I started bowhunting in 1983 in southern Minnesota. Just like most bowhunters back then where I hunted, it was exciting to even see a deer while hunting. I shot my first deer, a buck and a doe, in 1985.
As the years went by I started getting more selective about what I was going to shoot. I also kept hearing about these large bucks being taken out of Iowa and Kansas and just wanted to go down there to try to get one of those bucks. I hunted Iowa for the first time about 12 years ago and Kansas about eight years ago. I fell in love with Kansas whitetail hunting and started to look at buying a piece of hunting land down there. At the same time I started looking into food plots after hearing so many success stories. I talked to guys who were using food plots and they all led me to the Whitetail Institute.
I purchased my first piece of land in Kansas six years ago. It was 120 acres and the first thing I did was start looking into putting food plots on the land. I talked to the people at Whitetail Institute and they helped me out tremendously. I planted my first plots of Imperial Whitetail Clover. The first year I had cameras out and got a lot of deer but not many big deer on the property. The average “big” buck on the property was 130 to 135 inches. One year later that average “big” buck went to 140 to 145 inches and last year it was 160 to 170 inches.
I bought my second piece of land — 145 acres — five years ago and another piece four years ago. I planted food plots the first year I had these properties and again saw the average buck size grow 30 to 40 inches. The last two years are proof of what can happen when the land is managed and when the deer are given the nutrition they need.
Two years ago I had two friends coming down to hunt with me in November. I was hunting there myself in late October. It was Oct. 29, my second day of hunting, and I was sitting over a food plot that butted up to the timber. The food plot is 30 yards wide by 150 yards long. I was in my blind by 2:30 p.m. knowing from pictures from my trail cameras that some good bucks were coming to this field.
At about 4 p.m. the first doe and fawn came out to feed in the Imperial Whitetail Clover field. Thirty minutes later a 6-pointer and 8-pointer came out and fed about 50 yards down from the doe and fawn. They worked their way down to me and each of them worked a scrape on the edge of the field.
As the afternoon went on, I had another eight does and fawns come out and feed. At sundown a nice 10-point around 135 inches along with a 140-inch, 8-point came out and started chasing the does and fawns around. I was enjoying the last few minutes of hunting watching the bucks when I looked out my window at the scrape at the edge of the woods and I noticed a buck coming towards the scrape.
With one look I knew he was a shooter. I grabbed my bow off my Bow Jaws bow holder; and as he stepped into the scrape and lifted his head to stick his antlers into the limbs, I drew back, anchored the pin behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The deer took off back into the timber, and then everything went silent. I waited about 30 minutes to look for blood. When I looked, I found good blood. I followed it for about 30 yards and shined my flashlight into the clearing in the woods and there he lay.
The 10-point ended up scoring 164 inches. I was excited beyond belief. I had taken a couple of 150-inch deer in the past, but this was the biggest on my land. All the hard work I put into it was paying off.
On Nov. 11 my two friends, Russ and Scott, arrived in Kansas and ready to hunt. We all hunted the first night and all saw shooter bucks but nothing close enough. I was hunting to take a doe. The next morning my friends went out and sat over Imperial Clover fields on each of the two properties. I got a call about 8:30 a.m. from Russ that he had shot a deer. He waited 30 minutes and came back to the house and we waited for Scott to come back.
At 10 a.m. Scott was back and we went out to look for Russ’ buck. We trailed it for about 20 yards and found his arrow. After another 30 yards we found his deer. It was a 152-inch, 10-point buck. It was the largest deer he had ever shot.
We had two down with one to go. Scott went out that night and hunted over the same Imperial clover field where I had shot my buck back in October. He saw around 12 does and fawns, a couple smaller bucks and at last light a real nice buck. Scott went back to that same blind the next morning and at about 6:45 a.m. I got a call on my cell phone from him. He said he had just shot one. I had him come back to the house for a quick breakfast and we went back out to track. Well, it didn’t take much tracking as the buck went only about 50 yards with a great double lung blood trail.
It was a 145-inch 10-point bruiser and it was the largest buck he had ever taken. The season was over with a 145-inch, 10-point, 152-inch 10-point, and a 164-inch 10-point. Two of the three were the biggest the hunter had ever killed and all three deer were taken over Imperial Whitetail Clover fields in a matter of a few days. Now it was time to take out some does.
