Public Circus
Contributors to this thread:Kansas
From: ksq232
17-Nov-22
I don’t know if I’m just dreaming, but the public has been absolutely slammed this year by non-residents in unit 12. I’ve never seen it this busy. It’s gotten so bad some of the locals that don’t even hunt are patrolling nightly in our neck of the woods.
From: Kansan
17-Nov-22
So glad I have access to good private ground, so I can avoid that shit show.
From: Justhunt
17-Nov-22
I saw 3 Minnesota trucks, 2 Missouri, 1 Nebraska, and 1 Quebec in the same area today. And no deer to speak of including on private land
From: MichaelArnette
17-Nov-22
It's bad everywhere, public land is no secret anymore
From: Thornton
18-Nov-22
Probably not as bad as what I witnessed in Colorado this week. My buddy shot a giant bull in the sage, and within 2 minutes, 15 trucks and ATVs were piling over the hill thinking a migrating herd was passing through. We directed wardens to several citations in our 5 days hunting.
From: elkmo
18-Nov-22
What are the “non hunting locals” patrolling for? Hunters are rolling up to whia, parking and hunting. I’m more concerned about the Tweakers the other 10 months out of the year.
From: elkmo
18-Nov-22
What are the “non hunting locals” patrolling for? Hunters are rolling up to whia, parking and hunting. I’m more concerned about the Tweakers the other 10 months out of the year.
From: Deerdummmy
18-Nov-22
Elkmo yea I guess being from Missouri you would definitely see lots of tweaker lol.
From: Copperhead
18-Nov-22
I always wonder, why all the animosity towards non-resident hunters? I have hunted in Wyoming off and on since 1977 so I understand why people like to hunt a different state than the one they live in.
To me, what it all boils down to is there are courteous and non-courteous hunters no matter resident or not. Hunters come in all different types from meticulous to absolute slobs. Being from another state has nothing to do with it.
From: sitO
18-Nov-22
I agree Mark, I sometimes hunt other states as well. I think the disdain is with the amount of tags sold, and crowding/decimation of resources.
From: elkmo
18-Nov-22
Need to update my profile, just bought land in KS this year with the move to different job here. From my conversations with “locals”, NR’s are the least of your worries!
Same type of crap just a different state.
From: Copperhead
18-Nov-22
Kyle, I too yearn for the days of less crowding and better wildlife management. The only way to change that is for the state of Kansas to change their ways but I'm afraid greed has set in too far to go back.
From: Deerdummmy
18-Nov-22
Deer regulations will only get worse. More liberal and selling more permits than the year before to meet demand. I mean you can hunt deer from September to January. And shoot up to 7. Pretty obvious on who runs the kdwp and isn't a biologist. Maybe some very deep pocket insurance companies and outfitters/landowners. A very small percentage of Kansans give 2 shits about deer hunting.
From: keepemsharp
18-Nov-22
The decisions here in KS have been turned over to the Leg. in Topeka. So it is just about money and the big bucks speak for themselves. The youngsters here with out money don't stand a chance. Just stay home with your nose in a terminal? And let all the good huntin go to those with big bill folds and feeders and leasing and buying.
From: Dragon
18-Nov-22
And they continue to harvest a young buck, that never had a chance to grow into a quality deer
From: Westksbowhunter
18-Nov-22
Copperhead don't confuse animosity towards non resident hunting with non resident hunters. It's the management of NR hunting that causes the animosity.
From: Kansan
18-Nov-22
Some of my greatest friends are non-resident hunters in Kansas. I’m pheasant hunting with some Texas boys right now.
We just have a problem with the way our state manages it. Not the hunters themselves.
From: Slate
19-Nov-22
Kansas Resident hunters and non hunters alike have always been great and welcoming. Look forward to seeing the many friends I have met. Had another wonderful season and will be back in the spring.
