Blog...Hunting with Innovative Outfitters in Kansas

Hello,

Hope you had a great day. I spent mine driving to Larned, Kansas. I've wanted to hunt whitetail here for quite some time. I finally got the opportunity. I thought I might "blog" about my experience this week. I'll cover how the day went and maybe even include a picture or 2. If you're interested keep reading.

I hunted here last year with Justin (Innovative Outfitters). I came up to hunt pheasant and ended up including a waterfowl hunt. Both were great. I'd rate the waterfowl hunt as "off the charts". While here I checked out some of the hunting areas. I found a lot of deer sign including some massive rubs. So when I was able to swing the whitetail hunt I was really pumped. I've always wanted to hunt with a muzzleloader so I took the plunge and sent in my deposit. I guess I was a little short sighted seeing as how I didn't own a muzzleloader, didn't have any experience with one nor did I know anyone with experience. I did a lot of research and ended up purchasing a TC Omega and topped it with a Burris Fullfield II in 3x9. I've spent a decent amount of time at the range learning the gun. The first time I shot it I was quite relieved I didn't hurt myself. It all culminated this week with a 3 shot group at 200 yards with all 3 holes touching. To say I was happy is an understatement. If you're interested I'm using IMR White Hot pellets, Hornady 250 gr SST's and 209 primers. I have no grand illusions that I'll do that every time but I'm reasonably happy with how my practice turned out.

Saturday 9/18...

Arrived here about 4:30 pm. I plan to teal hunt in the morning and dove hunt tomorrow afternoon. Justin was heading out to take a group dove hunting and asked if I'd like to go. Ended up shooting almost a limit. Nice to start a week hunting with a hunt you never planned. The field we hunted looked like a SAN Angelo Milo field on opening day. Birds were packed on nearby telephone lines and swarming in the field. I took some pictures with my daughter's camera. I'll try to load them tomorrow.

A cold front was blowing in late this evening. Justin is worried it might push the teal out. Hopefully it doesn't. Either way I'm sure we'll have a "blast".

I'll try to put an update out at mid-day tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Here's a picture of a powerline by where we hunted dove on Saturday evening..

http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=6351a08e6e7460b76276141d224b0f78[/img]

Hopefully I inserted correctly

Day 2:

We headed out at 5:15 to teal hunt. Justin's concerns of the birds being pushed out turned out to not be a problem. This was obvious when 2 groups passed about 3 feet over our heads while we unpacked the truck. We all ended up limiting with the exception of one guide. He was busy helping everyone else. I attached a picture of my birds. You can see the terrain in the back ground. Overall really good numbers of birds.

[img]http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=6351a08e6e7460b76276141d224b0f78[/img]

Spent the rest of the morning scouting different hunting areas. There's a 12 point buck that we saw on trail cameras. Justin thinks it'll go over 160 B&C pts. With the area he's coming out at we'll likely wait until tomorrow evening to hunt that area. The concern being that he was seen on the trail cam both at night and in the morning. We don't want to come in early and push him out. So I'm planning to hunt that area tomorrow evening provided I don't shoot anything tomorrow morning. That buck is outside the ears, has a split brow tine and has an additional point off his G2. He may end up being my buck. There's another 10 pt that you'd be hard pressed to close your thumb and first finger around his main beam. In the morning I plan to hunt a raised levy area that has a transition from Alfalfa to woods to CRP grass.

This afternoon I'll test fire my muzzleloader. Then we're off to set up ground blinds and do some dove hunting. I plan to hunt a tank that had quite a bit of morning dove on it yesterday.

Later...

So a Dallas area resident is claiming experience shooting San Angelo doves?
OK, OK, you have made me jealous of your Kansas hunt. What was I thinking?

So we didn't make it out dove hunting. We did do quite a bit of scouting, looking at tree stands and set up an extra blind. I'm starting off in an area that is just down from the area noted above. We found quite a bit of traffic. It'll be very close in shooting. There's an area that could present a 100 yard shot but realistically everything will be inside 50 yards.

