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My first KS hunt was Saturday evening and sat at my "middle" stand that has a generational fence crossing (see 2021 Hunt Journal for specifics). At 5pm, I did some rattling and had this little guy come in. He didn't stick around for long. Later that evening, I rattled in a legit supper tall and super wide 170's 10-12pt. (even with a broken left G2) but he hung up in some thick brush about 60 yds. out until well after dark.

My buddy hunted that same "middle" stand tonight and rattled in a 160's clean ten point that gave him an easy 25 yd. broadside chip shot. The only problem is at that same moment the big buck I saw last night was also coming his way. So, he figured he would let the 160's go in hopes that the bigger buck would come and meet up with him and my buddy would get a shot at the big one. Well, the 160's crossed under the generational fence crossing and both bucks met up and just walked off the other way together. Just the way it goes sometimes.

My buddy passed this buck up hoping the "bigger" buck that was coming in from another direction would give him a shot. As mentioned, it wasn't in the cards and so this buck and the "bigger" buck are still out there for the taking. I don't have the "bigger" buck on camera yet....but I sure hope to have him or this buck on camera this weekend....if you know what I mean!

On Saturday, with NW wind I hunted from the ground (facing West-see blue dot in aerial image above) at the timbered river bottom pinch point between the river (on South) and a thick fallow field (on North) where they are bedding this year. The field across the river to the south (my left) is harvested soybeans. Behind me to the east is timbered oak ridges along Flinthills prairie edge. I had the HUD positioned on my right side (to the north) between me and the fallow field, so I was downwind of the HUD during this NW wind event.

Bowsite is being a pain in the back side today when uploading pics…..I’ll just include some video footage instead. They should atleast come out right side up!

Young 13ptr.

Double G2 12 ptr.

11ptr.

Same 11ptr.

I decided I would hunt another area of the nearby river bottom in a stand that I hung in early Oct. but have never hunted yet. The stand has good cover and a major low water crossing that connects my side (timber) with miles and miles of nearby AG fields.

That evening at 4:30, two bucks walked the high deer trail behind my stand. One was a 6ptr. and the other a decent 8-9ptr. I let’em walk hoping something bigger would follow. Only thing I saw the rest of that evening was 8 raccoons and 1 of the bald eagles that nest about 100 yds from my stand.

Pics included show aerial (river crossing and trails dashed in yellow and stand loc’n. as red “X”) and 360 deg. view from my stand (starting over my left shoulder and around to over my right shoulder) my right shoulder.

As promised, report from my 12/29 hunt is as follows: That AM, I went to the stand I call “MIDDLE” which you all have seen before that I have the trail camera nearby covering the generational fence crossing. Nothing spectacular to report other than at 7:30 a big white boned buck was hauling butt out of the prairie at first light to get down into this timbered draw and the protection it affords. He was moving too fast to get a bead on how many points he had but I was willing to participate in finding out. Anyway, he entered the timber about 150yds out of sight to my east. If he takes a right (west) he eventually comes down trail right under me or behind me. If goes left (east) I never see him. Well I never saw him again. Didn’t see a thing the rest of that AM hunt.

See aerial pic’s with deer trails and 360 deg views from the stand.

Well I guess there was actually a few spectacular things to report from the 12/29 AM hunt mentioned above:

While in a nearby small town airing up my rear tire, “she” (not Erica) came riding right down Main St. Some folks are still liv’in the good life. Merica…gotta love it!

My mid-day napping spot. Anyone else (among us living) sleep like babies here but me? Not too sure about that driver, though? There was a big covey of quail (counted around 25 total) milling around the place to keep me company and of course whistle me to sleep.

I’m with Catscratch, I’m hoping to wait awhile before napping there.

As long as it takes you we’re all going to be sleeping there before you get through with your hunts here. This is a whole like these so called TV series episode shows Erica watches. It just gets to a good spot and then….you got to wait till next week.

Come on now…get a little pep in your step and stop killing the grass:?)

Well...I will say this the morning of 12/30 was one of the prettiest and quietest mornings in the KS woods that I can remember (maybe a little too quiet). I did indeed see more deer at this River/AG location. However, unfortunately they were all does and a few button bucks. See video of the "doe parade."

At the very beginning of the video, that is not me grunting...it is that first doe that comes into the frame. She also eventually see's my HUD on the open hillside to my left and doesn't quite know what to make of it. Near the end of the video (around the 5:37-5:45 mark) you can hear one of the pair of bald eagles that nests about 150 yds away from my stand doing its morning chirp in the background....it sounds a little like someone squeezing a dog toy.

