KS Antelope

tdhanses

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Sep 26, 2018
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Anyone done this hunt, I drew the short rifle season unit 2 tag. Plan is to hunt WIHA as I know no one in that part of KS. I know there are some nice bucks but a very small overall population.

If anyone has any pointers for this hunt I’m all ears, I wouldn’t think pressure wouldn’t be too bad unless all the antelope are in the same general area. This could be a possibility. If I have time when I come home from my CO archery hunts I’m hoping to maybe get a little scouting in.
 

*zap*

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Dec 20, 2018
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N/E Kansas
Farmers/ranchers in western Kansas hate antelope....e-z to get permission. Find the local grain elevator and go in and talk to them for names of landowners who would want antelope hunted. You might try the Sharon Springs area.
 
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tdhanses

tdhanses

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Thanks, yeah I’ve heard it isn’t hard to get on private out there. I’ll do some research on the phone gps and see if I can’t contact a few.
 
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Joined
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Lenexa, KS
I always see a group west of Cedar Bluff Reservoir, 30+ animals, but there's never a good buck in there. Go as far west as you can stomach. I honestly haven't seen very many out there, but never had the tag so maybe just wasn't paying attention. If you're serious about getting one killed I think showing up the the co-op with a box of donuts to chat would be a worthwhile investment. Pick up the plat maps, usually have phone numbers in them. You'll have to go during the week probably. Have your checkbook and cash. Those small county clerks usually can't run a card.
 

FURMAN

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The antelope in western KS are very sparsely populated. I would not head out there expecting to find them on WIHAs. Make some phone calls. Wardens, Chamber of Commerces, grain elevators, Farm implement dealers, anything you can think of. A land ownership map so you can call land owners when you see the animals.
 
Joined
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Montana
I hunted antelope, for many years, in SW kansas. Go to the local courthouse and get yourself a landowners map. Also there are lots of good hunting on WIHA. Hunting over water works well if it has been a dry year. I've seen blinds built at the base of windmills, out of tumbleweeds and twine. Decoys, either home made or store bought, work extremely well. If you can get between a herd buck and his harem, pop a buck decoy up and get ready. This works extremely well if there are satellite bucks that that he is chasing off. If you locate any lonely satellite bucks, pop up a doe decoy. They will usually come running, looking for love. Enjoy your hunt.
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
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Location
Colorado
Download OnX and drive the roads until you find one you like. Figure out who the landowner is with OnX and ask for permission. Rinse and repeat until you tag out.
 
Joined
Aug 21, 2019
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Location
Holton Kansas
go to Kansas fish and game website they do a air count every year. they have a map showing where every heard was during survey. Sharon springs area has the highest number of goats.
 
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tdhanses

tdhanses

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Well this was not an easy hunt, largest group I saw was 3. I had to move move move and glass everywhere. I found a small buck on opening day and let him pass twice. Found one other buck that wasn’t very big and with 2 does. I was able to find a decent buck in the end all by himself. I used the Gaia gps app to find the landowner and then google to tract them down, was able to get permission to go after him. The WIHA is hard, not due to pressure, there just aren’t many Antelope around. Also getting private permission ahead of time may not help as they can move across multiple properties if pressured. I found him Saturday and got ahold of the landowner Sunday, 3hrs after getting permission he was down. He wasn’t easily visible from the road so I think many drove right on by him.09ADF48B-77D5-4596-B5AA-6BD8F2EDB3AE.jpegF1A2CE84-E8A6-4A22-B9D8-89EE33E87012.jpeg
 

FURMAN

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Well this was not an easy hunt, largest group I saw was 3. I had to move move move and glass everywhere. I found a small buck on opening day and let him pass twice. Found one other buck that wasn’t very big and with 2 does. I was able to find a decent buck in the end all by himself. I used the Gaia gps app to find the landowner and then google to tract them down, was able to get permission to go after him. The WIHA is hard, not due to pressure, there just aren’t many Antelope around. Also getting private permission ahead of time may not help as they can move across multiple properties if pressured. I found him Saturday and got ahold of the landowner Sunday, 3hrs after getting permission he was down. He wasn’t easily visible from the road so I think many drove right on by him.View attachment 125531View attachment 125532

Nice goat for a tough situation.
 
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tdhanses

tdhanses

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Nice goat for a tough situation.

Thanks, I’m very happy with him. To me any KS goat is a record goat.

There are some very large WIHA and none of them had any goats, it really shows how few we have and how spread apart they are.

The 170gr Berger out of my 270wsm dropped him instantly and I wish I had taken more pics but I wanted to get him on ice. The bullet entered right behind the front shoulder and exited exactly right behind the other front shoulder, went clear through and both entry and exit wounds were the size of a quarter, no massive explosion on the exit. It was a 400yd shot so not a close one at all and I do wonder if the bullet failed even though it did it’s job, all I hear about are how Berger’s just explode.
 
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tdhanses

tdhanses

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No that is a rifle tag this year, I haven’t decided yet if I’ll go back out or not yet. Too much going on and between archery elk and this, feel like I haven’t been home much the last month. But I have almost 2 months to decide 😁
 

FURMAN

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Thanks, I’m very happy with him. To me any KS goat is a record goat.

There are some very large WIHA and none of them had any goats, it really shows how few we have and how spread apart they are.

The 170gr Berger out of my 270wsm dropped him instantly and I wish I had taken more pics but I wanted to get him on ice. The bullet entered right behind the front shoulder and exited exactly right behind the other front shoulder, went clear through and both entry and exit wounds were the size of a quarter, no massive explosion on the exit. It was a 400yd shot so not a close one at all and I do wonder if the bullet failed even though it did it’s job, all I hear about are how Berger’s just explode.


I have had more pass throughs than not with Bergers. Yes the destroy the vitals but rarely does the majority of the bullet not exit. This happens even more with higher energy and smaller game.
 
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tdhanses

tdhanses

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I have had more pass throughs than not with Bergers. Yes the destroy the vitals but rarely does the majority of the bullet not exit. This happens even more with higher energy and smaller game.

Thanks Ryan, makes sense really and makes me feel better about the bullet.
 

Bhunt

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Aug 12, 2018
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Great job. I have till the end of the month to fill my archery tag yet. It's not gonna be easy.
 

chawes79

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Feb 2, 2018
Messages
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Man that's awesome! Congrats on your buck. I shot a good one up there this year too. Probably passed by you. WIMG_8514.jpge go up every year bowhunting, bUT was Fortunate enough to draw a rifle tag this year. Although successful with a bow (6 of
8), I used it as an opportunity to kill my best goat td.
 
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