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>> GRANT: It’s the time of year we celebrate Thanksgiving. You might say, “Gosh, there’s not a lot to be thankful for during 2020.” But if you’re listening to this; if you’ve had time to get outside and go hunting, you’re a blessed person. And I hope you’ll join the GrowingDeer Team and my family and taken time Thanksgiving to be with family and recount all the blessings you’ve received this year.

>> GRANT: We recently shared that GrowingDeer Pro Staffer Chase White took his son, Rylan, deer hunting at their new lease in the Ozark Mountains for the opening day of youth firearms season.

>> GRANT: Rylan and his dad had a great strategy and Rylan punched his tag on a good Ozark Mountain buck and provided his family lots of fresh venison.

>> GRANT: After youth season, Chase had an opportunity to grab his Prime bow and go to Kansas and hunt some public land with one of his buddies.

>> GRANT: Chase arrived at the area they planned to hunt mid-morning November 4th. And the first thing he did was throw a Summit climber on his back, and use onX to look at the map and find some areas that looked like good travel areas, and then go put some boots on the ground and look for fresh sign.

>> GRANT: Chase and his buddy found some good rubs and lots of open scrapes.

>> GRANT: Based on the sign and weather conditions, Chase decided to hunt near a large wheat field.

>> CHASE: [Quietly] First night in Kansas. I’m in the stand. Got the Summit climber out and I’m in southeast Kansas. I’m sitting on the edge of a wheat field. I’ve got bedding to my right, creek behind me, wind’s blowing down the draw on the creek, should be good with this south wind. Hoping they come feed before dark. They are hitting scrapes hard so that’s where I’m putting my focus – food and scrapes.

>> CHASE: [Quietly] Since it is unseasonably hot on November 4th, I chose to hunt over the greens instead of the beans. So we’ll see if it pays off. Stay tuned.

>> GRANT: When it’s warmer than normal during deer season, deer tend to eat on greens versus grains. Grains, of course, they’re high in carbohydrates and build a lot of energy, or heat, in deer, where greens can give them nutrition and not produce that extra body heat.

>> GRANT: It wasn’t long until Chase spotted some turkeys feeding in the field.

>> GRANT: After a while a doe and a fawn appeared.

>> GRANT: After grabbing a few bites to eat, the doe worked toward Chase’s tree.

>> GRANT: Chase had a close encounter but he was looking for a Kansas buck.

>> GRANT: The next morning Chase set up in an area that had a lot of scrapes and looked like a travel corridor between food and cover.

>> GRANT: Chase’s scouting had paid off and he had read the sign well as he saw a lot of deer.

>> GRANT: That afternoon Chase moved to another area he had found on onX, put his boots on the ground and had found a lot of scrapes in that area.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] Second evening here in Kansas. It’s been really slow. The weather’s been hot, 74 degrees today. It’s the first week in November. So things gotta pick up here pretty soon. I haven’t seen no chasing yet. But it’s got to hit any day now.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] I’m hunting a spot back in a corner next to private land and there is a really good scrape line here and lots of bedding on the other side of me. The deer are moving really late in the evenings from what I’ve gathered. So I’m trying to get as close to the bedding as I can. It was a little bit of a haul in here. But, I’m in; self-filming. I’m going to sit back and enjoy the evening and see what happens.

>> GRANT: Finding areas that have a lot of fresh scrapes and rubs, especially when they’re in a line versus just a couple, usually indicates a very active travel corridor used by a lot of deer.

>> GRANT: Once again, Chase had read the sign well because it wasn’t long before he started seeing deer.

>> GRANT: Chase made another great decision by hunting very close to what he believed was a bedding area. When it’s warmer than normal, deer tend to leave those bedding areas a little later and wait until the temperatures cool off before getting up and moving toward feed.

>> GRANT: Had Chase set up further away from the bedding area and closer to the food source, it’s likely, given the temperatures were warmer than normal, that the bucks would have not arrived by his stand until after dark.

>> GRANT: This great-looking buck worked several scrapes and put on a show.

>> GRANT: As I’ve shared before, scrapes are communication hubs in the deer world. Both bucks and does of all ages visit scrapes. They both receive information by smelling scent left there and leave information by depositing scent at the scrape.

>> GRANT: Hunting near scrapes is a great strategy when they show signs of being actively used.

>> GRANT: However, when more and more does become receptive, bucks will pretty much abandon scrapes and simply move through their range searching for a receptive doe. Chase read the sign perfectly, saw that the scrapes had a lot of action and spent his time hunting near them.

>> GRANT: It seemed Chase was in the action, so he decided to return to the same location the next morning and saw a lot of deer.

