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Day 1

Previous Evening

November 5th

Matt and I arrived early on Sunday. So Kent suggested we jump in a couple stands and hunt. We didn't argue with him! I went to a stand called the Irrigation Stand, and Matt went to the Wooden Stand. As the sun began to set I watched a buck walk through the CRP. He was a shooter for sure! A really nice eight that would go around 160". He was making scrapes under every tree and then slowly began to move toward me. I glassed him for a while and decided I was not ready to end my trip over a terrific 8. He never got closer than 30 yards but I had an absolutely perfect broadside shot at that distance. He eventually ran off after a doe. I also saw a nice 4 year old 10 point that was not a shooter for this area. Matt had little action tonight.

The shooter buck is 50 yards here, under the tree. the other buck in the open is the ten point and not a shooter.

What a shot - 30 yards from my stand.

He made 10 scrapes within 80 yards of my stand

Morning Hunt

November 6th

For my first morning hunt I hunted the Big Maple. It was warm and breezy. It was slow this morning. I saw a small 2.5 year old 10 point and a couple of spikes. Only 5 does were seen. I stayed in until 11:30AM. It was really slow. Same for Matt, and Tom Edgington - it was a warm, slow morning for all three of us. It's supposed to be very warm and still this afternoon too.

Afternoon Hunt

So there's a buck that lives in a draw in between two wheat fields. It's a special buck that can only be described as a ghost. He shows up a couple days a week with no consistency. He can be there on Tuesday at 1 am then Friday at noon. The one thing that is consistent is whomever kills him will be one happy bowhunter.

Some of you may recall that in 2016 I took up a similar challenge with Rob Nye. He had a ghost too. I killed that 187" buck after 7 days of all-day sits during the last 15 minutes of my hunt. So I'm tempted to try it again here in Kansas. I haven't committed to it just yet, but I did go after him this afternoon. It's in an area with very few deer. So if I spend the rest of this hunt after that ghost, this live hunt may be really boring.

I saw no deer at all tonight. I left all my gear in that blind and am going back there tomorrow morning. For now, I'm giving it a shot.

Matt sat where I hunted last night. He wants that big 8 - and who can blame him. That's a beauty! He didn't see the 8 but he saw a different 8 that was impressive, but a busted brow and not a shooter for Matt. Tom hunted the Wooden Stand and had a slow night. It was 75 degrees and still. The weather is not great, very warm and with little wind. It changes in a couple days but until then I'm not overly optimistic.