Congrats to Casey Liegeois on his bow buck taken in Kansas this past week! Casey is a Food & Beverage Estimator working out of our Wrightstown Facility. Casey was able to put some tape on this one and came up with a 133 5/8″ gross green score. Nice work Casey! Here is his story:
I head down to Kansas on the 4th of November. With buck activity high on our cameras leading up to when we headed down there, our anticipations were high to see good bucks on their feet. I started the first sit the morning of the 5th. I didn’t want to spook any deer, so I snuck into the property I wanted to hunt around 7:30-8 am. I had to look for a tree to put my saddle in yet with the NW wind we had. This property doesn’t have a lot of timber on it. It is 56 acres of a standing corn field with a small timber line along the creek that’s about 15-20 yards wide. It has 2 bowls of woods where the creek bends and that’s where I figured most of the doe were bedding. One on each end of the farm with a small finger drainage between them. So, the bucks would cruise between the edge of the corn and the creek to scent check the doe between the bedding areas.
So, the first morning that I found a good tree I started to set up right away. I put some scent wicks out with estrous and went to the tree to start getting my saddle stuff ready. As I was kneeling by my backpack I heard something, I looked up and there was a big buck 20 yards from me smelling my scent wick. And as I looked up, the buck saw me and took off down the tree line where he came. I climbed up my tree and sat the rest of the day. Seeing multiple doe and young bucks. I sat that same stop the next morning and saw a big buck off in one of the bowls I was sitting next to chasing a group of doe away from my direction. With the wind changing that afternoon I decided to go hunt a different farm. The next couple of days I bounced around to different farms, seeing a lot of young bucks moving and chasing but no big mature bucks.
Now back to this 56-acre farm, I was originally accessing it from the north through the standing corn and then walking along a wood line that was the neighbors. I had a feeling accessing it this was educating the mature deer and that’s why I wasn’t seeing anything, and we weren’t getting anything on camera. I also believe that the mature bucks were locked down with the first doe’s that came into estrous, because all our cameras on our farms were slow with bigger deer movement. But I knew that once those bucks were done with the first round, they will be on their feet searching for something new! So, coming into the weekend I knew there was going to be a huge cold from Sunday into Monday morning, and the deer will be on their feet those days. Saturday, my friend’s wife ended up shooting a really nice buck in the morning, and while we were cutting it up at the farmers that day, I saw that he had some kayaks with dust on them in a shed. I got the idea to ask him if I could use one to access my stand, so I am not putting out my scent walking in. He had no issues letting me use it at all, and I could slip right up into a drainage ditch next to the creek that was a couple feet from my tree. So, Saturday afternoon that’s what I did to go put my saddle stuff buck up in the tree. It took me about 35 minutes to paddle up the creek to the drainage where my stand was, and after doing so I just knew it was going to work perfect going into Sunday morning.
Sunday morning came, and I planned to sit all day. It was 32 degrees with 18-25 mph winds and 30-40 mph gusts. I kayaked my way in and got up into my tree about a half hour before light. Now I knew if I was probably going to see something, it could happen at any time. But my best chances were between 10am-2pm. The reason for that is because doe typically bed during that time of the day. And what better time for a buck to find a hot doe is when they are bedded down. So, bucks will cruise the down wind side of doe bedding areas to find some hot ladies.
The morning started off slow with little to no deer movement, and it was cold, but luckily, I was dressed for it. The bad news, I film with my phone typically and forgot my charging cord for my battery pack. And with how cold it was and no service at all, my phone would tend to die quickly. By 10:30 am it was down to 40%. And 32% at 11 am. So, at that time I decided to shut my phone off to conserve battery life as much as I could if I was going to try and make it all day and still film something on my phone. At 11:30 the sun popped out, and the wind was dying down a little bit. It was still cold, but the sun shining helped. At that time, I closed my eyes, listened to the sounds around me and the smell of the brisk cold country air. I said a prayer and thanked the Lord for giving me this opportunity and being able to enjoy the outdoors. And for all the blessings that he provides in life. I thought about my wife, kids, my family, my friends, and everything that made me happy in life, and I thanked him for that. It felt great, even with it being cold outside, I felt warm and happy and enjoyed everything in that moment.
I looked up and it was about noon. I looked around and did my normal scan of the area….nothing. But I knew something was going to happen soon, I could just feel it in the air. At about 12:10 I looked down the creeks edge in a thicket between the standing corn and the creek. I saw a buck moving into my direction at 30 yard and he looked like a really good buck! I scrambled to get my phone turned on and while I was doing that, I was also turning on my GoPro. Finally getting my phone on and the camera rolling the buck was already making his way to my right. Which in a stand for a right-handed shooter, is not the side you want deer to come. Especially if they are only 5 yards away from your tree. He was literally right on the edge of the creek, right to my left, directly downwind of me and stopped in his tracks. He is 4 steps away from the drainage where my kayak was at, standing broadside behind a tree and some branches, literally at no more than 5 yards from me. I couldn’t understand why he went that way, why not to the left of my tree where all the other deer trails are. At that time, he looks back the way he came. I looked up and see another buck coming down the same trial through the thicket. This guy comes out and starts hitting a scrape from me at 10 yards directly in front of me. Nice 10 point but very young deer, probably 2 years old. I just thought wow, this is amazing! What the heck am I going to do?! I look back at the big buck under me, and he slowly turns around to the direction of the other buck. I figured it was now or never. I swung my bow over my tether in the tree, draw my buck and the buck is walking. I stop him and let him have it! Prefect hear shot! He runs maybe a total of 50 yards and piles up in the drainage by me. What a crazy hunt and an experience I will never forget! When its November, hunt where the doe’s are and where they bed, always down wind and sit all day. If you have bucks in the area, they will eventually come. Try it for yourself, and don’t be afraid to sit all day, those mid days hunts can be magical and happen in a blink of an eye!
Outside TG 
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