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John's Journal... Entry 126, Day 2

WHERE TO FIND THE BIG BUCKS

Kansas's Big Deer

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week we'll look at the deer hunter's Valhalla. The state of Kansas has produced some of the biggest bucks in the nation, and this week we'll look at the stories and photos of hunters who've hunted with Brad Harris and Tad Brown, members of the Outland staff, which produces Lohman's and M.A.D.'s game calls.

Brad Harris of Neosho, Missouri, has hunted Kansas ever since the state opened its deer season for out-of-state hunters, and today, he'll tell us why he believes this state has so many trophy whitetails. "The state has a lot of limited-access areas and quite a few big ranches and farms," Harris explains. "The state doesn't have near the hunting pressure that many other states have, and it has quite a bit of agriculture. I think Kansas has an older age structure of bucks than many other states. We have 10,000 acres to hunt. During the season, there only will be about 15 hunts on this land, counting bowhunters and gun hunters combined. We usually harvest 10 bucks a season that will score in the 130 class or better on the B&C scale. Our best buck to date was a nice buck that scored 176 on the B&C scale. We experience such success because when hunters are on stands, we'll usually have two or three other support-staff people out looking for bucks trying to locate the bucks and determine where we need to put tree stands to give our hunters the best opportunity to take a really nice buck. We try and keep people out looking for deer from daylight to dark, while the hunters hunt. When we spot a buck that we see bedding up in a draw or a bottleneck, we'll often go get one of our hunters and bring him to a spot where he can take a shot if and when that buck leaves that bedding region. Oftentimes if the terrain allows, we'll stalk in close enough to the bedded buck for the hunter to take a shot."

Harris and his staff have learned that during the rut, if they can locate a doe in estrus that has a buck trailing her, the buck usually will bed down close to her. If they can get a hunter in to that area, that buck often will stand up two or three different times in hopes of getting the doe to stand. If the hunter is nearby when the buck stands, the hunter usually can get a shot.

"Too, we'll move stands or put up new stands any time a buck is not coming down a path or using a trail where the hunter can get a shot at him," Harris explains. "We've learned that to experience an effective hunt for big deer in Kansas, there really needs to be two hunts happening at one time. The first hunt involves hunters sitting on the stand at locations we've pre-scouted and determined where a big buck should appear. The second hunt occurs as the support staff scouts and looks for big bucks for our hunters who don't see bucks on the stands that day. Bucks will move, and if you do not move with them and look for them in different places, you'll waste your time on unproductive stands."

For more information about Outland Sports, call (417)451-4438, or see the website at www.outlandsports.com.

TOMORROW: IMMEDIATE SUCCESS



 

 

Check back each day this week for more about where to find big bucks...

Day 1 - The All Day Buck
Day 2 - Kansas's Big Deer
Day 3 - Immediate Success
Day 4 - A Missed Opportunity
Day 5 - Phillips Gets His Buck


John's Journal