My Kansas Story!!!

[Tim]

When the smoke finally settled it was Mark's turn to shine!  Remember, the deer are coming down out of the canyons each night and our job was to pick the right canyon. What I began to notice is that picking the canyon isn't all that important.  Reason being, no matter what canyon they come down they all end up walking past Mark in route to the crop fields!    

I changed gears the next night out and set up in a small ground blind I had thrown together in hopes of filling my turkey tag!  I was about 150 yards from my stand location and wanted to make sure I wouldn't affect the movement of any deer that may come out of the canyons and then move north towards Mark.

I hadn't been settled for very long when I noticed two does working their way down to the creek not far from my stand.  I had perfect wind and a front row seat as I sat with my binoculars glued to my eyes.  I heard him before I saw him!  He wasn't real smooth or even graceful for that matter.  He crashed into the creek, head held high and owning the place!  He was awesome....sporting at least 15 inch g2's.  And then he was gone, headed north under my first stand location and past my second stand location, does running every where.  The rut was on!      

My cell phone soon vibrated in my jacket pocket, from a text...."get over here....now"!  

As I walked up to Mark's stand I could see the concern.  The buck had been close, too close and the angle was not the best.  The arrow had gone in tight to the spine and exited low.  Mark had watched the deer loop north and than head east back towards the canyons on top of the hill.  

As I've mentioned in some of my previous posts, I don't like blood trails!  Some of you trackers may love that aspect of the chase but I personally have been on far too many in my life that have ended in frustration and disappointment.  What we knew was this, the arrow had great penetration, the arrow angle was not the best but very close and that the deer had entered the first canyon at a slow walk following a 250 yard run.  It had been a good 30 minutes and the sun was setting fast.  We also knew the coyotes would soon be singing their evening songs that began each night when the sun started to fade.

I headed east, looping to the top of the first canyon.  If the deer was down, there would be no harm done.  If he came out then maybe I'd have a better bearing on the situation.  Last blood was found at the top of the canyon where he had made his way through long before I had arrived.  We decided to back out until morning.

[snakebit40]

quote:Originally posted by Butts2:
Great story     Have to look up some of your previous tales to see if this one just happens to be exceptional.  

I want to share just a little if you don't mind Tim.

I had talked to Tim on the phone and could tell right away he was a great guy with a huge passion for Traditional Archery. I knew I could trust him and his friend on my friends ground, and I was right. These two guys treated the ground like it was their own.

So I got to their cabin early Saturday morning and met Mark and Tim. Right away it was like we all knew each other for years. We had a little breakfast and headed out to meet up with my friends dad. He took us to their creek property and told us the boundaries. The look on Mark's face was priceless when Jeff (friends dad) told us how many acres he owned right there. Then Jeff took us up to the pasture ground (the one in all the pics) and told us the boundaries there.

We get back to the trucks and decide to check out the creek for sign and find spots for stands. Right away we spotted deer on the bottom corner of the field, so we go back and grab our bows. We walk a little part of the creek which looked promising, and decided to walk across a cut bean field to the other creek. All the way across the field Tim and I shot at dirt clods and mounds. He quieted my Silvertip down A LOT. When we got across to the creek, Tim and I went into the woods to find some sign. Now where I hunt I've hunted my whole life. So I just know where the deer are going to go, and haven't ever really had to look at benches and funnels within funnels ect. I learned more in 30 minutes than I have in 10 years. I am very appreciative of that.

I stayed till just after lunch and had to head back home, not knowing for sure when I would be able to make it back. All I knew was I was going to make time to see the two guys again.

[Tim]

Mother Nature showed her angry side that night as the north winds set in.  The temperature dropped into the 20's as rain, sleet and flurries moved through.

The cabin was quiet the next morning.  I've been in Mark's situation so I let him control the mood and conversation.  He was frustrated as he replayed the shot over and over.  He felt he had been impatient.  I told him that big deer tend to do that to you.

As we left the truck and began the long walk back to canyon country.  I tried to ascertain the closest routes to cover from last blood.  Mark dropped down into one valley and I choose another.  

We are in big country!  Picking up a blood trail was not an option so we focused on the edges and bottoms of the canyon.  The weather was bad, high winds and rain.  

