A few days ago, I returned to North American Whitetail's offices in Marietta, Georgia, following a short muzzleloader hunt in southwestern Kansas. Cameraman Mike Clerkin and I were there for an early-season hunt with my friend Todd Bigbee and several other hunters from Alabama. Todd and his partners own or lease several wonderful whitetail tracts in the farming and ranching country southeast of Dodge City, and I was eager to get my tag onto one of the area's many big bucks.
Todd Bigbee downed this huge, 170-inch 10-pointer in Kansas at 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 15, opening day of blackpowder season.
Photo by Gordon Whittington
Anyone who keeps up with trophy whitetails knows Kansas is renowned for its high-scoring deer, and the particular area we were hunting is among the best for concentrations of mature bucks. So it was with great anticipation that Mike and I arrived on Sept. 14 to scout for the next day's season opener.
Upon getting to the property adjoining the Arkansas River, we joined Todd in glassing a small milo field and some adjoining CRP acreage for a couple of hours. After determining where the bulk of the deer activity was occurring, we placed a pop-up blind in a strategic spot, then vacated the area.
The blind worked well; in fact, we saw dozens of deer from it each time we sat there, and some literally walked 10 feet downwind of us without detecting our presence. Good thing we were using Hunter's Specialties earth-scent wafers to cover our odor (www.hunterspec.com). Unfortunately, we never saw any of the better bucks Todd had photographed this summer with his Cuddeback Digital scouting cameras (www.cuddebackdigital.com). We knew the big guys were around, but as is so often the case, they stayed out of sight for the three days we had to hunt.
In short, my game plan turned out to be better on paper than in the field. But that wasn't true for everyone. While hunting another property Saturday evening, Todd downed a 170-inch 10-pointer near the edge of a newly planted triticale field. And get this: The monster buck was actually smaller than either of Todd's whitetails from the previous two Kansas muzzleloader seasons!
By the way, if you're in the market for some serious hunting land, check out the awesome western Kansas tracts Todd and his partners have listed for sale through Tecomate Wildlife Systems (www.tecomate.com). There are tons of big bucks in this area, and as opposed to some of the other well-known trophy states -- including Iowa and Illinois -- in Kansas a nonresident who owns at least 80 acres is guaranteed a deer tag every year. As more potential land investors start to realize this, I think we'll see a major surge in real estate activity in Kansas. Remember, you heard it here first . . .
Anyway, back to our story. Although seeing the great 10-pointer in the back of Todd's pickup truck got everyone's blood pumping, that proved to be the only whitetail shot by any of the hunters in our group. Fortunately, Mike and I could smile as we headed back to the airport in Wichita. You see, we're planning to get back to Ford County in late November, when rifle season opens. I'm confident we'll shoot a good buck then.
No doubt this year's phenomenally good range conditions are making muzzleloader season a little trickier than usual in southwestern Kansas. The vast stretches of native grasses are taller and thicker than at any other time in recent memory, giving the deer almost unlimited options for bedding and moving undetected. While those huge stands of CRP look like pure grass, in reality they contain a lot of good deer forage, including lush alfalfa. A whitetail could make a living in a sea of cover and, except for getting a drink of water, never need to stick its head out.
What's tough for hunters is often good for wildlife, and you can be sure the wet pattern has resulted in big, healthy whitetails this season. After several years of extreme drought, the many thunderstorms rolling across the region earlier this year have brought life to the prairie as nothing else could have.
Of course, storms also can bring death, and this year one of them did so. Mike and I saw graphic reminders of that fact as we drove through the small town of Greensburg -- or what's left of Greensburg, anyway.
Following the deadly tornado that struck on May 4, this is what most of Greensburg, Kansas, looks like. Nearly all of the town was destroyed.
Photo by Todd Bigbee
At 9:45 p.m. on May 4, this agricultural community between Pratt and Dodge City received a direct hit from an EF-5 tornado packing winds estimated at over 200 miles per hour. The devastation is awesome to behold; the twister, at least a mile wide, destroyed 95 percent of this town. That only 10 of Greensburg's roughly 1,400 residents died in the storm is a testament to the value of today's Doppler radar and public-safety warnings that alerted people to the approaching threat. After viewing this scene, you understand why underground storm shelters are common here in "Tornado Alley."
I'm happy to report there are many signs of rebuilding all around Greensburg, and the locals say they're determined to press on. If you'd like to help them in their efforts, donations can be made through Council on Foundations (www.cof.org/Action/content.cfm?ItemNumber=10053&navitemNumb er=1989).
Here's hoping your own year is going much better, and that you have a safe, successful hunting season ahead.
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