Hunter's Kansas Buck - Kansas
Hunter and his Kansas buck.
Hunter, Scott Enloe and Scott Carpenter
Hunter: Hunter Enloe
Cameraman: Scott Carpenter
We couldn’t wait for the upcoming hunting season. My 11 year old son Hunter, had drawn a Kansas rifle tag. He wanted me to put in for an archery tag for him, but with the new season for youth hunters, I couldn't resist to get him that rifle tag. The new season would be September 13 thru September 21 for ages 16 and under. This is a great time of the year to catch big bucks feeding on the many types of grain fields that Kansas has to offer. Hunter had taken a great deer the previous year during the muzzle loading season, a great 10 pointer scoring in the upper 160's. Hopefully this year would produce a great buck as well.
After getting permission from Hunter's principal and teachers, my best friend Scott Carpenter and I picked Hunter up from school and started the long drive to Kansas from North Carolina. Scott was going along with us to capture the entire hunt on film. We left early on Friday September 12 at 3:00 a.m. and drove all day before arriving around 10:00 p.m. that night in Kansas. Opening morning was just hours away when we arrived.
The first morning we got unpacked and headed out to check some fields to see what was coming out, in hopes of making a plan for the following morning. We saw one really nice buck in a field where we have permission to hunt, so we decided to go there that evening and see if he would come back out and give Hunter a chance at him. Before heading out for our first evening hunt, we took the Thompson Center out for a little test run just to make sure it could still drive tacks. We used a 7mm mag barrel and topped it off with a Nikon Monarch scope. The TC performed just as we expected it to. We hit the bean field almost running from the excitement we were about to experience. That evening hunt was a little slow, with us only seeing one doe and one small 7 pointer. We went back to the exact same location the next morning where we had seen the nice buck the morning before. The second morning was not much better. We only saw the same 7 pointer again.
After eating a quick lunch on the second day, we did a little homework that Hunter's teacher had sent with us to do, and I mean very little homework—all Hunter could think of was big bucks and when one was going to make the mistake and walk out in front of him. We all headed out for the evening hunt and this time we were going to make a change. We were going to an alfalfa field where we knew a ton of deer always hung out. We got to the field and had to sneak all the way out to the place where we were going to sit, because there was already two does feeding. Scott got all the camera equipment ready and Hunter and I got set up with the TC and settled in for what we hoped would be a productive evening. The deer activity was really great and we saw a lot of deer. One of the first deer out was a small buck, and then another, and another… The whole east end of field was loading up with small bucks, does, and fawns. We were really hopeful that a big buck would make his appearance before it got too late to shoot and film. Two small eight pointers were out in the field and started pushing each other around and ended up making a pretty good fight out of it. They fought across the field coming right at us. All caught up in the fight, we stopped concentrating on the field edge and the next time we looked, we saw a nice buck working a licking branch just inside the wood line. The two bucks that were close to us continued to fight and the big shooter buck could not stand it anymore. As he headed out into the field to break up the action, he had no clue he was walking down the gun barrel of an 11 year old with a very itchy trigger finger and a sniper eye for shooting. He gets very nervous on deer, but when it’s crunch time, he always pulls it together and is "DEAD" on with accuracy.
The big 10 pointer walked the field line about 110 yards away and headed for the two fighting bucks. He got through one of our shooting lanes and we had to totally change positions with the shooting sticks. After moving about 3 or 4 yards to our right, Hunter got into position to make the shot. Hunter was breathing hard and I know he was nervous. I told him that I was going to stop the deer so he could make his shot and he shook his head OK. I made the ever so popular loud fawn bleat and the 10 pointer stopped immediately to check out the noise. Hunter centered the Nikon crosshairs on the deer's shoulder and with the crack of the TC, the buck did a big kick and leap. I heard the bullet hit the deer with a big smack and he made it about 10 yards and fell.
The look on Hunters face when he shoots a deer is always priceless, and this time was no different. I have been right beside him every time he has killed a deer, from his first buck taken at the age of 5 while sitting between my legs. This was his 15th deer and I was right there to witness it all and Scott had captured it on film for us to remember for the rest of our lives. After the shot, Hunter did what he usually does, he cried, from the excitement and the relief that he had done a great job. I cried from being proud of my son and the tradition of hunting that I am able to pass on to him! We sat there only a couple of minutes to gain our composure and headed across the field to recover Hunter’s trophy.
We got to the edge of the field and Hunter was the first to spot him, piled up in the high weeds. There he was, just waiting for Hunter to put his hands around that enormous body and great rack. After filming and taking some pictures, we hooked the big boy on the Ameristep deer cart and wheeled him easily across the big alfalfa field to the truck. Once again Hunter had filled his Kansas deer tag with an outstanding buck, making the long drive home from North Carolina well worth it!