For tomorrow afternoon we did go out to the area where the 12 pt was seen. We checked out a couple tree stands. The one closer to where the trail camera was is going to be my first choice. To give you an idea the stand is in a tree ligned area of the river. The trees extend about 100 yards across the river. On the South side I believe there's CRP grass. On the North, where we're hunting, there's cut corn I believe. Sorry, I've seen so many fields and dirt roads today that I'm a bit dusty... Anyways, the stand is facing West. I have a good view of a point where multiple trails converge to one. The trail then splits over to a small pond, that I have a clear shot on, and another split comes in front of my stand and goes to the North field. I can also see the North field to my right and behind me. Looks like a great area. If the deer are skirting the field I'll have a great shot. If they use the trail merge point to hit the pond or head over to the North field I've got a great shot. And if they're working the North field I'll have a fairly decent shot. So I'm off to bed. Wish me luck!!

Good reading Bill. Will check back to see what's going. The picture links above aren't working. Better learn how to post pic's before you ground check that big 12pt!!

Thanks Dave. I'll work on the picks tomorrow... Justin also noted there's a very large 8 pt in the area I'll be in tomorrow. He's 5+ years old and is another one with massive bases. Justin thinks he'll go 145 easy.

Near record heat in Kansas, bow hunted till 9:00 nada. Good luck on your hunt. Hunted with a buddy who saw a small 8.

Bill,
I am certainly glad that Dave explained to you about the photos. I was thinking that I was incompetent.
Received your text message. Unable to reply to the text message.
So, will reply here, and the reply is "shoot the monster."
Good Luck.

Good to hear this, as I have a rifle hunt with Justin in Dec. What unit are you in?

Got some cool stories for today. But I'm going to start by fixing pictures..Here it goes.. And to peak your interest my buddies I'm texting from the stand are accusing me of buck fever today. I'll say 25-40 mph hour gusts have somthing to do with things.. You'll have to read on to get the story.....:)

This first picture was my teal hunt yesterday..



This one is for the dove hunt..

Batman,

I believe I was in unit 10...

Day 3:

Started off this morning hunting from the ground blind we set up yesterday. About 6:15 am I heard a splash in the creek/river behind me. Little later I saw a deer move about 45 yards back in the trees. Couldn't see what it was. About 8:00 I saw 2 does cross down the creek 135 yards out. I pulled out the camera. I got to see does. You get to see Doe Butt!!



The winds were really picking up. The news said it blew 25-40 mph all day. It was a slow morning. That is until I happened to look down at my feet and noticed the 1 ft snake crawling under my boot. You have to know..I'm a good snake is a dead snake guy. A good blogger would have thought to take a picture about now. Let's just say I'm not a good blogger.. I think the snake was as "alerted" as I was. He hauled tail and hit the side of the blind. Tried to sliver up the side and fell a couple times. At this point I've got my shooting sticks and trying to hit it. I knocked over just about everything in the blind except my muzzleloader. I'm sure someone or something got a laugh. Anyways, snake got under the side. Wife sent me pictures from the internet and it was a "plain gartner snake". Go ahead..enjoy yourself..:) Ok..So if that wasn't entertaining the next event might be. About 15 minutes after this I hear a rustling behind me. Over the next 10 minutes it gets closer. I figured out it was a rabbit. So I'm back to watching other areas and I'll be darned if the rabbit jumped right into the side of the blind wall. I don't know what the heck he was thinking. I looked out and he'd bounced off and took off running the other way. Unreal..

When I got back from the field Justin and I went and checked some trail cameras and then watched an episode of Open Season. It was filmed with Innovative Outfitters last year. They featured the bow hunt where they killed the 179" buck (it's either that or 176") that's pictured on Innovative's website. Afterwards Cody showed me some of their waterfowl videos from last year. It was more of what I'd witnessed. If you search for my posts you'll see my comments from last season. Nap time..

Day 3 (Afternoon hunt):

So I started off with over sleeping. This was an omen.. It's been really hot, as noted above by JCOutdoors, and windy. Did I mention that it was really WINDY today?? Anyways, Justin suggested I be in the stand by 5 pm. I woke up at 4:35 pm.. Sooo..I jumped in the shower to get decented and grabbed shorts and t-shirt as I planned to change at the fields. Somehow got there without getting lost. Justin had showed me where it was earlier as he was helping the guys from Open Season get set up. They're filming muzzle loader hunts this week. Anyways, got changed and out to the stand. Got in and set up...Did I mention it was really windy? Yah I know your tired of that but it comes in handy later. So the tree was moving back and forth...Must have been a foot or so... Seemed like it. So I'd made it in by 5:25 pm. Nothing much happened till 7:00 pm. Then a group of turkeys came by on their way to get a drink. See the picture below.



