We held our 2nd Annual Bucks & Beers Camp in November of 2012. That year we set our sights on Western Kansas for the WIHA (Walk-In Hunting Area) opener just outside Wakeeney. We barely snuck this trip in before I left to move to Idaho and Todd moved back to Nebraska. The plan was simple and invitations were sent out. We met at our destination cabin, The Gobbler’s Roost. The 2012 Brew Crew consisted of Jeff, Steve, Todd, and I. This group of guys was the first Brew Crew members of the Bucks & Beers hunting camp.
Jeff, the oldest in the group, stands about 6’0” tall and has hunted since he was a little kid. When Jeff wasn’t hunting he played baseball and got into the industry opening the Cabela’s store in Kansas City. From there he started working at Bushnell and eventually became the Rifle Scope Product Manager. Today, Jeff is a principal at Outdoor Outfitters Group, a premier manufacturer’s rep agency.
I am the second oldest, at 5’9” and get a five o’clock shadow at about mid-morning. I used to get a phone call every day from a friend to tell me to shave as a joke. I met each of these guys while working at Bushnell Outdoor Products where I was the product manager for Uncle Mike’s about three years after Bushnell acquired Michaels of Oregon. Today I work for a company in the HVAC market.
Todd is second youngest, stands about 6’2” and has a lean build. He speaks with a deep raspy voice reminiscent of western movie stars. Appropriately, he wears cowboy boots like a surfer wears flip flops. During this entire hunting trip, he climbed decaying limestone and granite faces in his boots while most of us had high tech footwear with Gore-Tex. Todd worked with the Military Sales Team at Bushnell and helped with the launch of the HDMR series of Elite Tactical Scopes.
Steve is the youngest and stands about 5’8” and was probably born with a beard for none of us has ever seen him without one. He is one of the most well-mannered guys I have had the honor of working with. He helped launch several products in laser range finding and GPS for Bushnell. He is responsible for products like Garmin’s Xero Bow Sight and the Frist Gen Tactix Watch. Today, he works for Primos with Predator Calls.
Once we unloaded our gear and set up our aerial maps, we split up into two groups to do some scouting. If you ever have been through the western portion of Kansas on I-70 toward the Colorado state line you no doubt were impressed by the vast expanse of open ground and farmland. Most people I know who have driven through this part of the state couldn’t wait to see the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, or just something other than expanses of flat land. So if you have been on that stretch of road you might be wondering what there is to scout. If you ever venture past the exits for food and fuel, you might be surprised by what you can find.
Opening morning, we decided to all go to Jeff’s favorite piece of ground which had small canyon-like features with draws that were perfect for mule deer. From the road, we made a short hike atop a large rock face that overlooked a near-perfect 360° degree view of the entire area. The rock face we sit on has a chalk-like face below us to the southeast where people have carved their names since the 1800s. This year the farmers had just begun to harvest their corn and deer were moving into the dried out river bottom off to the west. Jeff and Todd went west while Steve and I circled back to the chalk face and followed the river bottom. The first morning we came up aces. That afternoon, Steve and I went to another property and put out a ground blind while Jeff and Todd stayed on the original plot of land. When we met up that evening at the Gobbler’s Roost, we had both convinced ourselves we need to hunt the properties in the morning.
Steve and I headed out to the property we had set up a blind on and got there in plenty of time to sneak a point and set it back up again. As we sat there in the darkness, the Kansas wind was having its way with our blind until the sun finally came up and things calmed down. From our blind, we saw a hunter get down out of a tree stand waving his arms in anger after having missed a shot on a buck. About 40 minutes later a nice-sized buck came into view from the fields and slipped into one of two draws. It was late enough we figured the buck was headed to bed down. Steve and I exited the blind and hiked down to the two little draws. Steve took the left one, I took the right one. The wind was perfect and helped mask the sound of us moving through the tall grasses and scrub brushes. My eyes constantly were scanning for any indication of that buck when I caught something that didn’t seem to fit. Slowly I dropped my bow to my leg and raised my binoculars. Horns! I was in the draw the buck had chosen and he was 100 yards ahead of me bedded down. From this point, I dropped on all fours and crawled to within 30 yards. In between me and the bedded buck was a small near chest high thicket. I stood up, came to full draw and held. The buck must have sensed something was up because it turned its head, saw me, and stood up and moved just slightly uphill to get a better view. I can tell you this was a nice buck. When I close my eyes I can still see the antlers. But, I can’t show you. I made a classic archery mistake. Instead of staying focused on where I wanted to put my arrow, I snuck a peek at his rack. When I released, I smacked the ground squarely in front of him. If it had hit just a few feet back it would have been a perfect shot. As the mule deer bounded off, I became aware of my leg vibrating. I reached into my pocket to see my phone was being lit up by Jeff and Todd. Trying to clear my mind, I answered to hear Jeff say something like, “We need your guy’s help, like now.” Steve and I hiked back up to the blind, folded it up and packed it out to the truck. We made our way to where Jeff and Todd were.
Through a series of phone calls, texts, smoke signals, pigeons and litany of landmark descriptions, Steve and I were able to find Jeff’s truck and roughly the area they were. Steve parked and we started the long walk across an open cattle field toward the dry river bed. When we arrived we were greeted by two very tired hunters who had just taken two very large bucks only a few minutes from each other. We understood immediately why Jeff and Todd needed help.
WIHA is just that, Walk-In Hunting Area. There is no getting an ATV or pull your truck in. You have to pack your animal out. After shaking hands and congratulating our buddies, Steve and I quickly went to work helping drag these two bucks back to the road. What was amazing about this whole thing was that Todd was using a bow that Jeff threw together from an old Bear bow he had with parts from an upgrade I did to my Bear Lights Out bow. Todd shot his buck at 8 yards. It stopped perfectly broadside to him and is the largest animal anyone we know of have harvested from this property.
A year later we met the owner of this property, a fellow named Darcie. In sincere appreciation, we took his family and him out to dinner to the steakhouse in downtown Wakeeney as a thank you for having the land in Kansas’ WIHA program. I am proud to say that there weren’t and still aren’t any strings attached to that dinner. We mostly keep in contact with Darcie via Facebook now. Hunters and Landowners working together is good for our sport and continuing the traditions.
- L. Yarbrough, Bucks & Beers
