December 4, 2013 marks the opening of the Kansas deer firearm season. This will be the second year that I’ve attempted to kill a deer in Kansas. Last year, well, was pretty much typical for hunting big game in the United States: limited land access, neighbor/poaching problems, and a full time job. However, I’m hoping that this year will be different altogether. For one thing, I’ve got a different tag in my pocket this time around. Last year I had a whitetail either-sex tag; now I’ve managed to draw an either-species / either-sex tag that will allow me to harvest a mule deer.
It wasn’t for trying last year that no venison was added to the Kansas freezer. I had opportunities thrice, but it never did work out quite the way I had expected. During early archery season I managed to sneak up on a bedded doe on public land. She saw me before I saw her, as she was concealed by a large cedar tree. I drew the full 70 lbs. of my bow as she quickly bolted from her bed and trotted about thirty yards. Facing away from me, she craned her neck to see what had gotten so close to her. By this time I was at full draw with my 30-yard pin dancing tiny circles over her exposed neck, like a little red firefly. Tempting, oh so tempting. Alas, I did not want to take such a low probability shot so I let her go. Then comes rifle season! Surely, I thought, I will get my game now.
Well, rifle season was a bubble-burster from the start. To begin with, the private land that I was going to hunt on opening day was, how shall I say, occupied. Turns out someone else had intended to hunt it and didn’t think to ask the landowner, who I was hunting with. The rest of the season pretty much followed suit.
Fast forward to July of this year—I’m hunched over a glowing
computer monitor rapidly punching my credit card information in like some
addicted eBay junkie. The Kansas Department of Parks, Wildlife and Tourism requires
that firearms hunters not hunting on their own property go through a lottery
system in order to draw tags for elk and mule deer. Now, as much as I would
like to draw an elk tag, I knew that the odds were astronomical: something like
2% if you don’t include all of the preference points. Mule deer, however, are
more within reach. I’d known folks who had drawn out on these tags. So, I
gladly volunteered about $40 for the tag lottery and held my breath. After a
few weeks, and numerous phone calls to the KDWP office, I was informed that I
drew an either-sex / either-species tag for the eastern mule deer zone. Wahoo!
The eastern zone includes western Kansas east of Highway 283 (and 183) out to Highway 81, which divides Republic, Cloud, Ottawa, and Saline Counties. Although more and bigger muleys are found in the western extremes of the state near the Colorado border, I opted to put the eastern zone as my first choice because of the sheer distance that I would have to travel. Gas prices and vacation days are at premium and I didn’t want to break the bank with this hunt. So, ever since I’ve been scouring the Walk-In Hunting Land (WIHA) available in Kansas using a .kml layer in Google Earth. Call me a high-tech redneck! I’ve also been trying to plan and pack appropriately for the hunt. Despite hunting in Oklahoma for darn near a decade and a half, I’m a little short on “big country” hunting experience. My part of Oklahoma consists of the Northern Crosstimbers, where blackjacks and post oak meet prairie grasses. So, I’ve hunted a few prairies, but never the great expanses.
The eastern zone includes western Kansas east of Highway 283 (and 183) out to Highway 81, which divides Republic, Cloud, Ottawa, and Saline Counties. Although more and bigger muleys are found in the western extremes of the state near the Colorado border, I opted to put the eastern zone as my first choice because of the sheer distance that I would have to travel. Gas prices and vacation days are at premium and I didn’t want to break the bank with this hunt. So, ever since I’ve been scouring the Walk-In Hunting Land (WIHA) available in Kansas using a .kml layer in Google Earth. Call me a high-tech redneck! I’ve also been trying to plan and pack appropriately for the hunt. Despite hunting in Oklahoma for darn near a decade and a half, I’m a little short on “big country” hunting experience. My part of Oklahoma consists of the Northern Crosstimbers, where blackjacks and post oak meet prairie grasses. So, I’ve hunted a few prairies, but never the great expanses.
Like any other good hunter will tell you, planning and packing is half of the battle and half of the experience. In thinking about how I will hunt mule deer, I’ve pretty much decided upon the traditional spot and stalk of western big game hunting. I’m a still-hunter by nature, so the actual mechanics of the hunting won’t be that much of a stretch. As for equipment, I was a little short. Truth be told, I haven’t have a “real” pair of hunting boots since my freshman year of college or so. What’s worse, I’ve never owned a pair of binoculars. Never. As the saying goes, evening a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while. I’ve managed to kill quite a few deer without these items, but I know that they will be essential when I’m hunting the rolling prairies (or is that red hills?) of western Kansas. After a trip to the local boot store and to the nearest Bass Pro Shops I am now the proud owner of both binoculars and hunting boots. Jack O’Connor I ain’t, but I do feel a little more prepared for the big hunt. I opted for mid-range products all the way around. I didn’t want junk, but I wasn’t exactly rolling in cash either. Therefore, I’m going to be glassing with a pair of Nikon Prostaff 7 binos (8x42) and walking with a pair of Rocky Lynx boots. I’ll be dreaming about mule deer until December, but until then I’ll be putting these products to use bowhunting whitetails. Hopefully I can offer some comment in under a month!
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