At this point I'm sitting there and had taken a bunch of pictures of the turkeys. I was just enjoying the time and views. See pic..It doesn't do it justice but it gives you more perspective of another view to my right...



So then at 7:45 it gets interesting. I notice movement to my left. A buck was moving at a medium walk. I didn't have a view till he was beside me. Big! By the time I'd sized him up he was at the pond between 50 and 60 yards away. I counted at least 4 points on 1 side (it could have had 1 more), main beam that extended even with the nose, width was a little wider than the ears, fairly heavy deer that was at least 4 but maybe 4 1/2+. Fit the mold of what I was given the green light on. So here's were it gets interesting. The stand is facing straight West. The buck is off to my left. I'm left handed and there's not a shooting rail on the stand. I tried wrapping my arm in the sling, moving my legs around to steady myself, etc, to no avail. I just could not get in a position where I was comfortable taking a shot. The wind, lack of a steady rest and the tree swaying was just a bit much. At that point I was pretty sick. No Chuck it wasn't deer fever..:) Anyways, the buck slid out and I went un-noticed. Just before light totally went away I had 2 does come up under me and eventually made their way out into the corn. I then had a couple more hit the small pond in front. I spooked the 2 does on the way out. So Justin doesn't guarantee a buck. He does promise opportunity. Well..I made 1 statistic on the website..:)

The guys filming did shoot a buck that went 135-140. They were hunting a soybean field. At 7:45 pm heads started popping up. The deer were bedded in the field. Interesting how they were 20 miles away and lit off at the same time. They Open Season guys were also nice enough to loan me an extra Bog Pod for my hunt tomorrow. It's greatly appreciated.

In the morning I'm going back to the blind from this morning. It's late so I'm headed off. Looks like I'll need 2 alarms for my nap tomorrow..

Day 4:

Was in the blind by 5:50. At 6:15 heard splashing. Sounded like a deer. If this is a buck he must be very "regular". Too dark to tell for sure...That he's a buck..

Was basically skunked until 7:45. I say this literally as there was a large skunk that came in across the river. At 7:45 the does from yesterday came across about 20 yards West of the blind. They went straight to a corn pile Justin had dumped yesterday. See the doe pics below. I think they're the same 2 from yesterday.





Practiced with the Bog Pog a couple times. Just getting the feel for it. It seems to be close to professional camera quality. Very sturdy. I was going to buy a Primos Trigger Stick this year but I think I'll pick up one of these. Very sturdy and the rifle rest can be swapped for a camera rest.

Small towns can be interesting. Larned has a lot of personality. I got a kick out of the below store. You can get Bar-B-Que and other convenience items while you're getting your car worked on. Owner is a really nice guy..



Nap time...

1 other thing..I was just talking to Justin about the area I hunted last night. He said he has 9 bucks on trail camera that are all over 150". This covers a 2.5 mile stretch. This is just what he has on camera.. I know yall are getting tired of this comment...Un-Real!!

Enough talk and doe butt pic's... smoke one of them big boys and show it off to us!!

I ain't getting tired of it! Makes me feel good about my hunt in Dec. I just wish Justin would let me know exactly where I will be hunting, so I can study some aerial photos.

Me and a buddy hunted two of the three stands we had baited friday afternoon on opening morning. Me with archery, him with his smoke pole. We had a 66% chance of picking the right one, this deer showed up twice in 15 minutes at the stand that was unhunted 10 pointer. DOH!!!

Back in Dallas, hang in there and drop a biggun.

Weather making a shift today for you. Friday and Saturday is the day to make it happen. Hope to hear and see pics soon. We are pulling for you in Texas.

Thanks Mark..

