Intense Public-Land Encounter Produces Big Buck at 12 Yards

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It was one of those overcast afternoons with a steady, 10 mph wind when you practically expect a gnarly, public-land buck to appear. I had hiked two miles into a piece of public land in Kansas with my Primos Scar buck decoy slung over my shoulder. About 40 yards from the edge of a large bedding area, I positioned my decoy, sprayed it with scent eliminator and scurried to some shoulder-high brush and settled in.

About 45 minutes before dark, I heard deep, rapid grunting just inside the bedding area about 60 yards away. The vocalizations suggested a mature buck was following a doe. They didn’t exit the bedding area’s south end where I was waiting. Instead, they veered to my right and likely exited the east side behind a hill. I never saw them. I grunted a few times and even rattled, but with no response — typical of a buck following a doe.

In 2023, I had three encounters with a monster buck in the same vicinity. So, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was him. Either way, this close encounter fueled my jets. It was Oct. 30, 2024, and I had a full week to hunt several great-looking spots marked on my HuntStand Pro Whitetail app, with options for various wind directions.

Happy Halloween

I’ve never killed a Halloween buck, but the day always gets me stoked. It’s one of the best times to rattle, plus November is just around the corner! Anyway, on Halloween morning, I ventured to the same area as the previous evening. I left the truck at daylight, hunting my way back towards the bedding area. If I didn’t catch a buck exiting a picked cornfield on my way, I’d again get downwind of the large bedding area and rattle.

Soon, I spotted a high-130-class buck 100 yards away. Unlike most bucks I’ve shown my bow-mounted Ultimate Predator buck decoy, he was neither curious nor aggressive. Only alert. He was a borderline shooter anyway, and once he bounded away, I kept moving to the bedding area.

I didn’t encounter any other deer, and when I reached the bedding area’s downwind fringe, I grunted and rattled. Twenty minutes later, I slinked deeper into the bedding area, rattling again. Nothing. I pressed deeper still and set up a third time. At the crack of the antlers, brush erupted, and my heart leapt into my throat. A raghorn bull elk ran a short distance, stopped and looked back at me. Kansas has very few elk compared to the West, making this encounter fairly rare.

On Halloween afternoon, I hit a different piece of public soil that consists of a wheat field backed by rolling, cedar-dotted prairies and, eventually, a thick cedar bedding area. My wife and I had hunted it in 2023 and liked how it looked. I hauled my Primos decoy a mile deep, positioned it on a hill and scuttled downwind to a cedar where I tucked in behind my Ultimate Predator decoy. I learned this “lockdown situation” setup from Bowhunter’s Danny Farris, who also owns the decoy company.

With loads of daylight left, I was glassing the prairies that divide the bedding area from the wheat field when I noticed a doe being followed by two bucks about 800 yards away. There might have been a third buck, but I couldn’t be sure. All I knew is that a great-looking buck started posturing at a younger buck and began walking him my way. The hills swallowed them up, and I didn’t see them again. I saw several does, and then darkness fell.

November 1

The next morning, I drove to a different public parcel’s parking area before daylight, planning to wait until first light to tiptoe in and set up downwind of a bedding area to rattle. Since I hunt almost exclusively from the ground, I consider myself to be “hunting” the moment I’ve walked the minimum distance from the roadway, especially during the rut. That’s why I don’t usually hike in before daybreak.

Another truck was already there. So, I moseyed over, greeted the other hunters and asked which direction they were heading. They seemed to be hemming and hawing. I explained my plans, and they expressed some interest in the same area. They arrived first, so I said I would hunt somewhere else. Long story short, they said to just stick with my plan. I’m unsure what they decided to do.

I made some aggressive setups downwind of the bedding area with my bow decoy, antlers and grunt call. Either the bedding area was empty that morning, or the buck that was in it wasn’t willing to fight. Regardless, I hiked out, drove to a different parking area with more room and shot a few arrows. Afterwards, I drove around to scout another spot at midday.

That afternoon, the wind was perfect to swoop in and hunt where I had the previous afternoon, but I decided I’d sit about 800 yards to the south, where the bucks had been following the doe. So, when I’d finished scouting, I drove to a parking area that’s a mile straight west of there. As I readied my gear, I suddenly realized my bow was missing. I’m usually very detailed, but somehow, I’d forgotten to put it in the back seat after shooting earlier that afternoon. Crap!

I was a nervous wreck as I drove toward the parking lot where I had practiced, worried another hunter had found himself a fully outfitted Mathews LIFT. Fortunately, my bow was lying next to the fence, right where I had left it. Whew, what a relief!

Hurrying back to where I intended to hunt, I was sorting my gear at the parking area when a truck came rumbling down the dirt road. A fellow named Don pulled up and rolled down his window. A Kansas resident, he epitomized the way a resident hunter should interact with a non-resident hunter. We hit it off. He explained where he and his son were camping and said to come find them if I needed anything. I set off toward my spot as a cloud of Kansas dust swallowed Don’s pickup in the distance.

After hiking a mile with my Primos decoy in the 71-degree heat, I was right where the bucks had been following the doe the previous afternoon. I set my decoy, sprayed it down, and tucked myself into a cedar behind my bow decoy with the antlers removed. As the afternoon progressed, I saw some does in the distance. A little later, I rattled and grunted lightly, but nothing happened.

About 40 minutes before dark, success suddenly felt undeniable. The sun was beginning to set, and the wispy prairie grasses were dancing whimsically in the gentle breeze. I pitched a few grunts, then forcibly smashed the antlers together. Any buck in the bedding area would certainly hear me.

