Finally, finally, finally. I caught up with a deer in Kansas. Clayton and I have been at it hard for 3 seasons in Kansas with hardly any luck. Last night that all changed, well sort of. Clayton and I hunted last weekend in Southeast Kansas and we were determined to just shoot does. I had made up my mind that I was going to fill my out of state ANY DEER Kansas tag on a doe if I could. It had gotten that bad. I still hadn’t filled a single tag all year and all I wanted was a doe! However I never got the chance. We got skunked 3 out of 4 sits that weekend and it pretty much put the nail in the coffin.

I got back from the trip and thought for sure that I was going to eat tag soup for a third straight season in KS. I knew I had to try something different so I decided to call my buddies, Jim and Clayton Coyle, to see if they could help me fill my tag. They have some great hunting ground and I was excited when Jim said, “Come on out!” I hunted three nights and one morning and saw a ton of deer. I had someone filming me the first four sits, but no shooter bucks showed up.

This brings us to last night and my fifth sit. I decided to head out by myself since everyone was real busy and I didn’t bother to ask many people to film. After all, this was what seemed like my millionth sit without any luck. What are the odds something walks by? I decided to bring the camera and film myself.  I only saw one doe with good camera light and it was starting to get late. I went ahead and shut off the camera and just sat there a few minutes. Then I saw a couple of deer heading my way at about 35 yards. A doe. A doe. A buck.  Another doe. I noticed the buck was the Big 6 that I was after. I focused all of my attention on him and got ready. I knew there was a good chance of seeing him since we had trail camera pictures of him from the night before in the daylight. He stepped into my lane at 20 yards and I let him have it. I hit him right where I wanted and he only made it 70 yards or so. I put my bow on my bow hook and looked up and there he was… a giant 10 point staring right at me. I couldn’t believe it. It was a buck that Jim and Clayton know very well. A 160+ perfect ten. A deer that I never thought would show up in daylight since all of the trail cam pics of him were at night and there was nothing I could do about it. It’s okay because I am absolutely thrilled about my buck! It was a deer that Jim and Clayton wanted to get out of there and I was glad to help! Thanks again for having me out! It was awesome! It sure feels good to shoot one! Clayton Campbell and I hope to get back together for some hunts after the holidays… maybe we connect with one on film in Missouri!

-Skyler