Kansas resident Aubrey Kehres had been watching this buck for several years before tagging it on December 6, 2024.
April 04, 2025
By Clifford Neames
Aubrey Kehres had her eyes on a Kansas trophy buck for several years before tagged it on December 6th, 2024.
“Two years ago, he came in with another buck — a 12-pointer that I could not pass," she said. “Last season, when I had an opportunity he had lost a side, and I wouldn’t shoot him like that. I was in a ground blind and had him at 15 yards; I ended the season without taking a buck!”
Then 2024 got busy. Aubrey found out she was expecting a child, and she also holds a job as a teacher. To get some hunting time in, she scheduled four days off from work.
The private land she hunts is not far from a public tract. The neighbor between them was also after the buck, which had developed a huge droptine on its left beam this year. She needed some luck to make this happen.
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As an added bonus, a nearby trail camera was able to capture the kill. Her husband, Nolan, who is also a deer hunter, decided to go with her when she made the hour drive to hunt. On December 6th, they climbed into a tower blind and sat facing different directions. As they waited, Aubrey silently reflected on hunts she had been on with her late father, who had introduced her to the sport. He gave her the .243 she was carrying — which still features the original scope — and she likes to wear his orange hunting vest when she gets in the field now.
“He was a farmer, so deer season was a good time for us to spend together,” she remembered. “He was with me when I killed my first deer!”
Late in the afternoon, Nolan spotted the big buck on his side of the blind. Aubrey switched sides with him and watched the buck head toward a feeding doe. She let him get within 125 yards, then pulled the trigger.
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The giant Sunflower State whitetail stretched the tape to 181 4/8 inches. “When I shot, he went into a nose dive, then flipped,” she added. “He was heart shot, and it was over very quickly.”
As an unexpected bonus, one of their trail cameras caught the action as the hunt came to its abrupt end.
The 181 4/8-inch rack has plenty of character, in additon to the forked droptine. Its beaded bases, stickers and a crab claw all add to the gnarly appearance.