From: Thornton
19-Nov-22
Copperhead- Kansas is 1.8% public. Most of our permissions were leased or bought by nonresident hunters. Hence the animosity by some locals, and decline in resident hunters. No comparison to Western states that have millions of acres of access.
From: Cazador
19-Nov-22
So it's a shit show? I had a few properties I liked to hunt, the last year I hunted it there were a couple guys on the same tracts. A couple for me is too much. Almost worth a drive over since I'm tagged out here just to see how things look. Even my knock on door places were getting hit pretty good and it has been at least 5 years since I've hunted deer in KS.
From: stealthycat
19-Nov-22
why does Kansas DNR give so many tags if there isn't a deer population that can handle it ?
for the record I'm non-res and I'm FOR reducing non-res deer tags ... by 50% would be fine with me and ban outfitters
From: Trebarker
19-Nov-22
Because the legislators demanded they do it
From: Cazador
20-Nov-22
Colorado guy sent me a text of a nice buck he arrowed on the “east side”
From: Deerdummmy
21-Nov-22
Funny I'm on the east side just by Colorado. It's by far the worst deer numbers I've seen since coming out here mule deer hunting for 11 years. Everything has been on private and have only seen 1 mule deer buck I would say was a shooter. You know it's bad when you haven't seen 1 non resident truck on 20000 acres of wiha in 3 days. The Colorado guys staying next to us said they won't come back and have been coming here since 2010 for whitetail.
From: ksq232
21-Nov-22
Been hunting out in western Kansas on public for the last 3 days with a buddy from out of state. Heading back home early, it was not good at all. Tried, but couldn’t get away from the pressure. And to answer an above post; when the spot lights come out from the road, you bet non-hunting locals get agitated. Sandstone toyota tundra, with matching topper was to blame and has been reported.
From: Two dogs mobile
21-Nov-22
Unless the law has changed, spotlighting is only illegal if there is a weapon in the vehicle.
From: Catscratch
21-Nov-22
It might not be illegal, but for many landowners to see someone spotlighting on their place is kind of like finding someone snooping around in your garage, or going through the stuff in the bed of your truck... Just isn't right. Plus once you've found a few headless deer in your fields it get outright infuriating.
From: Matte
21-Nov-22
Kansas and us hunters need to pressure the state to save what is left if the Mule Deer population. Every single year numbers seem to trend down and we have not had any species antlerless tags now for some time. We all need to come together and pressure the state for a draw system that is highly limiting the pressure the Mule Deer experience.
From: ryanrc
21-Nov-22
Just youtube kansas public deer hunting and you will see why it is being slammed. Chris Bee shot a 187 first sit on unscouted ground. The hunting public guys have multiple videos from Kansas as do others.
From: Westksbowhunter
21-Nov-22
I thought it was illegal to spotlight period. If I remember some fellows years back were spotlighting without a weapon and got ticketed for harassment of wildlife.
From: IES
21-Nov-22
Spotlighting is legal without a weapon or ammunition in the vehicle. All I hunt is public and spotlight a decent amount at certain times throughout the year. Stolen cameras turned me to the idea. Never had a problem with any landowner but I take caution to never throw the beam anywhere close to a house or building. It really has become an art to hit a spot of interest and be gone before the deer have time to react and not just from a vehicle. Lot of gas and time invested but the information gained is worth it.
From: Deerdummmy
22-Nov-22
The State of Kansas will NEVER give up the revenue from deer hunting by cutting the amount of tags sold. They found the cash cow and will milk it dry.
From: Matte
22-Nov-22
I follow a lot of Social media as it helps me with my business. Seems that deer numbers of mature deer are down based on comments.
From: keepemsharp
22-Nov-22
Has our efforts capturing and tagging deer shed any new light on the mule deer issue?
