The Greatness of....: Kansas Hunting Trip 09

My buddy Chris confirmed the good news with an email, “You have successfully been drawn for a 2009 Kansas white-tailed deer archer tag”. Woo hoo! I figured it would take at least three maybe four years to get enough preference points to get one of those sought after tags. In years past people have waited that long, especially out of state hunters. I was stoked needless to say and could not wait to start planning this trip. I hadn’t really bow hunted that much the past five or six years. It use to be my favorite type of hunting but that changed after I shot a good buck and never found him. Still don’t know where that deer went but I felt horrible about that and decided I would just use the big guns to take game humanely and quickly. After a few years I started to get the itch again. This go-around I really focused on shooting my bow at least 30 minutes a day, practicing hard shots, becoming proficient with my shot placements and making sure my archery equipment was in great working order and not skimping on things like broad heads and bow strings. Practice, confidence, good equipment and patience make’s bow hunting just as humane as gun hunting. It’s like this- good ammo, clean, sighted, and well oiled guns will do a better job of humanely harvesting game animals. The same is true with archery equipment.

All that said, I really love bow hunting. It’s a different experience from gun hunting all together. It usually consist of early season heat, shot in the dark tree stand placement’s, long backcountry packs with tree stands strapped on your back, close but no cigar encounters with big bucks, hours and hours in the tree stand, waiting, and when it does all come together it is usually over in a moment. That moment is worth all the work. How do I explain this? Never have done drugs of any kind but a pure shot of adrenaline goes through your body and the buck fever takes over making it impossible to keep your hands still and your knees from shaking. I got that moment in Kansas. Weeks of planning and talking with land owners for access to their property, equipment checks, a long drive from Texas and a few other unsuccessful early season deer hunts all added up to this moment.

After a long mornings hunt I gave one last look around and started the task of climbing down from my tree. I had removed some of my camo and wasn’t paying much attention when I heard a tree twig crunch behind me. I turned around and saw a nice buck standing broadside to me at 25 yards. I was caught off guard. I scrambled to grab my bow and knock an arrow. After getting into position, drawing my bow and settling in for the shot the buck gave a perfect opportunity and…………..It all happended so fast but the aim was sure and the arrow flew true.

After the moment and as I was trying to get my body under control, I finally managed to send Chris a text. It went something like this-

Got one.

Got one!!!!!!!!!

Big!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh got one hes big

Oh im gonna pass out!!!!!

I was 25 ft up in a tree so passing out wasn’t a option. I got down from my tree stand and waited for Chris to come so we could track the buck I just shot. While I was waiting thoughts started going through my mind. ‘Did I get a clean shot? It looked clean. I don’t know, seemed a little high. Oh dang I hope that deer didn’t run off. Is there a blood trail? How can I find that deer if there isn’t a blood trail? Ill never deer hunt again if I cant find that deer.’ And so on and so forth. Chris finally showed up and the tracking began. We went 60 yards and there he was. The practice and equipment proved lethal. That deer never knew what hit him. I was pleased and once again hooked on that most wonderful challenge of real deer hunting in God's great creation. Cant wait till next years archery season!