Wesley McConnell's Smoke Pole Stud

Wesley McConnell of Whitetail Properties is a die-hard deer hunter. He lives it. And when he's not selling land, he's hunting big bucks. This season was no different. He was after big bucks in Kansas, somewhere he'd never hunted before.

McConnell couldn't wait to be in a tree. He was ready to be in the woods because he knew they had several good deer on the farm.

We had three shooters coming through a draw on this farm, Wesley said. The surrounding fields had been disked in preparation for planting wheat this fall.

He was excited for what might happen, but the high temperatures had him apprehensive as to whether or not it would all come together.

It was 97 degrees when we went out, and I didn't think we had a shot at connecting with a buck, Wesley said. But the southeast winds were going to switch that night and I wasn't going to be able to get back in there for another 5 days.

They headed to the blind hoping for the best. Because after all, you just never know what's going to happen in the deer woods. It can literally happen at any moment. You just have to be there when it does.

Their setup was great and it was obvious the deer were moving through the area.

We had a ground blind set up overlooking a draw that acts as a natural funnel for the deer as they move through the farm, Wesley said.

It wasn't long before one of the bucks he was after stepped out.

He came out at 135 yards and I got right on him, Wesley said. Oftentimes there was another shooter traveling with him, but I wasn't going to take any chances of letting him get away. When he turned broadside, I put it right on his shoulder. The [muzzleloader] put him down in his tracks. No trailing necessary. This was my first Kansas hunt, and it lasted all of 3 hours.

Needless to say, Wesley loves Kansas now and he'll be going back. That is a fact.

This was my first time hunting whitetails in Kansas, first time hunting whitetails in September, and the 12-hour drive was definitely worth it, Wesley said. I think I'm going to have to make this an annual thing.

So would Wesley. So would I.

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