My dad and I headed WEST again like we have done for the last 24 years. My dad isn't getting any younger and he really wanted to take my oldest 2 boys with us. We planned a trip accordingly and got them out of school last week. We drove out Saturday morning with my lab and his 2 pointers and my 14 year old a 15 year old sons. Dad turned 72 while we were out there.
We made it from Inman, SC to just outside of Kansas City on Saturday and we were hunting public land in Kansas by noon on Sunday.
Pheasant numbers continue to decline in most parts of the state. We found a few wild quail and a few wild pheasants, but it was hard hunting. We hunted a preserve on Monday and Tuesday morning just to make sure the boys had a good experience, then we did walk in hunting the rest of the time. The preserve owner said S. Dakota wildlife department called him and asked to buy 5000 pheasants last week to help stock their state. He said Kansas wildlife department did the same.
We traveled 3 hours up to SW Nebraska on Wednesday morning and hunted deer that afternoon. We hunted deer from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday morning around 10:30 am then headed home. No BIG horned deer were killed. Dad killed a older buck that broke off his right side. It had to weigh at least 275 pounds. Unfortunately we didn't have a scale but we were in awe at the body size, length, long legs etc. It looked like a cow or horse.
I didn't buy a tag for me, I just sat with kids and tried to get them on a nice buck, but unfortunately no luck. We saw plenty of deer and they were rutting hard. My oldest saw a small 10 point breed a doe and a spike breed a different doe.
Overall a great trip. The kids had a ball and so did the dad's!
We drove a lot of miles in 8 days but it was well worth it.
Oh and my lab cut her leg on something, probably barbed wire, on the first day. Ended up at a vet for sedation and staples, etc. The vet kept her overnight because we were hunting in a different direction and my total bill was $175. Fast forward until Sunday, everything was healing well and when we got home she got out of the truck and somehow pulled out half the staples. My wife took her to our local VET yesterday and it was $600 more dollars! OUCH
Here are a few pictures.
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