From: Buckdeer
22-Nov-22
I know areas that is posted as walking but is private ground that the landowner didn't sign up as walkin and they have called F&G multiple times.You would think they could figure out what land they leased
From: KSBOW
22-Nov-22
States just can't pass up the money, I too hunt other states and look forward to going out west to hunt Elk. However I wish more States would be like Iowa, and Wyoming. It appears that both DNR departments in these states are, more about the quality of hunt vs the quantity. Would much prefer getting great tag every several years instead of sub-par tag every year. Its such a tuff issue, and know there are not always right answers, afraid greed will always get in the way of proper management of a great resource for states.
From: Matte
22-Nov-22
Matte's Link
Here is a link I found. Did not really specify any causes. Now the pheasant link did specify Spring Raptor migration as a big reason for adult hen mortality. Something every farmer I know has said since I was a kid.
From: kscowboy
22-Nov-22
Got a link to the pheasant?
From: Matte
22-Nov-22
Matte's Link
Here you go.
From: Deerdummmy
23-Nov-22
Well ending our mule deer hunt 3 days early. The lack of sightings on wiha and talking with locals decided it was best. Sad to see how bad it is going out here. Don't believe everything you see on YouTube and social media. Lots and lots of disappointed hunter's out here.
From: Thornton
23-Nov-22
This was the scene 3 minutes after my friend shot his giant bull Elk. 10-15 trucks and ATVs and a warden came flying down the road to see if the shooting was at a migrating herd. It was like walking the red carpet back to the truck. People stopping and congratulating us. Another guy was videoing the bull from the top of the hill. The day before we saw guys herding elk, shooting from the road, and had bullets ricocheting around us. Absolutely insane. The warden basically told us we were some of the only guys actually doing it right by walking into these areas instead of driving.
From: MDW
24-Nov-22
Had a guy ask last night if hunting was allowed on corp ground by the lake. Even told me which creek bottom. Yesterday he saw a 170 ish buck standing within bow range of the highway. Buck must have had something else on his mind.
From: 74maximus1
24-Nov-22
Jason, my friend lives out west in what was several years ago covered in mule deer. I asked him the other day if he had one found for me to come out and hunt. He told me that he has only seen one buck and 9 does from when harvest started. Said even whitetails are hard to find. Its just the beginning of the end!
From: KB
19-Jan-23
Cruising the Youtube this evening and saw Chris Bee, mentioned above in this thread, had posted a new video on his ‘22 Kansas hunt. He killed a 187” his first day hunting in ‘20, which has 1 million views currently. This one is titled “Not What it Once Was”, or something to that affect, haha! Talks about seeing nothing but non resident license plates, public hunting being a nation wide fad, folks blowing up spots with their YouTube channels, etc. Never does point the finger at himself. Says he may have to look into private options going forward! I couldn’t help but chuckle and think of this thread.
From: ksq232
19-Jan-23
Quite ironic…
From: sitO
20-Jan-23
sitO's Link
Here's this year's hunt video he posted, pretty much what we've all been saying for years. Kinda hard to watch.
From: Deerdummmy
20-Jan-23
So if you come to Kansas and don't see any deer and have a hunting channel on YouTube it's ok to complain about out of state hunter's. But if you live in kansas as a resident it's not. I love these double standards by out of state hunter's.
From: be still
20-Jan-23
So what does he expect is going to happen when he sends out a video to the public showing himself shooting a good deer on Walk-In a few years ago. I think common sense has eluded most kids now a days.
Now I know TV hunters make money with their shows but I’m not sure how this You Tube thing works. I bet they are somehow making money too. I see something on there where it says like or subscribe…if you push that do you have to pay?
From: Scott in Camo
20-Jan-23
My brother-in-law has a friend that told him he made over $1 million from YouTube last year. He has 2 million subscribers and does fishing videos. Because of that he also bought then sold a bait company for big $. I think they are paid by the # of views. Likes and subscribers help the algorithm where their videos show up when people search that topic.
From: Cazador
20-Jan-23
Wow, you can’t make this stuff up.