About 15 minutes had elapsed when I noticed a mature buck standing stock still 200 yards away, along the edge of the cedar bedding area. It was the larger buck from the previous evening. He hadn’t seen my decoys yet.

Suddenly, coyotes began howling back in the bedding area where he’d come from, and he anxiously swiveled his head. I grunted and snort-wheezed. His head jolted my way, and he instantly saw the decoys, grunted and started a stiff-legged march in my direction. Due to the terrain, he disappeared from view as he approached, and I grew anxious. I knew he would circle downwind of the decoy, but where would he pop up, and how close?

Minutes later, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a deer walking with purpose through the tall grass. I peered over my shoulder and saw him at less than 20 yards and closing. He was on track to walk by at just 10 yards, so I drew my bow. But rather than walking out in front of me, he walked directly behind me and stopped. He was trying to scent-check the doe decoy attached to my bow. In fact, he was so close, I heard him sniffing! With me at full draw but pointed in the exact opposite direction, I thought for sure the game was over. The breeze was blowing right to him.

After holding at full draw for about 90 seconds, I heard the buck walking and stomping back around the cedar. He must have missed my downwind airstream by mere inches. At 8 yards, and with the wind blowing to him, how did he not smell me and spook? The Lord Almighty had other plans, which played out next.

Still at full draw, but with my arms weakening, I was relieved to glance over my shoulder and see the buck would soon clear the cedar boughs and approach my Primos buck decoy. When he stepped out 12 yards away, I punched an arrow through both lungs. It was the most intense encounter I’ve ever had with a mature buck. He had been 8 yards away moments earlier, and now I’d killed him at 12 yards from the ground. Come on!

Queue the Drama

Even though my broadhead got both lungs, the buck ran about 250 yards and hopped the boundary fence from the public onto private ground. I’d be unable to track him without the landowner’s permission. I immediately engaged the Property Info Overlay on my HuntStand app, identifying the landowner’s name. Next, I obtained his number at whitepages.com and gave him a call, but no one answered.

I looked up the phone numbers of adjacent landowners and called them to see if they knew how I could reach the landowner. I hit dead ends, and now coyotes were howling in every direction (some less than 150 yards away), which threw me into a panic. I was scared of losing my venison.

I had no choice but to hike a mile back to the truck, drive to the landowner’s address and, hopefully, catch him at home. I was sweaty and stressed when I reached the truck, and I drove quickly. Don’s camp was along the way, so I stopped just in case he happened to know the landowner, but neither he nor his son had returned from their afternoon hunts.

At the landowner’s home, two teenage fellas were standing outside, and one was talking on his phone. He was the landowner’s son. I walked up, introduced myself and explained my situation. I asked if the landowner was home. The boy explained that his dad is the landowner and was on the line, and he handed me his phone. Politely, I introduced myself and explained the dilemma. The landowner had me explain exactly where I had been hunting. Somewhat apprehensively, he permitted me to retrieve my buck. What a relief!

Back at the parking area, I noticed vehicle headlights coming down the road as I got my meat bags, backpack, knives and flashlight together. I had a hunch it was Don, so I stood in the road as the vehicle slowly approached. It was him. I anxiously explained my situation. He not only agreed to help but contacted his son, Jake, to come help, too.

Don and I hiked in and reached the spot where the buck had jumped the fence, finding blood immediately. Then, we noticed a flashlight beam behind us. It was Jake coming to join us. We crossed the fence and followed decent blood, but twice we hit intersections in the cedars where the buck could have turned multiple directions. It seemed like forever, but the blood trail soon led us to the buck, which had expired within seconds of jumping the fence because it was already fairly stiff.

It was the first time I’d ever recovered a deer with two strangers. It was awesome to witness their energy and excitement as we high-fived and hugged with pats on the back. Though I had met Don only several hours earlier and Jake maybe 15 minutes earlier, it immediately became evident we were cut from the same cloth.

We immediately noticed that coyotes had already started chewing where the buck’s abdomen met a hind quarter, but fortunately, they hadn’t opened the guts. Had the recovery been postponed until the morning, I’m certain the buck would have been nothing but bones.

Happy Ending

After checking in my kill on the Kansas Department of Parks & Wildlife app, I butchered the buck. My two new friends held lights and helped me bag the meat. Once we had everything loaded up, we stopped by the cedar from which I had shot the buck and looked for my arrow. I figured it would be nearly impossible to find it in the tall grass, but Jake quickly found it only several yards beyond where the buck had been standing.

We finished the hike and packed my buck off the prairie. By now, it was after 11 p.m. The two gentlemen invited me to stop by their camper and eat some chili around a fire. Being that they were planning to hunt the following morning, their hospitality was astounding.

It was around midnight when we parted ways, and I thanked the Lord for all the dots He connected for me to bow-kill a buck at point-blank range on the ground, and to retrieve it after it unexpectedly had enough steam following a double-lung hit to run 250 yards onto private property. From seeing a bull elk to meeting strangers to shooting a big buck from the ground at 12 yards to having coyotes chew on my deer, my three days of hunting in the Sunflower State sure had a lot of twists and turns. Nov. 1 is a great day to be a whitetail hunter, and I promise you I won’t forget this one anytime soon!

Wisconsin resident Darron McDougal is a frequent Bowhunter contributor and passionate advocate of DIY, public-land bowhunting adventures.

Author's Notes: On this hunt, I shot a Mathews LIFT 29.5 bow outfitted with Victory VAP SS 350 arrows and Beast Broadheads. I also used a Primos Buck Roar II deer call, an Ultimate Predator bow-mounted deer decoy and a Primos Scar buck decoy. I wore ScentLok apparel and Lacrosse Lodestar boots.

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