Hunt4fun96
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- 27
This all started when my dad and his friend got a small lease in Kansas. As a Wyoming boy whitetails never came into the picture as I was always spot and stalk hunter mulies and elk. When my dad asked me if I wanted to hunt on his lease I didn’t hesitate to buy a point and wait for a year. 2020 scouting had turned up 2 definite shooters and 1 buck that was smaller (130-140) but had lots of points that we named bullwinkle. 2020 hunt came and went with them both killing the #1 and #2 deer on the farm. As we headed into the off season my hopes were here as to what bullwinkle could be in 2021 if he survived the hunts. Of course I was excited to find out I drew Kansas archery even though I was guaranteed with 1 point. We headed to Kansas to set cameras and start scouting in late July and wouldn’t you know it bullwinkle showed up the first night the cameras were out and we could not believe how he had exploded! He went from a spindley 130” to what we believed to be a massive 170” 11x9. We continued to get pictures non stop of this buck through the summer and I mean 1000’s of pictures. With bullwinkle being so consistent I changed my vacation from the November rut to the first week of archery season in hopes to kill him while still in his summer pattern. Fast forward to September 13 I’m on a plane to Kansas to hunt that night for opening day!
Day 1 was hot as hell, I got into the stand at 4pm and it was 97• with 85% humidity and I thought I was gonna die. It was still a good hunt as I passed a 145” 10 point and saw lots of deer. (Had a few people tell me I was crazy for not shooting that buck)
Day 2 was still hot as hell. Started much slower as I didn’t see a deer until 7, bullwinkle actually came into the bean field 15 minutes before dark but never came close enough until after dark.
Day 3 hopes were high as a small storm front had rolled in and it was only 75 and breezy. The deer did not disappoint, saw deer the entire evening sit passing the #2 deer on the farm, a 6 year old 9 point named robin.
Day 4 started slow as I got into the stand a little later than I would have liked (5pm) and didn’t see anything until 7 when a few does fed into the field. At last light bullwinkle entered the field and headed right for me. He instantly knew something wasn’t right and he circled me at 30 yards never giving me a shot!
Day 5 we checked the card on the camera the night before and found that bullwinkle had daylighted every morning for the past 7 days so we decided to try and sneak into the stand in the dark and hunting morning being my last day to hunt before flying home. I snuck into the stand at 330 am in hopes to not spook any deer and give plenty of time if I did bump a few. The 3 hours in the dark were the longest 3 hours of my life! As day light started to break there were zero deer in the field and then out of no where 15 deer entered the end of the field and where headed my way. A quick glance through the binos there was no doubt the buck in the back was bullwinkle! The night before still fresh in my mind I got ready and was going to shoot the first shot I got. As they came underneath me I drew my bow, bullwinkle caught a little bit of movement and got nervous. As he turned to circle he took the exact path from the night before and I was ready. I gave him the fabled “meeehhh” and as he stopped at 31 yards I watched my green lumenok disappear right behind his shoulder. He plowed the dirt and barreled down the field just in time for me to watch him come to a crashing stop in the binos. I called my dad and he headed my way. Walking up on this deer we quickly realized this buck had exceeded all expectations and he was bigger than we though and the pics did him no justice!! Not that it mattered to me he scored 180 1/8” I couldn’t be happier with my first buck and now plan to hunt whitetails every year if possible!
Day 1 was hot as hell, I got into the stand at 4pm and it was 97• with 85% humidity and I thought I was gonna die. It was still a good hunt as I passed a 145” 10 point and saw lots of deer. (Had a few people tell me I was crazy for not shooting that buck)
Day 2 was still hot as hell. Started much slower as I didn’t see a deer until 7, bullwinkle actually came into the bean field 15 minutes before dark but never came close enough until after dark.
Day 3 hopes were high as a small storm front had rolled in and it was only 75 and breezy. The deer did not disappoint, saw deer the entire evening sit passing the #2 deer on the farm, a 6 year old 9 point named robin.
Day 4 started slow as I got into the stand a little later than I would have liked (5pm) and didn’t see anything until 7 when a few does fed into the field. At last light bullwinkle entered the field and headed right for me. He instantly knew something wasn’t right and he circled me at 30 yards never giving me a shot!
Day 5 we checked the card on the camera the night before and found that bullwinkle had daylighted every morning for the past 7 days so we decided to try and sneak into the stand in the dark and hunting morning being my last day to hunt before flying home. I snuck into the stand at 330 am in hopes to not spook any deer and give plenty of time if I did bump a few. The 3 hours in the dark were the longest 3 hours of my life! As day light started to break there were zero deer in the field and then out of no where 15 deer entered the end of the field and where headed my way. A quick glance through the binos there was no doubt the buck in the back was bullwinkle! The night before still fresh in my mind I got ready and was going to shoot the first shot I got. As they came underneath me I drew my bow, bullwinkle caught a little bit of movement and got nervous. As he turned to circle he took the exact path from the night before and I was ready. I gave him the fabled “meeehhh” and as he stopped at 31 yards I watched my green lumenok disappear right behind his shoulder. He plowed the dirt and barreled down the field just in time for me to watch him come to a crashing stop in the binos. I called my dad and he headed my way. Walking up on this deer we quickly realized this buck had exceeded all expectations and he was bigger than we though and the pics did him no justice!! Not that it mattered to me he scored 180 1/8” I couldn’t be happier with my first buck and now plan to hunt whitetails every year if possible!
