cross lines to private. Also if they are restricted use and limit the numbers of hunters each day be ready to log in as some guys tie up areas and never hunt them.Not much enforcement on either issue.

No worries. It’s real. Just an expanded opportunity area around the urban portions of NEK. Upon further review it’s probably not terribly applicable to this fellow’s situation unless he runs into a scenario where he has private access near Lansing in 19, but wants a lot more WIHA/public away from population centers at his disposal and decides to draw a unit 9/8 tag. He’d be pretty spread out, but one of a few options.

Ryan, PM sent.

Just listen to the informed ones from calhoun calhoun TX

Thanks for all the information guys. I received a ton of useful information! Stay safe everyone!

I should draw Kansas this year unit 11 and 12 not looking for any advice on where to hunt just looking to find out how big the crowd is on public and WIHA for the first 3 weeks of November. I'll be there 11/1-11/20. Thanks and feel free to PM me

That's when everyone will be hunting. I hunt a little in 12, and bow season sees more traffic than rifle these days. If you're going to see a big one though, it will be in those weeks.

As a non-res., you would probably do better with less crowds by hunting last 2 weeks of Oct. and into 1st week of Nov. Just sayin!

I scouted unit 12 public this spring. I was planning to hunt it some this fall. Changed my mind after scouting, I couldn’t walk 50 yards without finding a tree that had been trimmed. Of course I don’t know when they were hunted, but I’m guessing November found the parking areas loaded bumper to bumper. :-/

I knew of a place like that once in unit 12, ksq232. :(

Yep, public lands get hit awfully hard in November, at least in unit 12. This comes from the public lands managers that try to manage these areas. I'm setting here between Elk City, Fall River and Toronto lakes with several thousand acres each.

They get hunted pretty hard, but there can still be some good hunting to be had. I know of a few spots that are, smaller, out of the way, and get less pressure. I’d look for those. (Unit 12)

I call BS. I've come to realize any hunter that post stuff asking for anything, is trying to get a starting point. He is trying to get a little something to where his boots should hit the ground. Look, I drive out every March for nothing but scouting. Places I found on maps. I never asked a sole about anything in Kansas- I figured it out on my own. I dont care what anyone says, if you really want to know something, you will find the answers. It takes Time and that's what people want. To not have to invest like people that found places did. Takes years and miles of walking and studying to find a good public land place to hunt. I don't live in Kansas, but it pisses me off. Do your own dang research, map reading, and boots on the ground. Plenty of stuff on line. And you're nuts if you tell a friend or family member where the honey hole is. I've hunted over 30 years. Hunters are lazy. They will steal a deer from your hard work in a second.

Well the proverbial "Buck Stops Here" you lazy thieves!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry you see it that way. I hope you have a good year hunting, sir.

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