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Mule Deer hunting in Kansas is far different than the eastern slope of the Rockies or the desert southwest that has been a long time favored destination for Mule Deer hunting. And, with our two season and pre season scouting Mule Deer hunting advantage on one Kansas tag gives more opportunity than other Mule Deer regions. To this advantage is the uphill walk is much less, there are no cactus and horses are not required. For those that have gone Mule Deer hunting in the more rugged areas Kansas will seem like a hollywood hunt as it is on the great plains and it is as flat as it gets. The final advantage is our Mule Deer hunting is all on private lease land we secured for our exclusive use.. Opening below is an aerial photo, two ground level photos and a portion of a contour map of what mid-west Mule Deer habitat looks like.
The photos are of the Medicine Lodge River drainage where the Association contracts a large Mule Deer hunting ranch. This aerial photo is also deceiving as to the ease of ground navigation. While walking is easy and observation is long range this area contains over 100 draws that can hide herds without the hunter ever finding them. And, although open country, the hunter will do well by using a compass to get back to his truck without any extra walking.
This photo covers only a portion of this ranch which is just a portion of the tens of thousands of acres under lease in the three Kansas Mule Deer management units where we lease land. This particular ranch has sufficient habitat and space to support 9 hunters a season for firearms and muzzleloader season. We have yet to have 9 deer hunters on this lease in a season. Archery hunters would be extremely challenged in this habitat.
This picture is of the ground in the aerial photo above. The
near draw is a dry drain into a tributary along the bluffs in the far ground
that then drains into the Medicine Lodge River. Seemingly of little topography
each little ridgeline crossed and bend walked around yields a new
view of ground hidden from any other direction. While the grass
appears short and there does not seem to be much cover habitat Mule
Deer seek this ground for its easy to see predator approach and easy
to run surface.
This picture is of the bottom of a draw halfway between the
near draw in the photo above it and the bluffs in the distance. It may not
appear to be good habitat, however this is the draw with a spring. Within 25 feet of this spring in any direction along its 30
foot length it was very hard to step anywhere without stepping on
deer droppings. This little valley is a small as it looks and
there are many of these little twisting hideaways that cannot be
easily covered from the ridge and once inside the ridge the next
little valley is completely hidden. To finally illustrate what this Mule Deer habitat is like is the contour map below. It is of a portion of the aerial photo above. The pond is a good reference point.
They were bedded completely unseen and waited in a small grass filled depression until we were within 10 yards before jumping up and slowly trotting off. In order to slow them down for a photo we whistled loud, they stopped and by the time we retrieved the camera from pocket they resumed a slow walk over the ridge. All together we watched them for about 30 seconds. That much time would have allowed for a thorough identification of racks and easy shot. In this case the entire group of 13 were doe or at least antlerless. Our advantage to the self guided deer hunter that can hunt on his own on private land we lease for our exclusive deer hunting use. We also provide recommendations at how to apply for a Kansas Mule Deer tag. The tags are highly competitive and there is limited advantage to any one application technique that some may offer. |
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This picture is of 9
out of 13 Mule Deer we jumped from a tall prairie grass field while scouting some land in
Kansas. They may appear to be distant in the picture taken from a cheap field
camera, however they are less than 100 yards away.
