As I awaited the warm rays of the sun beneath the bright hunter’s moon, I engaged in one of my favorite predawn traditions. Rolling my beanie down over my eyes to seal in the warmth, I shut my lids and listened to the world come alive around my 21-foot ladder stand. Off to my left, some foxes tussled just out of sight. Directly to my front, a barn owl’s call rolled through the chilly predawn air. Then, I smiled, as somewhere behind me I heard the telltale, cautious crunch of a deer stepping through snow. An hour still remained before first light, and already they came.
For a hunt to come to a successful conclusion—particularly on a trophy whitetail—quite a number of factors must perfectly align. Sure, anyone can get lucky, but most times there’s quite a bit more to it. The lion’s share of the work, of course, goes in prior to the hunt. Sitting where the deer are is no accident—knowing how and where the deer feed, their patterns, their highways and which bucks are in what areas are all key to dropping a target buck. This requires many days of scouting, an understanding of the terrain, deer behavior and likely an extensive network of trail cameras. And that doesn’t even count playing the wind, weather and moon phase.
Next, on the day of the hunt, a hunter needs to embody a host of contradictions. He must keep constant track of his environs yet remain still; be keen of ear yet unflinching at the gun’s report; and in the final moments be slow in motion while fast to action. Of course, taking advantage of the deep bench of experience at Big Kansas Whitetails makes half that process a breeze (for the hunter, at least).
The outfit boasts some of the best whitetails east Kansas has to offer. Run by Micah Collins—a deer guru whose imposing presence stands as a living embodiment of the Plains—and his wife, Abby, the lodge simultaneously exudes five-star atmosphere and home-cooked charm the moment you step through the door. And that’s before you even get a glimpse of the trail-cam photos. Despite leasing some 20,000 acres of private ground, it sometimes seems Micah knows every buck in the ZIP code personally; given the amount of time he spends in the field, he likely does.
While being there simply to learn about whitetail behavior from Micah would have been good enough, we were fortunate to have still more to look forward to, with a wide selection of gear on hand to wring out in the field. I was using a Henry X Model, topped with a Trijicon AccuPoint 1-6x24mm, firing 180-grain Remington 360 Buckhammer Core-Lokts through a Silencer Central Banish 46 suppressor. This combination was uniquely suited to our environs, as I was about to discover in my lofty perch.
The noise to my left was only a doe, but she merely began the parade of deer that wandered through. Does came by in groups of two to five, while I grunted in the occasional buck. While all were younger—some with great potential for future seasons—just shooting one wasn’t the point, so I sat back and enjoyed nature at its finest, practicing scoring bucks as they came, went and changed position. Indeed, I could have gone on like that all day, when suddenly I saw it. Two does had fed in from my rear and looked up with trepidation. I hadn’t moved and other deer had gone by without scenting me: What could be the issue? Then I heard it. Ever so softly, a hoof broke the crusted snow to my rear. Those does weren’t reacting to me, but to the buck that had just come on scene. I edged my head rightward ever so slightly and there he stood, every inch a shooter. As he sauntered farther into view I counted: two, four, five on the left. A good view of the right eluded me, but it seemed to match. His bases were heavy, and he carried the mass high into palmations on his beams. I silently swiveled my gun around to take aim. Then my mind began to make a different calculation. I had pulled into the lodge the previous day at 1530, and it had just now struck noon. I hadn’t even been here a full day yet: Could I really end my hunt so soon? Then, Micah’s words rang in my ears: “Never pass a deer on the first day you would shoot on the last.” My thumb found the hammer, pulled back, and my index finger squeezed to fire.
The first thing I was struck by was the lack of violence in the action. The gun’s recoil was negligible and its report totally without concussion, almost seeming like a two-dimensional silhouette of a gunshot. There was no ringing in my ears as I watched the buck dip, turn and run off, blood streaming from a fresh wound behind his shoulder. As I heard him crash to a halt some 80 yards farther, watching his tail flick white for the final time, I couldn’t suppress a respectful smile. The deer was down and had passed in mere moments.
As I clambered down and followed the blood trail to my deer—more ritual than necessity in this case—I was elated to discover this buck had no ground shrinkage; he was exactly as big up close as I thought from the stand. With a strapping body and a greying Roman nose, the 4.5-year-old deer rested in almost gentle repose, propped against the tree where he breathed his last. As I trailed him, I had noticed just how well the 180-grain 360 Buckhammer had done its job, with chunks of pinkish lung matter scattered throughout the blood trail.
After returning to camp it hit me. This was day one of a five-day hunt! What exactly would I fill my time with over the next few days (other than writing this story)? Luckily, Big Kansas Whitetails offers more than simply its namesake game.
Following a day spent cheering on our fellow hunters, David Draper, Brad Flach, Josh Peck and I joined guides Steve Kitchen and Kam Trask for a morning duck hunt. The wind blew steady and cool as we hunkered in our A-frame blinds, waiting for ducks to dump into our chosen pocket of water. After several groups went wide, we hurriedly moved our blinds a bit to the right. Then the magic started, as birds came in a steady trickle that kept us on guard and on triggers. The mallard migration was a tad late, but we still managed to lure a 50-pack from the heavens, cutting the air above us like a crashing jetliner. Between the group we broke off this wad and a random assortment of gadwalls, spoonies and teal, we hit our limit by 10 o’clock.