>> ANNOUNCER: GrowingDeer is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s. Also by Reconyx, Eagle Seed, Winchester, Avian-X Decoys, LaCrosse Footwear, Morrell Targets, Bog, Thlete Outdoor Apparel, Hook’s Custom Calls, Summit Treestands, RTP Outdoors, Yamaha, Fourth Arrow, onX Hunt, Scorpion Venom Archery, Case IH Tractors, Bloodsport Arrows, Burris Optics, Code Blue, D/Code, G5 Broadheads, Prime Bows, and Redneck Hunting Blinds.

>> GRANT: Unfortunately, he also saw a bunch of other hunters. So he decided it was time to pack up and move to another area in hopes of finding a place that had less hunting pressure.

>> GRANT: As he was walking, Chase spotted antlers through the timber.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] We’ve got a shooter bedded down in this pit. He’s about 100 yards away; getting ready to put a stalk on.

>> GRANT: Though the stalk didn’t pan out, Chase learned some valuable information. It appeared the buck was using the berms as cover. The berms not only provided visual cover, but also the wind was likely to be swirling in between the berms.

>> GRANT: In addition, they made shade which the buck could lay in during the heat of the day. All in all, this was like the perfect place for a buck sanctuary.

>> GRANT: Realizing this, Chase wanted to take advantage of these berms that were created decades ago by mining in the area.

>> GRANT: Chase decided to hang his stand on a tree on the top of one of the berms where the wind would be more consistent. There were a lot of scrapes in the area, a lot of deer sign and Chase was excited to see what happened.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] A switch has been flipped. The bucks have moved from feeding patterns here to chasing does. It just all of a sudden started yesterday.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] That’s exciting. Hopefully, a buck chasing a doe comes by here and gives me a shot. So, we’re in tight. I’m in a draw; good crossing; got scrapes below me on both sides.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] I put a wick out on each side of me because the wind swirls in here. I’ve got some Code Blue doe estrus and doe urine on either side of me.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] I’m using it more as a cover scent than as an attractant. So we shall see what happens.

>> GRANT: Chase saw lots of deer during day four and it was obvious he was back in the action.

>> GRANT: The next morning was Chase’s last hunt before he needed to return home. And based on what he’d learned, he decided his best odds for punching his tag was to return and hunt the berm area.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] Day five here in Kansas. This is my last morning here. I’ll be going home this afternoon.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] The bucks are chasing. I’ve already seen two shooters this morning, neither of which I was able to get on camera. One was chasing a hot doe.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] This public area here is just a bunch of rolling hills and it is hard to hunt. The wind is not in – in my favor.

>> GRANT: It was still early when a yearling buck cruised through.

>> GRANT: You can tell by the mud on this buck’s feet that he had recently visited water.

>> GRANT: During the rut bucks travel a lot of miles. And doing so makes them thirsty. So they frequently go to water. And hunting near or over water can be a very effective strategy, especially if water is a limited resource where you’re hunting.

>> GRANT: This young buck drifted by Chase and he hoped a more mature buck would show.

>> GRANT: Later that morning Chase spotted a good buck cruising the berm. Now Chase is self-filming so he zoomed out and hoped he would get a shot opportunity while the buck was in frame.

>> GRANT: Chase believed the shot was further back than where he was aiming and decided to give the buck a bit more time to expire.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] It’s been a little over an hour. I’m gonna go up here and check blood and go from there.

>> CHASE: [Whispering] Complete pass through.

>> GRANT: The arrow showed good blood, so Chase started trailing.

>> CHASE: [Quietly] The Blood Ring. Look at that. All the way down. Got good blood going up the hill here. He shouldn’t be far. Let’s hope.

>> CHASE: [Quietly] I had – so I tracked the buck I just shot up to the top of this hill. I hit him a little far back so I’ve been watching him for about 20 minutes and waiting on my buddy, Jim, to get up here. And he hasn’t moved in 20 minutes, so I think he’s expired.

>> CHASE: [Quietly] My buddy, Jim, is here to film the recovery. Let’s go down and take a look at him.

>> CHASE: [Quietly] My first Kansas buck.

>> GRANT: Congratulations, Chase. That’s a fine, public land Kansas buck. And you tagged that buck because of your skills and extra effort in scouting.

>> GRANT: Chase used the line distance feature on onX and realized the buck had only traveled about 86 yards from where he was shot.

>> GRANT: Chase’s experience is a great example of how folks can have high-quality hunts on public land.

>> GRANT: Chase put the work in to find fresh sign and wasn’t afraid to move frequently in search of better locations.

>> GRANT: It’s easy to use the onX tools to find public lands, access points and even at a finer grain, areas that are likely to have a lot of deer sign.

>> GRANT: America is blessed with a huge amount of great public lands. I hope you take advantage of ‘em. But wherever you are, I hope you take time every day to get outside and enjoying Creation. And more importantly, take time to be quiet and listen to what the Creator is saying to you. Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.