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Day 6

I didn't sleep well last night. I knew what I would find this morning even though we saved the trail for the following day. Clay Jarnagin and I waited until 8AM and then drove out to the stand. I showed him the arrow and he raised his eyebrows. Not good. We then split up and tried to find a bloodtrail. There was nothing in the immediate area, not a single drop. I crossed the river and walked a trail leading away from the treestand. I picked the right one, about 200 yards from the stand as the crow flies I found blood. The buck had stood still and there was about a half dozen drops. My experience told me it was muscle blood. I called over clay and we hoped that this would start a trail. I didn't have high hopes but as long as there's blood, there's hope. we found 5 more drops within 20 yards and that was the last blood we ever found. The field the buck entered was short grass, I could see for hundreds of yards. There was no deer, and no more blood.

We then gave up looking for blood and we spent the remaining part of the day split up, walking the surrounding thickets looking for a deer. I carried my bow, just in case. After several hours of searching I called Clay and we agreed to meet at the truck. I needed to end it. Blood trailing this buck was pointless. The deer is fine. All the clues add up to what I saw when I shot. My shot went hight and I punched him at the top of his back. My hunt was over.

200 yards away from the stand I found the first blood sign. The buck stopped and a few drops hit the ground. That was about it.

Last year on this hunt, Jake killed a 165, Tom killed a 180, and I killed a 190. It was incredible. I guess fate has a way to slam you back to earth. The hunt certainly didn't go as planned but we have some comfort knowing two of the three bucks are fine. Tom's buck may be OK too. There was some discussion on CRO's policy but in all honesty, we know what the deal is and we accept it.

Listen, it's not easy to tell you exactly what happens on these hunt. But I feel it's important so that experienced, and inexperienced bowhunters can learn from the mishaps. And contrary to what you see on TV shows, mistakes happen to everyone - even the 'celebrity' bowhunters. I made a promise to my visitors a long time ago that we would be honest with you and I'll continue to do so. As a courtesy to Jake and Tom, I gave them the choice of going public or just leaving them out of the hunt. They chose the former and I respect that.

So we'll chalk up our 2017 Kansas whitetail hunt as one that we'd rather forget. It was fun and we all had shots at great, trophy bucks. We'll be back next year and hopefully, karma will be on our side again.

No sense sitting around sulking. I borrowed Kent's AR15 and caller and decided to put a hurt on some coyotes. There was a fresh pile of dead cows and there was dozens of coyotes feeding on them. I quietly stalked downwind and was just getting into position when Kent's cows decided to stampede through the draw. I saw at least ten coyotes blow out of there. I then hit a couple spots and called in three coyotes. My shooting wasn't that great but I'm blaming it on a borrowed weapon and no shooting sticks. But I did manage to drop one dog right at sunset.

I was set up downwind of the dead pile and I called in two coyotes. I missed one and killed the other.

It wasn't a 160" buck but it sure was a great way to end our 2017 Kansas hunt. Thanks for following along. .