by James Stovall

The air was cool and crisp with a slight northwest breeze. Soft grunts and rustling leaves broke the silence of the first afternoon and my pulse instantly doubled. Thru the cedar thicket, I caught a glimpse of “bone” heading in my direction. The 130” 10 point passed under my elevated perch at 25 yards. He momentarily paused at the sound of my grunt, looked in my direction and then continued on his way. He was certainly a tempting buck, but this was my first afternoon in Kansas. I was nestled in a quarter mile cottonwood strip immersed with mature cedar trees. It was a major corridor for traveling bucks. Bordering the cottonwoods to the North was a thirty-acre marshy slough inhabited by hundreds of waterfowl.

The slough was dotted with cottonwoods, cedars, high grass, and a cattail thicket. It was a bedding area paradise for whitetails. To the southwest there was a small lush food plot tucked up against the cedars. My first afternoon came to an end after seeing one buck and numerous does. All the does I saw that first evening had white tarsal glands which was an indication they where not in estrous yet. The rut seemed to be happening late this year.

The next day, I attended a Midwest whitetail parade. We had bucks and does under us throughout the morning. I had saturated the area with “Real Deer” scent, which had them occupied. While the action was steady, none of the bucks where shooters, just typical action prior to things busting loose. I went my entire hunt without having a single deer spot me. This was solely due to my amazing ASAT camo. This came totally dissolves the human outline like no other pattern on the market. I can’t say enough good things about this stuff, the deer seem to look right thru me and quickly decide that all is fine.

The following day, a nasty front moved through with high winds, freezing rain, sleet, and a touch of snow. Temperatures were in the thirty’s and I didn’t see much deer activity the entire day, although, I did rattle up a young inquisitive 8 pointer. That night, the weather channel forecast promising weather for the duration of my hunt. The following morning brought a clear star studded sky, which turned crystal blue after sunrise. My breath seemed to hang in the air with every exhale; it was a calm, cool, crisp, frosty morning with temperatures in the high 20’s. The same 10 point I passed the first afternoon walked by shortly after daylight followed by an amazing 3 year old 8 point that was “off limits” till next year. No mass, but he had everything else. Throughout my all day vigil, I saw 9 bucks and 7 does and my buddy, Doug Brown, who was hunting a mile away, also saw nine bucks. One brute was a 22” wide jaw dropping monster 160” 8 pointer. He saw two other shooters, including one that he regretted not shooting at 16 yards. That was a short tined 135” 8 pointer with good mass. The switch had appeared to be flipped.

There was no question where we were going to hunt the following day. Reports from other hunters in the area solidified that mature bucks where searching for receptive does. We awoke on day five one half hour earlier than usual, packed a lunch and were prepared to sit all day again. We were set up high in our cottonwood long before first shooting light. At first light, my guide tapped my right shoulder, “A possible shooter coming down the swamp edge“. I slowly grabbed my bow only to be called off a second time on this three and one half year old 8 pointer. He once again walked the same trail at 25 yards. Around 7:20, two young bucks walked up from opposite directions and started sparring. Suddenly, they both snapped to attention and stared in the direction of the food plot. A doe came trotting into an overgrown pasture 80 yards to the south. Behind the doe was a mature big bodied 140s” 9 pointer with a broken G-3 on his right side. There was no calling him off of her. At 7:45, two mature does came walking in from behind us. The lead doe was walking with her tail half raised and both doe’s tarsal glands were noticeably dark. They milled around a few minutes and dissolved into a thick stand of cedars at 37 yards. I stood ready for 10 minutes or so focused on the doe’s back trail. I finally sat back down and started watching “my quadrant” out in front while my guide continued to watch “his quadrant” behind me. Suddenly, my right shoulder was quickly tapped multiple times and I knew exactly what that meant. The next words out of his mouth were, “shooter at 40 behind you”. A rush of adrenaline flooded my veins. I slowly stood and peaked around the huge trunk of our cottonwood. The 155” buck was thrashing the cedar limbs hanging out over the trail. I immediately noticed the tine length on his right side and that he had 4‘s. He took a few steps, sniffed the ground and lip curled. “Game On”. He slowly walked around smelling what seemed like every blade of grass. The buck kept getting closer with every step. He turned at 30 yards and eased over to our left to investigate the grass and twigs over there. Eventually, he turned and walked right into our lap. At 16 yards, I stopped the buck with a soft mouth grunt and sent a Muzzy MX3 deep into his chest. The buck whirled and struggled to run as he barreled out of there. I last saw him through a small opening in the cedars at 50 yards. He looked as if he was going down, but he was still running at a pretty good clip. At that moment, I was beside myself, I was confident that the shot looked good.

We had captured over three minutes of video of this buck within 40 yards. We decided to quietly pack up, slip out, and review the footage on the TV back at the farmhouse. We were both in agreement that it looked like a heart shot; however, we waited two hours before returning to trail my buck. After we entered the opening where I last spotted him, it quickly became apparent that he couldn’t go far with the amount of blood he was loosing. I walked around the next cedar tree and there he lay not 20 yards away. He had gone down within seconds after being hit.

I had a flood of emotions come over me as I walked up on my giant Kansas buck. This caliber of buck is few and far between for me, so when it all comes together and I am successful, I feel very blessed and fortunate. I cherish every moment and have the greatest respect for these magnificent animals. I’d like to thank David Henning of Kansas Monsters Guides and Outfitters. Muzzy Broadheads, Bear Archery, ASAT Camouflage, Shannon Outdoors “Real Deer“ scent, LaCroose Footwear, First Lite “Merino Wool”, Gold Tip Arrows, HHA Sites, T.R.U. Ball Releases, Nikon Optics, Day One Camo, and Holly Robson for making me a double layered wool vest. Toasty!