Even though no bucks with antlers sighted on this hunt, it was an incredible morning in the KS woods and one I will soon not forget.

Actually....this 12/30 evening was just as pretty and quiet as the morning...all in all one of the prettiest/quietest total days of weather I have experienced in KS in a very long time. I did have (3) coyotes come through about 30 min. before dark and could have easily shot one of them that came up the creek right under and behind me....but decided I didn't want to fool with that stink'in thing as I try to close out my 2022 deer season. The only deer seen during this PM hunt were a few does which were actually pretty far off.

Stay tuned for the 12/31 hunt to follow!!! I think I was hearing the fat lady warming up!

Bowhunter I’m just hoping there’s a blood trail at the end here. You know if there is it’s just going to be a longer wait. First he’ll describe the hunt and then he’ll finally show the blood but then he’ll have us just staring at it for a couple days…just like last year:?)

You know Jason... the longer you wait the bigger the buck has to be. It's like directly proportional graph; as time increases so does antler size.

Sat. 12/31 AM hunt. At about 6am that morning while driving thru my map dot of a nearby town (of which is very close to my heart) I roll up on some guy that looked barely human, cold, gaunt, tired and frankly broken from a long season of deer hunting up here in cold/windy KS. So, I say hey man...keep your chin up and jump in one of my stands for the last hurrah. He obliged and off we went! However, just about then we both look into the darkness and in the same direction.......as we both heard "it." A faint female voice in the distance like some Greek mythology lady siren calling out to us to follow her to our demise. Turns out it wasn't a siren....it was just the "fat lady" doing her morning warm up? Hell, after all it was Sat. 12/31!

So, after dropping my friend off to head toward his stand for the morning, I headed toward mine. I decided to hunt the "South Draw" again which per my post directly above I had hunted the evening before on Fri. 12/30 PM. This last morning 12/31 was more typical of KS hunting weather.....cold with a light breeze to it and not windless like the entire day before. At about 8:30, I had a small forkie come down the trail heading to his remote prairie bedding spot for the day. Then about 9am I look up above me at the top of the draw and see a deer skylined. I do a double take and see that it is a doe. However, it is the biggest doe I think I had ever seen. Now a doe won't typically make me dig out my bino's for better look but this doe was just dang BIG. I got the binos on her.....BUT....she wasn't a doe....BUT was a double dropped buck instead. My heart sank for him knowing that the antlerless season was just around the corner and someone shooting 300-400 yds. probably ain't gonna see his nubs. Not sure which buck he was of the many in this area but if body size is any indication, I hope he makes it!

See video attached of him heading down the hillside into the draw. You can see his dark nubs on his head.

For me that was all I saw. My hitch-hiking hunting partner saw a few deer that morning as well. I had high hopes that he would see one of the few monsters that had frequented the area but it wasn't meant to be that morning. I would have been thrilled if he would have connected. In the future, I hope we get another chance to share in some hunts. Later that morning, instead of joining me for the PM hunt he decided to end his 2022 KS deer season and get on back home. I think there were some sandwiches or something waiting for him back there? Anyway, at that moment I decided that for my final 12/31 PM hunt I would sit my "Middle Stand" (you know the one with the generational fence crossing nearby) instead of one of my other stands I had planned on hunting.

Just then....I heard that "fat lady" warming up with more vigor than before. Stay tuned for the finale 12/31 PM hunt!

The next few hours were pretty un-eventful....that is until about 4:00pm. I had just woken up from what I call my 100th 30 second nap (head nodding) when I look down the draw to the north and see something just moseying along my direction. It was still far enough away at the time that with the naked eye I wasn't sure if it was a brown calf or a deer. Bino's soon confirmed it was a buck and at the time I thought I might recognize him but wanted a better look to make sure he wasn't all busted up. As a he moved up the draw my way, I got the better look I was needing and confirmed that his right brow looked to be the only busted up point. No other bucks were following or trailing, so it appeared that he was flying solo.

I had hoped he would do as he has probably done most of his life and cross under the generational fence crossing and just come down the fence line for an easy chip shot. However, instead he decided to jump the fence downhill from the fence crossing...similar location that the buck from my 11/6 post above jumped over. Only problem is he didn't continue on the same path out in front of me like that one from 11/6 had done but instead did a hard left turn and headed to the dry creek bed beyond (approx. 50-60 yds. away) and followed it around and eventually to my right. The dry creek bed he was following eventually connects to the fence line on my right side, but it is very thick there and doesn't offer the best shot opportunities. A few minutes later, I hear but don't see him jump the fence. This is good because he is now back on the "stand side" of the fence.

