It was a long hard weekend in the woods for Larry and me out in central KS. We were hunting some property that my wife’s family owns just SW of Hoisington. After visiting for a while Friday evening we made it out just in time to catch 7 mature Rios heading to roost.
Day 1:
Larry was up first Saturday morning. After cutting some cedar limbs and dragging them about 400 yards across a field we put a quick ground blind together for our morning hunt. It was not long and we started hearing some tom’s break the morning silence. Without being able to scout before our trip due to a 4 hour drive, we were not quite sure what fields the birds were using during day. All the tom’s decided to head to other fields, but we did get entertained by 6 jakes about 2 hours after daybreak. We decided to pack it up about 10:00 and go build some more ground blinds for the next couple days. Unfortunately, after crossing a creek the camera was knocked over by the 40+ mph SW wind and broke our microphone adapter. (Not a good start) That afternoon we set up in one of the ground blinds we made and to make a long story short we had a group of 3 toms come running in and Larry had some problems with his release and miss fired at 30 yards. Five minutes later a group of 5 jakes and 5 hens came in with a big tom. The tom came straight into our set and this time Larry must have bumped his knee while positioning for a shot and miss fired again. His was not a happy hunter.
Day 2:
My daughter Alexa tagged along with us as Larry and I switched up and it was my turn to hunt. The weather man had called for 10 to 15 mph NW winds Sunday morning……man was he wrong. It was another 40+ mph day, but out of the North now. We decided to set up in our most concealed blind we built that just so happened to be facing the north. We did see a bird that morning from the blind. That afternoon faired a lot better. We built yet another ground blind, making this number 6 and set up for an afternoon hunt. About 2 hours before dark we had a group of 5 toms come running into the decoys gobbling, but as luck would have it the zoom button got stuck on the camera remote and another opportunity was missed. I did have a great day hunting with my little girl.
Day 3:
Larry was behind the trigger again as we had birds sounding off all around us on the roost. Not long after shooting light we had 2 mature toms running into our set. For some reason at 40 yards they seen something they did not like and changed their minds. It was my turn to hunt again, so we relocated to another set with a couple hours left to hunt. As luck would have it about an hour before we had to leave we had two jakes come into the decoys and give us a great show. Usually a jake would get a free pass, but after the three tough days we had gone through something had to go down. Larry captured some great over the shoulder footage of me sticking one of the jakes at 12 yards. It was a nice way to end our trip. Hopefully our KS curse is over.
You guys have no idea what a Kansas curse is…. I have been battling with it for some time. I can not wait to get the lid off this thing. I hunted this morning and wished I had gotten some rut weather like it last fall. 35 degrees and the wind chill was in the lower 20s.
I understand all too well what the Kansas curse is. Last year was snowing the opening weekend of shotgun season and archery season. I have been out a couple times so far and tagged a nice one Sun. morning. Eastern hybrid. Be patient and he birds will respond. Congrats on the Rio. They are real responsive.
I am glad we aren’t the only ones that have expierenced the curse. We will defeat it and win the game. The parts for the camera are on the way and two HUNGARY HUNTERS ready to get back at it. Rio, Eastern, or Hybrid it doesn’t matter. They will learn to love the taste of carbon. Thanks guys…..
Heartland Bowhunter inMotion Blog
It was a long hard weekend in the woods for Larry and me out in central KS. We were hunting some property that my wife’s family owns just SW of Hoisington. After visiting for a while Friday evening we made it out just in time to catch 7 mature Rios heading to roost.
Day 1:
Larry was up first Saturday morning. After cutting some cedar limbs and dragging them about 400 yards across a field we put a quick ground blind together for our morning hunt. It was not long and we started hearing some tom’s break the morning silence. Without being able to scout before our trip due to a 4 hour drive, we were not quite sure what fields the birds were using during day. All the tom’s decided to head to other fields, but we did get entertained by 6 jakes about 2 hours after daybreak. We decided to pack it up about 10:00 and go build some more ground blinds for the next couple days. Unfortunately, after crossing a creek the camera was knocked over by the 40+ mph SW wind and broke our microphone adapter. (Not a good start) That afternoon we set up in one of the ground blinds we made and to make a long story short we had a group of 3 toms come running in and Larry had some problems with his release and miss fired at 30 yards. Five minutes later a group of 5 jakes and 5 hens came in with a big tom. The tom came straight into our set and this time Larry must have bumped his knee while positioning for a shot and miss fired again. His was not a happy hunter.
Day 2:
My daughter Alexa tagged along with us as Larry and I switched up and it was my turn to hunt. The weather man had called for 10 to 15 mph NW winds Sunday morning……man was he wrong. It was another 40+ mph day, but out of the North now. We decided to set up in our most concealed blind we built that just so happened to be facing the north. We did see a bird that morning from the blind. That afternoon faired a lot better. We built yet another ground blind, making this number 6 and set up for an afternoon hunt. About 2 hours before dark we had a group of 5 toms come running into the decoys gobbling, but as luck would have it the zoom button got stuck on the camera remote and another opportunity was missed. I did have a great day hunting with my little girl.
Day 3:
Larry was behind the trigger again as we had birds sounding off all around us on the roost. Not long after shooting light we had 2 mature toms running into our set. For some reason at 40 yards they seen something they did not like and changed their minds. It was my turn to hunt again, so we relocated to another set with a couple hours left to hunt. As luck would have it about an hour before we had to leave we had two jakes come into the decoys and give us a great show. Usually a jake would get a free pass, but after the three tough days we had gone through something had to go down. Larry captured some great over the shoulder footage of me sticking one of the jakes at 12 yards. It was a nice way to end our trip. Hopefully our KS curse is over.
Every hunt is a good hunt,
Ty
With all of the bad luck we were having , I still had a great time. It is time to let he kids whack em this weekend.
Better watch it Ty, Mike will be upset that you are competing with him as the jake slayer! lol
Looks like a great trip guys! Congrats on the Rio!
Man talk about things going wrong but still making the best of it. Great photos guys as usual, keep it up!!
You guys have no idea what a Kansas curse is…. I have been battling with it for some time. I can not wait to get the lid off this thing. I hunted this morning and wished I had gotten some rut weather like it last fall. 35 degrees and the wind chill was in the lower 20s.
Good pics from the weekend.
I understand all too well what the Kansas curse is. Last year was snowing the opening weekend of shotgun season and archery season. I have been out a couple times so far and tagged a nice one Sun. morning. Eastern hybrid. Be patient and he birds will respond. Congrats on the Rio. They are real responsive.
I am glad we aren’t the only ones that have expierenced the curse. We will defeat it and win the game. The parts for the camera are on the way and two HUNGARY HUNTERS ready to get back at it. Rio, Eastern, or Hybrid it doesn’t matter. They will learn to love the taste of carbon. Thanks guys…..