WIHA Kansas

[southernhunter]

Any one ever tryed hunting the walk in hunting areas in Kansas ? We go out there every year to pheasant . Thinking about trying to deer/pheasant hunt next year

 

[bowhunterfanatic]

I rifle hunted out there a couple years ago. I had an awful hunt, but a guy in our group killed a dandy 8 point. Deer activity was non existent until the last 30 or so minutes of the day. I am probably headed back out there next year with a bow if I can draw a tag.

 

[southernhunter]

What county did u hunt ? We are in smith now and seen several deer and one nice buck , guy at breakfast this morning said the got a 177" inch and 152" this week

 

[Vermin93]

You are speaking my language. I've done WIHA the past 3 years in SE Kansas - units 11 and 12. I've eaten all 3 buck tags, but I love it. I've seen a lot of deer and could have killed plenty, but I'm holding out for a wall hanger with my bow. I run trail cams on the WIHA farms and have gotten some good bucks on camera during the season, so they are there. There have been weeks during bow season where I've had entire farms to myself from Mon - Fri. Also, you can hang stands and leave them up the whole season and you can use screw in steps, which is really convenient.

However, it is not a slam dunk hunt at all. It is very challenging and I like that about it. This year has been slower than the past two, so I'm not sure what's going on. I do know that the area I hunt was absolutely hammered by EHD last year because of the wicked drought. Also, poaching is bad. On many evenings after shooting light I heard poachers taking shots and running fast in their trucks to pick up poached deer. Despite all those negatives, there are true monster bucks there and you never know when one might come your way. Generally speaking, the farther north you go in Kansas, the bigger the deer get. SE Kansas is a 5 hr drive from my house in Dallas, which is why I focus my time there. I'm not into 8 hr drives.

The cool thing about Kansas for bowhunters is that almost the entire months of October and November are archery only!

Depending on what kind of hunting you're interested in and what units you're interested in, you don't have to worry about drawing a nonresident tag. In the units I hunt I bought nonresident archery permits the past 2 years online after the draw was over. The nonresident permits are so expensive that in many units they end up having leftovers. The units out west that have mule deer and whitetail usually don't have any leftovers, though.

 

[AT Hiker]

I have never been, but I have heard the Corp property might be worth looking into as well.

Those KS tags are pricey, are they over $500 now for everything?

 

[AT Hiker]

I have never been, but I have heard the Corp property might be worth looking into as well. I would love to hunt muleys in KS, some giants out there.

Those KS tags are pricey, are they over $500 now for everything?

 

[Vermin93]

Over $400 for permit and license. Permit entitles you to one buck and one antlerless and you can only hunt with the weapon that your permit is good for. Additional anterless tags are $52 each. The deer permit does not include any turkey tags either. Honestly, it's a rip off. I'm not sure why I keep buying it.

 

[bowhunterfanatic]

What county did u hunt ? We are in smith now and seen several deer and one nice buck , guy at breakfast this morning said the got a 177" inch and 152" this week

I'm not sure what county it was. I hunted around Perry Lake in region 2.

 

[Poleaxe]

Two of my buddies I hunt/work with have been doing the Kansas WIHA for about 5yrs now. They said you really have to do your homework with finding the land. It may say on the map that it's 400acres but most of the time it's a 400acre CRP field. You have to do a lot of searching to find the terrain for whitetails. When they found it they really found the deer. Of the 5yrs the four of them have been going they have killed 4 Pope and Youngs (one being on video) I don't remember how many small ones and this Booker. Hard to believe this came off public walk in land but he did.

 

[AT Hiker]

KS is a great place as Poleaxe shows in that pic, great deer!

Problem is, just like Iowa, getting a archery tag in a area you can hunt can take a few years to figure out, Iowa literally takes a few year to draw the archery tag.

Gun tags are easier I think (some can be had on leftovers), but your hunting outside of the "rut".

I am likely to turkey hunt MO and KS this spring and scout a few places to deer hunt, but that pricey KS tag is my only reservation.

 

[southernhunter]

If any one would like to hook up and go pm me , I have hunted pheasants out there for several years but never hunted deer.trying to mark where I see deer this year on WIHA map

 

[Vermin93]

KS is a great place as Poleaxe shows in that pic, great deer!

Problem is, just like Iowa, getting a archery tag in a area you can hunt can take a few years to figure out, Iowa literally takes a few year to draw the archery tag.

Gun tags are easier I think (some can be had on leftovers), but your hunting outside of the "rut".

I am likely to turkey hunt MO and KS this spring and scout a few places to deer hunt, but that pricey KS tag is my only reservation.

Have you checked the price and rules on nonresident turkey tags for Missouri? It's big bucks.

 

[AT Hiker]

KS is a great place as Poleaxe shows in that pic, great deer!

Problem is, just like Iowa, getting a archery tag in a area you can hunt can take a few years to figure out, Iowa literally takes a few year to draw the archery tag.

Gun tags are easier I think (some can be had on leftovers), but your hunting outside of the "rut".

I am likely to turkey hunt MO and KS this spring and scout a few places to deer hunt, but that pricey KS tag is my only reservation.

Have you checked the price and rules on nonresident turkey tags for Missouri? It's big bucks.

Yea, but at least it is 2 birds. Crazy is that a deer tag is only like $40 more than a turkey tag. The rules are crazy too, something like you cant harvest 2 birds within the first week or something weird like that.