Making the decision to stop looking is never an easy one, no matter what animal, no matter what size.  It was a long quite walk back to the truck.

That night we passed on hunting and was blessed with another light show.  Tomorrow would be a good day.

   

[Tim]

That night about 10:30 Jon and his brother Andrew showed up at the cabin to hunt with us the next day.  They planned on heading back into the canyons to setup and rattle.  We filled Jon in on Mark's deer and asked that he keep an eye out for anything that would help give us some direction.  

These two young guys were cool!  Two brothers heading out to hunt together.  Just before they left the house the next morning I caught them doing "rock, paper, scissors" to see who would be the first shooter.  That again, is just plain cool!    

Mark and I hunted the creek bottom and Jon and Andrew headed up and over the hill in search of an amazing 10 point I had seen at last light the night before.

[LV2HUNT]

Great stuff Tim, congrats!

[Tim]

Mark and I got back to the cabin around 11 am for our mid-day break.  Jon and Andrew planned on staying in for the day.  

I had just pulled off my boots when my cell phone rang, it was Jon!  All I said, was "tell me something good".  Jon responded in his typical layed back Kansas voice...."we found Mark's deer"!

I looked over my shoulder through the cabin door at Mark who was at the sink washing his hands and told him the news.  One phone call, one simple sentence had changed everything!    

A quick peanut butter and jelly and back in the truck!  Halfway to the property another call came in from Jon.  He had made plans to meet the propery owner in town for lunch and then head back in to recover Mark's deer.

Mark and I sat there with 4 young men from Kansas, amazed at our success so far.  Following lunch everyone headed back to the property to help in getting Mark's deer off the hill.  It's unbelievable that these guys would take their time to help us out.  What great friends we'd become in such a short time.

Mark's deer was found at the top of a canyon, not the bottom.  He looked to be headed to the next draw when he just ran out of steam.  He had some blood around his nose, so chances are the arrow had struck a lung and had done it's job not long after the shot.  I had stood not 75 yards from the deer the night of the shot and never saw him amidst the high grass.  He was awesome!

 

[Tim]

As I said....the days really do run together!  

I need to back up a little to the morning Mark and I hunted the creek bottom and Jon and Andrew hunted the canyons!

That particular morning was very cold, even the walk in sent a chill through my body.  I got dressed at the foot of my stand and climbed up to watch the sunrise.  The turkeys had moved on that morning so the whole creek bottom was erie quiet.  Nothing moved for a good hour.

Once everything warmed up I glanced over my shoulder, not 50 yards away was a gorgeous coyote!    :rolleyes:    About the same time I stood up he caught my thermals coming off the creek and he was gone! Damn....I've never shot one and this one was beautiful!

A few minutes later several doe came down the same trail.  Once again the sun was coming up, along with the thermals.  They never quite settled in and moved up the draw.

Our morning hunt was winding down and I sent Mark a text that I'd be heading out in the next half an hour.  

I climbed down and decided to make a loop to check out the area where everything seemed to come from in the evening.  I found another canyon entrance I had not known about only 100 yards away, this place was just unbelievable!    

As I looped around and up a slight incline I caught movement to my left!    :eek:    Not 35 yards away was a flock of gobblers!  I immediately dropped to one knee.  They had seen me and I them but typical of turkeys they were bumping into each other trying to make a decision!

I remember watching my yellow fletch pass through the top strand of the barbed wire fence headed straight of the turkeys head.  There was a slight depression so I lost it at the last second.  All I recall is a solid thump as the whole flock took flight up over the hill.  The last bird carrying my bright yellow shaft tight behind his wing!  

[A.S.]

Great story telling Tim!  What an exciting hunt....so far....
Thanks for sharing!

[R. W. Mackey]

Well done my friend, well done indeed. With any luck maybe we will be able to share that camp fire next year. Until then, the memories, always the memories....RW

[Tim]

Had to edit my last thread guys, I missed a big part of the story!  LOL>>>

[Tim]

I've been fortunate to have taken quite a few critters with my bow over the years but none have every given me the excitement of my Kansas Turkey!  

Mark may chime in here.....hopefully not embarassing me too much!

I basically jumped up and down and rolled around! This was by far my biggest accomplishment in all my years of hunting.  It was not just a bird it was a "Kansas Rio Grande Turkey"!  Shot on the ground with my bow!

