New to Hunting Midwest

[Justin Spies]

I am new to this forum I have read alot of threads on here but this is my first to post. I had a couple questions for anyone familiar with this area. I will be in Kansas from November8-24 th this coming fall and would like to try this area out if it is any good. Do any of you guys have experience good or bad with this area or any other Kansas public ground in the general area I put in my tag for units 12&14, any help is much appreciated because I am a east Texas boy who has never hunted the Midwest at all. Also what kind of expectations could I have for a 16 day hunt this time of year on public ground. Thanks in advance

Justin

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[keb]

I have never hunted that area, but its SE Kansas and with the SE Kansas rage as they call it, you will have others around Im pretty sure.

Hunt hard and think outisde the box.

[Justin Spies]

Sorry I forgot to mention that the area is toronto wildlife area

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[keb]

Hunting the Midwest is not rocket science, find the cover you will find the deer for the most part, but with that being said kansas bucks are a different breed, a 300 acre winter wheat field with a grass ditch in the middle could be a giant bucks hide, so he can see you for a longways. Hunting the public land the big deer associate trees with danger, a quarter section in kansas might have 5 acres of brush, guess where all the hunters will go and have hunted in the past.

I had a kansas native that has hammerd some giants tell me, deer don't need trees, we need them to put stands in. So take it what it's worth, you will have to figure out what works for you and what does not,

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

I am new to this forum I have read alot of threads on here but this is my first to post. I had a couple questions for anyone familiar with this area. I will be in Kansas from November8-24 th this coming fall and would like to try this area out if it is any good. Do any of you guys have experience good or bad with this area or any other Kansas public ground in the general area I put in my tag for units 12&14, any help is much appreciated because I am a east Texas boy who has never hunted the Midwest at all. Also what kind of expectations could I have for a 16 day hunt this time of year on public ground. Thanks in advance

Justin

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Yup, I agree 100 percent with keb. I've hunted a lot in kansas myself. However, not the SE portion. If you want success on public out there, you gotta hunt the stuff everyone else is passing up.

If this is your first trip to the midwest, don't put too much pressure on yourself for success. Just come out and try to get a feel for what the deer are doing differently than the deer you are used to hunting. If you are out here that many days you will get it figured out.

[Rubline]

Welcome to the Beast Justin, We hunted the Perry wildlife area by Topeka 3 years back.
Not sure what the Toronto area is like, but the public land we hunted was awesome habitat,
but pressured very very hard. Keep your options open, don't be afraid to knock on some doors to
hunt private land and perhaps check out that Fall River State park next to Toronto. Looks good.

[Stanley]

Welcome to the Beast. Justin..... what type of terrain are most familiar with hunting? I like to mention this, as all terrain is not hunted the same.

[Justin Spies]

I have hunted the east Texas piney woods my whole life

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[Craaaig]

I have seen the most mature buck movement right around thanksgiving time in unit 14. The prairie deer have a huge home range, I would say 5 miles is not unlikely at all. And they will bust out in to the prairie if they feel threatened at all. If you look at the map real close you can see their trails where they travel sometimes, that is important because they will show up out of nowhere. I also saw most movement in the mornings and evenings vs a MI rut hunt where I don't expect a mature buck to be on his feet cruising until late morning. I did about 10 all days sits this past year and very little late morning/early afternoon deer sightings. Your entry/exit is going to be huge, they like to be able to use their eyes way out in the open. You are going to need more than the one wildlife area for that long of a hunt!!! They also travel the 1/3 upper elevation line of any steep hills with the rising thermals!! And they are generally lower pressure deer with less knowledge of hunters. You can get away with a lot out there! Rattling and snort wheeze works very well. A lot of the terrain out there creates natural funnels and pinch points that are easy to pick out on a map. Post a map if you can!!!

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[Czabs]

I know guys that go to Kansas and hunt public every year...they come back every year with a nice bucks as well. They claim it is a cake walk. No cover, during the rut, hunting fencelines, and funnels. Sounds easy to me....

[Stanley]

I have hunted the east Texas piney woods my whole life

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I'm not familiar with Texas terrain. So I can't give you a comparison. Maybe like mentioned, Arial pictures, and topo map would help.