My 2008 Kansas Buck

MuleyBuck009 · Dec 15, 2008

I hunted North central Kansas with my dad last week and scored on a great 170" class whitetail. He has a 157" typical frame and 13" of extras (20 points / 17 scoreable), 39" of mass and a 18.5" outside spread. You can just barely see it, but he has a 3.5" drop kicker coming off his left G-2.
Here's the sick part - I took him on public ground and he's my first whitetail. The tough part is he was only 1 of 8 deer I saw the whole week. I shot him with 12 minutes of legal light left on my last day - oh how sweet it is. My dad did not even see a deer during hunting hours - the rut was completely over and everything was shut down.
The bottom picture is of my dad's deer from last year (2007). He shot his buck not more than a half mile North of where I shot mine this year. Who knows what 2009 will give us ? - I can't wait to see though.

Thanks for viewing - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !! May 2009 be good to you all !!

Robert
www.atkinsonexpeditions.com

logslinger · Dec 16, 2008

Awesome buck!!!! Big time Congrats. An outfitter buddy of mine said that 9 out 10 bucks that were killed with him were killed in the last 15 minutes of daylight this year in KS. Didn't pay for anybody to get out of the stand early this year.

Chesterwyo · Dec 17, 2008

Both very nice bucks. I hear public land is hard to come by in kansas. You must have a pretty good spot there.

cohntr6 · Dec 23, 2008

Very nice!! Wes wouldnt let you hunt on his places, huh?! LOL!
i shot my first coues whitetail this year.
Not nearly aas big as yours! LOL!

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11519

Jeff

MuleyBuck009 · Dec 31, 2008

Thanks for the comments everyone :

logslinger : I have heard that from quite a few people over the last couple of weeks. There were some tough days out there that is for sure.

chesterwyo : You would think that public ground would be tough to find in Kansas, but there's a lot of it out there if you do your homework. Kansas produces a great map resourse with all public land listed - let me know if I can help.

cohntr6 - Jeff : Good to hear from you man - Nice coues !! I could of hunted our ground in southeast Kansas but we had quite a few guys this year so I hunted around my uncles place (it's 4 hours closer anyways). It was a total culture shock for me. My cousins have their way of hunting and it did not work for me. I changed things up on the last night and ended up taking this buck - who says mule deer tactics don't work for killing big whitetails - ha, ha. Speaking of mule deer, are you coming back to hunt northern Colorado anytime soon ? - Keep me posted.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and 2009 brings success - Happy New Year to all !!

Robert
www.atkinsonexpeditions.com

cohntr6 · Dec 31, 2008

I only made it up to chase elk with my bow in early september in southern colorado near Saguache this year. I saw a great 5 point bull the last morning I was there but he didnt give me a shot so i came home having had plenty of exercise and enjoyed the high country.
Of course I wanted to come up and hunt around Fort Collins for deer but it didnt happen, we'll see what this new year brings.
Jeff

AWHOLELOTTABULL · Dec 31, 2008

Great buck! I know most of the deer we saw didn't show up until right at dark. Definately a wall hanger. Congrats.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com

Spencer · Jan 12, 2009

Great buck, Rob! I like the way you decided to mount the horns too. That looks great!!

Scott
Member: RMEF, SCI, and NRA

MuleyBuck009 · Jan 12, 2009

Hello Scott,

Thanks ! Actually the last pic is of the buck my dad shot last year in Kansas. My buck is at the taxidermist getting a full shoulder mount - can't wait for it to be complete. I actually gave my dad a hard time last year for not doing a shoulder mount with his buck.
I got your email from the other day, I'll get a response back to you soon. Glad to hear all is well - talk to you soon.

Robert
www.atkinsonexpeditions.com

Apexmtnman · Jan 26, 2009

MuleyBuck

Public land or WIHA land? Walk In Hunting Access land is private land that the state of Kansas pays the landowner a couple of bucks per acre to allow public access to. I also hunted Kansas this year, in central Kansas and didn't see any "Public Ground", its all private. My son got a 135-140ish buck, the big ones were hard to come by this year. We also hunted with family, My dad was born and raised there.

And yes, the state of Kansas posts a map of all the WIHA hunting areas in the state on their website.

MuleyBuck009 · Jan 26, 2009

Apextnman

We hunted a mix of Public Wildlife Areas and some Walk in Hunting Access lands. I took my 2008 buck off of the same Public Wildlife Area that my dad shot his 2007 buck off of (Both bucks are pictured above). I could have been more specific in my original post by say the area was a Public Wildlife Area.

My uncle has lived in the area for almost 30 years and has taken some great deer. He shot a 165" typical 12 point in 2006 that had a 24" outside spread (that deer was also taken off of a Public Wildlife Area). He feels the deer numbers are not quite what they use to be in his area, but there are still some great deer to be found there. He said he saw 2 bucks during the summer that would be pushing the mid 180's - who knows where they hide come the rifle seasons.

The Walk in Hunting Access lands can be pretty decent as well, but as in any state - if you have access to private ground with limited access your chances of shooting that monster are way better.

Robert
www.atkinsonexpeditions.com

treedagain · Jan 26, 2009

sweet bucks....congrads

Apexmtnman · Jan 26, 2009

Your right there are a few Public Wildlife areas in the state. Cheyenne Bottoms is the closest to where we hunt, but they tell me its pretty crowded.
Here's a picture of my 17 year old son's buck from this year.

slider · Feb 20, 2009

WOW!!! He's a Fatty!!!

www.albinovest.com

MuleyBuck009 · Feb 27, 2009

Apexmtnman :

Great buck. Not sure where Cheyenne Bottoms is located. The ground we hunted had some traffic, but by the 3rd. day we saw very few people. Good luck in 09 - thanks.

Slider :

Nice vest - how's the industry response been since your release.
Good luck !!!!

Robert
www.atkinsonexpeditions.com