Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

3 buddies and I went out to western Kansas to spot and stalk deer for the past 4 days. And I got within range twice to some real brutes. The land I hunted was really open, but the terrain was really rugged. The ground was everything but flat(except for the plateaus). 200ft bluffs were common all over the property.

The first day we just drove around and scouted. Seen a few nice mule deer and whitetails. The next day 2 of my buddies went and sat in stands and my other buddy and I went spot and stalking on a big section roughly 3x3 miles with no roads within. I watched a descent 8pt mulie buck and followed him for an hour or so, and then he met up with some more deer in the middle of the section on a field. The herd of 9 included 3 bucks, 1 fork, one 8pt about 22wide and another 8pt about 26-28 wide.

As the sun started to go down they started to leave the field on the opposite side of the field, so I ran about around the field(which was about a mile) and then up the 200ft bluff just in time to see 4 mule does go over. So I ran up to that spot and waited. About a 1-2 minutes later came the bucks at about 20 yards. So I pulled back on the biggest mulie and my arrow fell off the nock. By the time I put the arrow back on they were 100 yards off. But an awesome close encounter.

The next day I was glassing off a bluff, looking 1-2 miles away in a couple directions. I spot 2 does and a big whitetail buck run off the plateau, down the bluff, and into a creek bottom full of thickets and occasionally trees. So I walked over to the next bluff and glassed where he went in and about 5 min later I saw a part of an antler. At this time he was about 300 yards away. He moved his head a few times and I seen double forked g-2' s, matching kickers coming off his g-2s and going straight back. And this had to the be one of the most massive bucks I' ve seen in the wild. He has gnarly bases within mulitple points around them.

So I called my buddy on the radio, to come look at the deer, before I put the stalk on him. Then for the next 2 hours I stalked him on my hands and knees. I got to where I thought he was but he wasn' t there. I could see my buddy in the same spot on the bluff looking this way so I knew the buck was still in the same area. Finally I stood up and seen the massive non-typical laying down around 25 yards away, faced the other direction, in the middle of the thickets, since the creek was full of them. I continued to walk to the left and found a small lane. I' ve been in full draw for about a 1/2 minute now and was all settled in. I let the arrow fly and it was looking good, and then it was almost like the arrowed bounced off his back, because it zoomed into the air behind him. After I looked more, I realized that the arrow made it all the way except about 2 feet in front of him it him 3 twigs which deflected it and then it defected off it' s back, with just a flesh wound. The arrow had a little bit of blood but just on 1 blade and 1 fletching. It was an awesome stalk I really enjoyed.

My buddy who was watching him said he got up a couple different times to adjust himself and counted 7 points on his left side, past him brow tine, and said there were so many points it was tough to count them at that distant. But we guessed this buck to be roughly in the 200 class. The next day I saw him from the road chasing more does, like nothing was wrong so it didn' t hurt him. I had a great hunt. I took a lot of pictures of the hunt, and once I get them developed I' ll post them, because you' ll all look at Kansas in a different way.

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

Does anybody else spot and stalk deer like this?

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

KS, great stories!! Sounds like you had a awesome time. Cutt

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

It' s pert near impossible to spot and stalk unless you' re in the plains states...

Arkansas it too dang woody and hilly to spot and stalk. Glad you had a good time though...are you anywhere close to the Neosho River?

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

Great hunting story Ks. Not much spot and stalk here in PA though. I always wanted to do that. You are actually hunting the deer instead of waiting for a deer to come by. Maybe someday...

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

Froman, it was a big creek that I was hunting by, and the only reason there was water in it was because there were beaver dams. It' s pretty dry in western Ks. I' m not sure where the Neosha river is at.

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

Each step I take through the woods on the way to my stand echoes for roughly 4.765 miles in each direction, which makes spotting and stalking pretty hard in these areas. :D

Cool story though. I' d love to give that a try sometime.

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

The spots I usually hunt is full of trees making it nearly impossible to stalk but luckily this stop has very few trees. Can' t wait to go back there next year.

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

Last time my dad and I went deer hunting which has been close to 10 years because of the lack of decent spots out here[:' (] We did try the stalking approach but never saw not even a sign of a deer. We arent the stealthy hunters in the woods but that has changed or at least i hope lol. I am keeping my ear open for anymore decent spots so i can try to get one with my bow.

Good story you have there by the way KS [:-]

RE: Just got back from an awesome hunting trip after some Big Boys!
 

Here in Arizona, that' s the ONLY way to hunt. And plan on puttin about 10 miles a day on yer boots.