The rest of the week rolled by in a pleasant blur of writing, conversation and Abby’s homemade toffee. Draper, Brad and Josh had all joined me in tagging out during the first two days—Josh with an absolute stud of a 6.5-year-old 8-point—but Brandon Maddox of Silencer Central and Joel Hodgdon soon added to our ranks with a pair of 12-points, the latter being a 171-inch monster. Alaska hunter Tyler Freel was not far behind. Coming to Kansas hoping for a buck and leaving with a mature animal, a limit of ducks and some lasting memories is a hard feeling to beat. If you’re looking for some of the same, talk to Micah, Abby, Kam, Matt, Steve and the rest of the Big Kansas Whitetails team.
Henry Big Boy X Model
Few guns are more American, more associated with whitetail hunting and more fun to run than a classic lever action. Henry’s Big Boy X Model in 360 Buckhammer now updates this timeless design for the modern age. Boasting a hard-charging chambering legal even in the straight-wall-only states, and ready to accept modern accessories from the get-go, the X Model is a function-over-form firearm that looks pretty dang cool in the process.
The gun can be loaded either by the tube in the most traditional manner, or via its side gate. The inclusion of both is a boon, as it allows for on-the-fly top-offs and efficient unloading. The black synthetic stock has a sling swivel stud inlaid on its underside, which pairs nicely with the mount on the fore-end. That fore-end also sports a small section of Picatinny rail underneath to easily mount a bipod, and a stretch of M-LOK on either side to attach other accessories. Up top, the gun boasts easily visible front and rear fiber-optic sights for a green-dot-in-red-dot picture, and the receiver is drilled and tapped for scope mounts. The Trijicon AccuPoint 1-6x24mm that graced my rifle proved a perfect pairing, as its low magnification and bright fiber-optic aiming point made quickly finding and executing shots extremely efficient.
Meanwhile, the X Model’s lever ran smooth with a relatively short throw, allowing me to easily stay in the scope for follow-up shots. Finally, of course, came a 5/8x24 TPI threaded muzzle, onto which the Banish 46 could thread directly. The result? A whitetail hunter’s dream gun—fast to the shoulder, accurate on target, easy to ride through recoil and without the ear-splitting report common to our favorite calibers. MSRP is $1,124. henryusa.com
Banish 46
When you break out the big guns, you need a suppressor that can hang with your kit. The Silencer Central Banish 46 fills that need to a T. Designed to handle monsters from .338 Lapua and classic .45-70 Government, all the way down to lighter-reporting pistol calibers like 10mm, the Banish 46 is the suppressor you reach for when you want to save your ears, and even reduce felt recoil. Even better, its modular design allows it to adapt to a variety of situational needs.
In its long configuration, the Banish 46 offers a best-in-class noise-reduction rating of around 34.5 decibels. This is perfect for treestand hunting, when its 10-inch length and 20.4-ounce weight are immaterial and the goal is simply the maximum amount of noise reduction possible. If you need a little more maneuverability out of the can, its Whisper Tech tube can easily be reconfigured to a 7.9-inch length and 16.3-ounce weight. While this will adversely affect its noise-reduction capability to some extent, it’s a nice option to have when that extra couple inches could mean the difference between getting off your shot and getting hung up on brush or a blind. What’s more, this (and all) disassembly can be done without the need of any specialized tools.
Striking a balance between lightness and durability, the Banish 46 is crafted from titanium and Inconel. That former material makes cleaning convenient, as its 10 Stifle baffles can be removed and cleaned by hand, or in a tumbler or ultrasonic cleaner without having to worry about damage. Those baffles are additionally keyed and indexed, making them almost effortless to reassemble since they can be stacked in any order. The suppressor attaches as a direct thread in a variety of pitches; with a QD muzzle device; or with a Nielsen device. Finally, its .460-caliber bore makes it capable of handling most any size projectile on the hunting market. MSRP is $1,249-$1,388. silencercentral.com
360 Buckhammer Core-Lokt
It’s sometimes difficult to justify dissecting a bullet when you’ve seen it perform so well in the field. After all, I watched these classic “deadly mushrooms” drop every deer they flew at in this new chambering—that’s more than enough to recommend the Remington 360 Buckhammer in my book. Not doing so, however, would be a disservice to this hard-hitting straight-wall cartridge, which specializes in flattening whitetails at typical hunting distances.
The 360 Buckhammer was developed by Remington with a Core-Lokt bullet specifically in mind, if you ask me. The load I fired in Kansas sends a 180-grain Core-Lokt projectile from the muzzle at 2400 fps for massive terminal effect. Its tapered copper jacket is locked to a solid lead core for a consistent doubling of expansion while still retaining weight for deep penetration. Mine was a complete pass-through, leaving a wide swath of destruction in its path.
It barely needs to be said, of course, but this is not a long-range round. Beyond 200 yards, the projectile’s drop exceeds 10 inches, and approaching 300 the round begins to go transonic, drastically affecting its stability and predictability. At 250 and in, though, at traditional whitetail ranges? Core-Lokt 360 Buckhammer will indeed bring the hammer down hard on any buck you choose, and make tracking a breeze to boot. MSRP per box of 20 Core-Lokt 180s is $38.99. Remington also loads a 200-grain Core-Lokt at 2200 fps. remington.com