It's been some tough hunting the last few days. I told Justin that wind like this in Texas is normally called a tropical storm. Between the temps and wind it's been something else. Of course the winds die down at dark for the full moon!!!!!! Ugh. But as Mark noted things changed last night. It was cloudy and rained off and on all morning. I stayed in the stand until 11:30. Justin was talking to some of the local farmers and they're seeing movement 12-3. So I'm headed back out for the rest of the day. We're going to move the ground blind I was using day 1 and 2 mornings to the area I've been hunting in the evenings. I'll still have a view of the pond but I'll be more back to my left. There's a view of the river from there and can see deer in other travel lanes. In the morning I'll be hunting on the South side of the Arkansas River. There's a milo field over there and Justin has section and a half of wild grass. He usually doesn't huint this till later in the year but with the crops coming in it's changing patterns. A buddy that hunts in the area has bucks on a game camera as late as 9 am 2 days ago. So we're going to try the area..

Batman...The areas that are normally good this time of year have changed because the crops are coming in early. The farmers are planting rye. So it'll change now, before you come and when you're here. Justin is moving us around based on scouting, game cameras and talks with local farmers. You could be anywhere from Larned to Great Bend. It all depends on where he's seeing activity and the timing of crops, etc. So hang in there...

I have some topics of interest that I'll write up a bit later. Wish me luck...

Good luck.

Thursday afternoon....

We set up a blind at the site I was hunting from the ladder stand. We knew it was going to rain and thank goodness we did put it in. It rained quite a bit. The temp droped as well and we thought it would get exciting afterwards. Unfortunately I only saw 2 small bucks and a doe. I did take some pictures of some turkeys and the storm rolling in. They're below. Tomorrow is my last day. I'll be hunting most of the day. I'll post up how I do. I hope Mark from JCOutdoors is correct. The weather has definitely changed. Hopefully we benefit tomorrow.

Hunt hard tomorrow and I will say a prayer for you. Early season weather can be nuts and this week certainly was. Pack a lunch and grind it out. Look forward to your report.

Friday Morning....

Just for you guys....More Butt!!



If you don't like that how about this...



Nice huh...Well still a bit young..So I shot him like 20 times with my camera.. Here's a picture of the rack..



Another of the full deer. 3 or 3 1/2 maybe.. Was nice to see something besides does..

How about a turkey with what I'm guessing is a 9" beard...



More Turkey pics...





The place I was hunting this morning....



This spot was South of the Arkansas River just South of Larned. It's a grass area, or should I say grass bur area, that is used for horses. They aren't there currently. I drove in on a path to the gate. Then walked about 1/2 mile. Got in the stand and caught this buck already moving. He came in later at about 7 am. Stayed in the area for about an hour. Then the turkeys started moving. Later I saw a mature buck back behind me cutting into a draw. I got out of the stand and tried to get in front of him. Never caught up to him. I hiked to the highest hill and glassed for an hour. Did see 3 does coming through. I stayed until 11 and am heading back out now. It got hot and didn't make since to stay.

Later...

All,

I was logged in and Justin came in and logged in. So I accidentally posted under his id above..

Later again....

Hope you have some luck. I just got back from Kansas and saw only 5 deer. Plenty of heat and wind! Oh, and enough ticks to fill a damn dump truck!

Hang in there, Bill. That extra day may be rewarding.

Good evening..

Hunt tonight was much better. Weather is cooling. Wind is down. Moon is still full at night. Hunted a different stand tonight that was along the river. Justin tried to get me to go there originally but for someone that's afraid of heights it'll test you. I am so it did! Turned out to be incredible. It's a main point for many trails. This is where the biggest buck Innovative has taken came from. I wish I'd hunted it earlier in the week. Bucks are still not going in the fields. But they are moving now in the river and associated banks. With this being my last day I worked a deal with Justin and I am going into "extra innings". Top of the 10th is tomorrow morning. Reason I'm staying is now I've seen bucks in the morning and evening. I already posted above on the morning buck. This afternoon I had 6 come in. Unfortunately they were 2-3 years olds. I kept hearing some deer that always stayed back in the trees. They never came out. They have 1 more day to decide if they're going to adorne my wall... In any case, there were more deer coming in after dark. I had to text Justin and get him to come drive his truck out by the stand to run the deer off. I didn't want to come out of the stand with them there and mess up the spot. The hunting is measurably improved over the rest of the week. So tomorrow is the real last day.

Below is the view out the front of this stand. Notice how you're at tree top level....:) I'll be there again tomorrow evening..



This is out the left side into the creek..



This is the back..



This is the view looking down...:(



This climb is the price of admission...