Here's a few pictures, one that will soon grace the wall of my den!

       

[snakebit40]

Great job Tim! I would like to add my part of the find.

As stated by Tim, Andrew and I played "rock, paper, scissors" to see who shot first, and of course Andrew beat me. So we walk into this draw that Tim and Mark told us about and set up to rattle. I rattled for Andrew so I was farther up the hill side, and had a good 8 pointer show up. Then after watching him for awhile he just disappeared. I sat there watching for deer and some crows flew over my head and landed on this tree out in the open. I watched them one by one dive off the tree to about 50 yards away. I made a mental note of the tree and it's location. After a few hours I had rattled in 2 bucks to Andrew's lap ,but non of them were to his standards. So we decided to walk to the other end of the property. That's when we saw a huge 10 pointer Tim and Mark had told us about. Andrew fell in love right away and wanted to do everything in is power to get him. Well after a few hours of cat and mouse with this wise buck, the buck won. So we make the long trek back to the truck, still hunting the draws as we go. We get back the end of the draw and Andrew mentions Mark's buck. So we walk down a steep draw and when I get to the top I see that tree the crows where sitting on. I make my way over to it and notice a draw in front of me, but had a feeling I needed to walk the hill top. It was like God told me to walk over to where I did. Sure enough I see a rack in the tall grass, and the first thought was "oh cool I found a shed" because I'm never lucky enough to stumble on what I'm actually looking for. Well I get about 30 yards from it and see the body, this was a big  deer even for KS standards. As soon as I get up to  it I was overjoyed with excitement. I actually yelled at Andrew, who was a couple hundred yards away still hunting a draw, that I found the buck! He made his way to me and I called Tim. Now I thought I sounded pretty excited but Tim says I was just laid back like nothing had happened. Truth be told I couldn't have been happier. I called my wife, first thing she said was "Something good happened, I can tell by how excited you sound." I told her I found Mark's buck and it made my season. If I don't get a buck this season I don't care, I found Mark's deer and that was awesome.

The rest of the story Tim's already covered. I will add this though, Andrew has asked me a few times now if I have an extra recurve and arrows for him to start shooting!

[Tim]

From Jon's last thread:

 

Truth be told I couldn't have been happier. I called my wife, first thing she said was "Something good happened, I can tell by how excited you sound." I told her I found Mark's buck and it made my season. If I don't get a buck this season I don't care, I found Mark's deer and that was awesome

* See what I mean....Hats off to you Jon, you are first class!  

[Tim]

Lets wrap this up......

There are several things that make every trip successful.  Renewed friendships, new friendships and a little luck.  This trip had everything!

Trad Gang is a huge resource of not only information but friends.  I have planned vacations, hunts and purchases all based on information that I have received here on this site.  For that Terry Green, we thank you.

Jon, you are a good friend and we truly enjoyed your company.  Hopefully we can do this again next year, but you never know how things will play out.  Thank you for helping to provide Mark with some assistance in his recovery of a truly awesome Kansas whitetail!  All he talked about the whole way home was you and your brother.  He's getting old and tends to repeat himself! LOL...   :rolleyes:  

Keep in touch and good luck during the rest of the season.  I will put the quiver in the mail to you this week and I'm sure Mark's Silvertip will also arrive at your home shortly.  Hopefully both will work out for you.

I hope everyone enjoyed the hunt, I sure did!    

Tim

[Follower]

Thats the kind of hunt right there that will last a lifetime of memories.  Awesome.  Thanks for bringing us along.

[swp]

WOW Tim, sounds like a grand adventure. Congrats!!!

[TimDougan]

Great story and pics! CONGRATS!! TD.

[KentuckyTJ]

 

Fantastic adventure brother. What a great trip. Congrats and great shootin'

[Bob Palmer]

Well done!!        Sounds like a great trip!!!!

[straight_arrow]

What can I possibly contribute to the story Tim relayed.  Simply stated, an unbelieveable six days of, excitement, teamwork, great memories, emotion and for me most importantly, building terrific new friendships.  Tim, John, Andrew, I could not have experienced a better hunting trip.  It's difficult to express my feelings.  You guys are the best! We will share many hunts in the future.

Mark