It goes quiet for a few seconds and then I see him back in the timber (50 yds away) heading somewhat uphill perpendicular to me. I've had this happen on a number of other occasions....at this point if he heads left (east) I don't see him again unless I call him back to me and I wasn't planning on calling anyway as I figured the deer might be a little spooky after coming out of a long hunting season and especially following gun season. Therefore, if he heads right (west) he'll eventually come right to me, but it was going to have to be a "natural decision" on his part.

He takes a right. So, I am now up out of the seat, bow is off the hook and am trying to hit record on my I-phone to record the shot like I have done on other past hunts. I have practiced this movement so much that it has become very robotic for me mainly because my phone mount is on the right side of my bow in front of my quiver and requires reaching around the quiver to turn the phone on and then hit record and thus I have practiced doing it alot so my movement pulling this off is quick, clean and more importantly quiet. I'm tapping it......but it ain't coming on! DANG IT! So, I take my attention/focus away from the phone to get a new bead on the buck. He took a right.....he is coming! Oh well, no time to fool with the phone anymore but instead just focus on the buck.

Release is now locked in. Will he take the lower trail under my stand or the mid-hill trail that eventually leads him into a plum thicket that I cleared a shooting lane through a few years ago? Kind of hope he takes the lower trail as it is a much easier shot. Nope, he takes the higher trail that leads behind and over my right shoulder. As a right-handed shooter, I have to turn completely around in the stand and crouch a little to shoot to the cleared out plum thicket behind me. Just before he hits the opening.....this joker stops. He is listening, listening and looking ahead. I drew 5 seconds ago and am just holding...holding...holding. He then enters the plum thicket opening and I shoot him in mid-stride. If I can, I always try to stop them just prior to the shot (like the buck in the attached video below that I killed in a different location within this same draw a handful of years ago) but he was just too close and this time it just didn't register in my mind to stop him.

No doubt, the shot could have been better. Turned out to be high and a little back. Entered in just below his spine but must have nicked something (bone/artery or both) because he dropped to the ground immediately and tried to get up but couldn't and actually drug himself a few feet in my direction before he expired a few minutes later. Looking back now, I am somewhat grateful the video didn't work for this one because it wasn't the textbook shot or recovery.

Turns out, he was the buck in the trail camera video in my post above from 11/11. I still haven't pulled the card from that camera since my mid-Nov. retrieval of it that shows him crossing under the generational fence crossing and probably won't again until March-April. Hope to see a little more footage of him on there. I was able to get the phone working for a few minutes before it stopped working again and got a few snap shots of him as he lay. In the pic. from his tail end, you can see my deer stand in the background that looks like a large squirrel's nest with the dead oak leaves.

What ensued after that can only be classified as a Comedy of Errors.

Comedy Error #1: After tagging him and dragging him up to the prairie top above it was well past dark. Wished at that point I had brought my deer cart...but in all honesty I figured I would see a few deer that day but nothing worth shooting.

Comedy Error #2: So, after shedding all my camo and eventually dragging him up and out of this deep draw, I get to a place I can pull my jeep up to load him on the rear hitch-n-haul. So, I reach into my new pack (only 2 hunts old) for my knife.....and it ain't there! In my haste to transfer all my stuff from my old pack to a new pack it appears that I forgot it. So, I blanket my buck in my shrugged off camo's (mainly to keep the coyotes off him while I am gone) and off I go to the nearest town with a Wal-Mart.....40 min. round trip. Being New Year's eve, I am hoping they don't have limited hours. They were open, so I buy a new knife (one that I really don't need) but needed tonight in a big way.

I get back to the buck and during the round trip and back was able to charge the phone up just enough that I was able to put it on the front bumper of the jeep and get a photo with aid of the headlights.

Comedy Error #3: As I am leaving, I stop to get out and open the gate...it's just then that I realize that I left my bow up in the prairie where I had dragged and gutted the buck. Turns out that I missed driving over it by about 2.5' feet?

Didn't think I'd ever get home with this buck but was glad to have him even though I rang in the New Year with way more aches and pains than I had at any point during 2022 and that includes the snowy Colorado hunt in late Oct. Oh.....and the Fat Lady that was heard warming up her pipes earlier that day will just have to wait until late Dec. 2023. Can't wait to see what the 2023 season has in store!

Special stuff here. Good buck last year and another good one here…you just got the right stuff going on. Congrats on a dandy.

Red "X" = Stand Loc'n.

Yellow Dashed Line = Route of the buck.

Orange Arcs = Where buck jumped the fence.

Blue Circle = Where shot was taken.