This is the salt lick in front of the stand and the tracks...



Several pictures of tracks in the creek... Notice how many and how big a lot are....There are some atv tracks. I tried to zoom around them...







This was the only deer I photographed tonight. All that I actually saw were small bucks. I was thankful to actually see some bucks today. Hoping tomorrow brings BIG BUCKS!!



Justin didn't tell me there were bass in the creek. I call it a creek but it's the Arkansas River. Anyways, you can bass fish while you hunt.. What a deal..

[img]http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae100/marshalsmith26/Kansas%20092010/IMG_0662.jpg[/img]

If you own one of these I'll volunteer a free day of labor to come drive it for you. I'm really quick to pick things up...

[img]http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae100/marshalsmith26/Kansas%20092010/IMG_0646.jpg[/img]

Well...Since I am in extra innings I better get to bed. 4:45 comes quick. One other item..Since the guys at Open Season TV were nice enough to lend me a Bog Pod I'm going to do a write up in one of my posts on it. Bog Pod is one of their sponsors. I have some pictures of how I used it that may come in handy to you. I need to get a couple more pictures before I'm ready to jump into it.

Later.....

One last thing. I'm starting my day tomorrow at the area I hunted this morning. Instead of getting in the tree blind I'm going to sit in a low sitting turkey hunting chair on the highest hill. I'm either going to sit in front of some trees or make a blind of local brush. This area has a lot of deer passing through it. As long as the wind isn't too bad I feel comfortable with a shot of up to 200 yards in either direction. So I'm hoping that if I see one that I can't reasonable get to I can also slip off the back of a hill/ridge and try to get in front of them. If nothing else it's fun to hunt a little differently every now and then...

Good luck, I hope the change works out for you. Send me a PM when you are home and have the time. I would like to talk about your hunt, if you don't mind. thanks

Will do Batman...

Saturday Morning...

3 does at dawn and the same turkeys from yesterday morning. It was a full moon last night so I'm sure the boys were out partying. I'll be leaving shortly for the tree stand I sat in yesterday. Wish me luck.

luck

Good luck, Bill.

Well..It wasn't meant to be. Only saw 1 small buck as I was getting out of the stand tonight. The wind was howling pretty good. The guys from Open Season TV had the same luck. Although I'm disappointed I did have a great time. Justin was really working hard for us this week but there's only so much he can do..

As for this thread, I hadn't really thought a lot about posting details like this. On my way up it just seemed like a fun thing to do and share. But I have to say that it added a new element to the experience. I caught myself recognizing things I thought were interesting and others might care to see or read about. I think a lot of times I take these things for granted. I'm not really a funny guy so my attempts at humor may not quite hit the mark. But I, like you, enjoy the outdoors. Hopefully me sharing a bit about my trip helped you experience a little of it as well. I'll likely start doing more of this. I'm not sure the moderators want to start this as an on-going thing on THF. But we'll see where I go with it. I might start a real blog and see were it goes. In any case, hope you got something out of the effort. I did...

The End...

I personally really enjoyed it. I was pulling hard for you, early season is tough but it improves daily. Enjoyed sharing the hunt on a daily basis, hope you will do it again. I have bow hunted Kansas for the last 13 years and have witnessed some awesome deer being harvested but I personally have only one P&Y from there. I enjoy the experience and the fact that they have real seasons up there.
One of my most inspirational experiences in the outdoors was when a light frost had coated the leaves in October and as the morning sun rose their was a slight wind from the NE that began a 3 hour episode of leaves falling like rain drops bouncing from limb to limb as they fell to the earth. It was unbelievable to take that in, it was like a God orchestrated concert of sights and sounds was on display just for me.
It reminded me of the scripture that says "Be Still And Know That I Am God"

I enjoyed your thread, for more than one reason. Looking forward to talking to you about your total experience.

Thanks for the blog, Bill.

Thanks for the feedback.

Mark,

Huntng in Kansas is great. It's one of the places I've had on my "bucket list". I can see myself hunting there for years to come.

Bill

I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. Thanks to everyone. I hope you all have a great hunting season. But I'll also issue a challenge to you. I've had friends and family tell me it was nice to see and hear about what I experience when I go hunting. So my challenge to you is take some pictures, keep some sort of write up (journal), and share with those close to you..