I never dreamt it could get any better than the year before, but last season proved to be even better. Again, I had two friends come down, Scott again and Jason, to hunt with me in November. Temps were 75 to 80 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at night — certainly, not ideal bowhunting weather. Jason got down there the afternoon of Nov. 9 and we both went out to hunt. I went to a new food plot of Pure Attraction I had planted a couple months earlier. Jason dropped me off about 3:30 p.m. and I went to my ground blind. It was 77 degrees as I entered the blind. I wasn’t expecting much to happen until later. Well, at 4 p.m. I heard some noise just on the other side of my food plot in the woods. I looked out my window and I could see a buck thrashing a tree about 10 yards off the food plot. After about three to four minutes he finally got done with the tree and walked out into the food plot.
It was go time and I drew back. He turned, quartering away, and I let the arrow fly. He took off back into the timber and I followed him and the noise as he ran off. I called Jason and told him I had shot one and I knew I had hit him good. He was on the other property so it took him about 30 minutes to get over to me. We went to the spot where I had hit him and there was blood immediately. We followed the blood for 40 yards and there he was — a main frame 10-pointer that scored 167 inches. That excited feeling NEVER gets old.
Jason took the next morning off and went back out the next night Nov. 10. He saw a few does and small bucks and one 125-inch, 8-point. Temps were still running very warm and the next morning he went to the Imperial Clover field where Scott and I had shot our bucks the previous year. By 7 a.m. I got a call from Jason that he had shot one. He waited about an hour and met me on the road. We decided to go back and have a bite to eat and give it a little time. We went back out at 10 a.m. and started tracking. It was a tough blood trail with very little blood but after about 45 minutes and at around 80 yards, we found the buck piled up under a cedar tree. It was a 154-inch, 10-point brute. By the time we got it field dressed and to the meat locker Scott had arrived.
Obviously, with two bucks down he was pretty excited to get out there. We went back to the house and he showered and got out to the ground blind at 2:30 p.m. I had told him I had videotaped a real good buck on my property that morning so I had him set up on a funnel that had clover fields on both sides. Well, Jason and I were driving around at 4:30 p.m. when I got a text from Scott that said he got one! I called him and he said it was down already. At 5 p.m. we met and drove out to where he was sitting and there it was on the edge of the Imperial Clover field — a 160-inch, 10-point buck.
The season was unreal. In three days we had shot 167-inch, 160-inch and 154-inch bucks. To say we celebrated a little is an understatement. Food plots from Whitetail Institute are helping attract and grow bigger bucks and I’m having a ball hunting big deer and spending time with friends. It doesn’t get any better.
I purchased my first piece of land in Kansas six years ago. It was 120 acres and the first thing I did was start looking into putting food plots on the land. I talked to the people at Whitetail Institute and they helped me out tremendously. I planted my first plots of Imperial Whitetail Clover. The first year I had cameras out and got a lot of deer but not many big deer on the property. The average “big” buck on the property was 130 to 135 inches. One year later that average “big” buck went to 140 to 145 inches and last year it was 160 to 170 inches.
I bought my second piece of land — 145 acres — five years ago and another piece four years ago. I planted food plots the first year I had these properties and again saw the average buck size grow 30 to 40 inches. The last two years are proof of what can happen when the land is managed and when the deer are given the nutrition they need.
Two years ago I had two friends coming down to hunt with me in November. I was hunting there myself in late October. It was Oct. 29, my second day of hunting, and I was sitting over a food plot that butted up to the timber. The food plot is 30 yards wide by 150 yards long. I was in my blind by 2:30 p.m. knowing from pictures from my trail cameras that some good bucks were coming to this field.
At about 4 p.m. the first doe and fawn came out to feed in the Imperial Whitetail Clover field. Thirty minutes later a 6-pointer and 8-pointer came out and fed about 50 yards down from the doe and fawn. They worked their way down to me and each of them worked a scrape on the edge of the field.
As the afternoon went on, I had another eight does and fawns come out and feed. At sundown a nice 10-point around 135 inches along with a 140-inch, 8-point came out and started chasing the does and fawns around. I was enjoying the last few minutes of hunting watching the bucks when I looked out my window at the scrape at the edge of the woods and I noticed a buck coming towards the scrape.
With one look I knew he was a shooter. I grabbed my bow off my Bow Jaws bow holder; and as he stepped into the scrape and lifted his head to stick his antlers into the limbs, I drew back, anchored the pin behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The deer took off back into the timber, and then everything went silent. I waited about 30 minutes to look for blood. When I looked, I found good blood. I followed it for about 30 yards and shined my flashlight into the clearing in the woods and there he lay.
