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The pictures opening below show:
This whitetail is an example of the many deer that occupy the open field habitat of Kansas and an attempt by us to demonstrate the open country deer hunting habitat that exists in the mid west. This deer is not a trophy whitetail, but understand the conditions this photo was taken under. This picture was taken by a bird hunter as this land lease was contracted for its pheasant hunting, on the return leg of a 'U' shape walk through this 1/2 section, or 320 acre, field. On the previous out walk the hunter's dogs were running through the field, beeper collars sounding and birds were shot. This buck remained in his daytime loafing position hidden in the 3-6 foot high grass waiting for the hunter to pass. Chance brought the return leg of the bird hunt right on top of this buck. This buck finally was put up by the dogs and remained long enough for the bird hunter to retrieve his camera from a pocket, zoom the lens and take the picture as the deer decided it was time to leave. Perhaps what this picture best shows is how our grass lands habitat can hide a deer.
Below is an example of the deer trails found in these fields. Deer left to naturally transverse these fields do so by well used trails. Only when pressured do they leave the trails and run without prediction. Knowing this nature of deer behavior in grasslands habitat is one more snapshot in the central mid-west deer hunting picture.
The aerial picture below is the actual field the above two photos were taken in. The scouting habitat points that are important here include the pond, a water source in a pasture marked by the fence line. The remainder of the field to include the terraced area is of tall prairie grass. Running diagonal through the field is a railroad track. Tracing the trials from the picture above with the heavier cover grass spots, the surrounding crop feeding fields and finally the pond will allow the attentive hunter to pattern the deer as they move from this loafing area to water or feed. Tree stands are limited and the ground hunter will benefit from plenty of grass habitat.
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