I've never been out in western ks hunting. Some ofmy friends have gone. They used to go out every year bow hunting. That was back when the you bought a state wide archery permit. Don't think they saw many mule deer. One of my brothers friends, his grandparents own a farm in western kansas. They don't see many mule deer any more. If it were me, I'd keep driving to Colorado. As far as Kansas public land hunting. Look up the KDWP web site. You can get maps of both walk in hunting and public land hunting ground.