The 10-point ended up scoring 164 inches. I was excited beyond belief. I had taken a couple of 150-inch deer in the past, but this was the biggest on my land. All the hard work I put into it was paying off.
On Nov. 11 my two friends, Russ and Scott, arrived in Kansas and ready to hunt. We all hunted the first night and all saw shooter bucks but nothing close enough. I was hunting to take a doe. The next morning my friends went out and sat over Imperial Clover fields on each of the two properties. I got a call about 8:30 a.m. from Russ that he had shot a deer. He waited 30 minutes and came back to the house and we waited for Scott to come back.
At 10 a.m. Scott was back and we went out to look for Russ’ buck. We trailed it for about 20 yards and found his arrow. After another 30 yards we found his deer. It was a 152-inch, 10-point buck. It was the largest deer he had ever shot.
We had two down with one to go. Scott went out that night and hunted over the same Imperial clover field where I had shot my buck back in October. He saw around 12 does and fawns, a couple smaller bucks and at last light a real nice buck. Scott went back to that same blind the next morning and at about 6:45 a.m. I got a call on my cell phone from him. He said he had just shot one. I had him come back to the house for a quick breakfast and we went back out to track. Well, it didn’t take much tracking as the buck went only about 50 yards with a great double lung blood trail.
It was a 145-inch 10-point bruiser and it was the largest buck he had ever taken. The season was over with a 145-inch, 10-point, 152-inch 10-point, and a 164-inch 10-point. Two of the three were the biggest the hunter had ever killed and all three deer were taken over Imperial Whitetail Clover fields in a matter of a few days. Now it was time to take out some does.
I never dreamt it could get any better than the year before, but last season proved to be even better. Again, I had two friends come down, Scott again and Jason, to hunt with me in November. Temps were 75 to 80 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at night — certainly, not ideal bowhunting weather. Jason got down there the afternoon of Nov. 9 and we both went out to hunt. I went to a new food plot of Pure Attraction I had planted a couple months earlier. Jason dropped me off about 3:30 p.m. and I went to my ground blind. It was 77 degrees as I entered the blind. I wasn’t expecting much to happen until later. Well, at 4 p.m. I heard some noise just on the other side of my food plot in the woods. I looked out my window and I could see a buck thrashing a tree about 10 yards off the food plot. After about three to four minutes he finally got done with the tree and walked out into the food plot.
It was go time and I drew back. He turned, quartering away, and I let the arrow fly. He took off back into the timber and I followed him and the noise as he ran off. I called Jason and told him I had shot one and I knew I had hit him good. He was on the other property so it took him about 30 minutes to get over to me. We went to the spot where I had hit him and there was blood immediately. We followed the blood for 40 yards and there he was — a main frame 10-pointer that scored 167 inches. That excited feeling NEVER gets old.
Jason took the next morning off and went back out the next night Nov. 10. He saw a few does and small bucks and one 125-inch, 8-point. Temps were still running very warm and the next morning he went to the Imperial Clover field where Scott and I had shot our bucks the previous year. By 7 a.m. I got a call from Jason that he had shot one. He waited about an hour and met me on the road. We decided to go back and have a bite to eat and give it a little time. We went back out at 10 a.m. and started tracking. It was a tough blood trail with very little blood but after about 45 minutes and at around 80 yards, we found the buck piled up under a cedar tree. It was a 154-inch, 10-point brute. By the time we got it field dressed and to the meat locker Scott had arrived.
Obviously, with two bucks down he was pretty excited to get out there. We went back to the house and he showered and got out to the ground blind at 2:30 p.m. I had told him I had videotaped a real good buck on my property that morning so I had him set up on a funnel that had clover fields on both sides. Well, Jason and I were driving around at 4:30 p.m. when I got a text from Scott that said he got one! I called him and he said it was down already. At 5 p.m. we met and drove out to where he was sitting and there it was on the edge of the Imperial Clover field — a 160-inch, 10-point buck.
The season was unreal. In three days we had shot 167-inch, 160-inch and 154-inch bucks. To say we celebrated a little is an understatement. Food plots from Whitetail Institute are helping attract and grow bigger bucks and I’m having a ball hunting big deer and spending time with friends. It doesn’t get any better.
