Kansas Expectations

In this episode, Dan Johnson interviews Brett Konen about hunting in Kansas. They discuss the expectations for hunting in Kansas, the impact of the recent public land cell camera ban, the increasing cost of hunting land, and the best time to hunt in Kansas. They also talk about terrain features, access to private and public land, and the effectiveness of calling and rattling during the rut.

Takeaways:

• Kansas offers the opportunity to hunt four to five-year-old bucks, with the potential for 140-150 class deer.
• The hunting community in Kansas has been affected by the recent public land cell camera ban, especially for out-of-state hunters.
• The cost of hunting land in Kansas is increasing, making it more challenging for the average hunter to afford.
• The best time to hunt in Kansas is the last week of October and the first week of November, with the peak of the rut around November 15th.
• Terrain features to look for include pinch points between grass and agriculture, areas with water sources, and overlooked spots with cover.
• Access to private land in Kansas is limited, and getting permission can be challenging.
• Driving the roads to scout and finding areas away from population centers can help avoid hunting pressure on public land.
• The best time for calling and rattling in Kansas is from the 23rd of October to early December.
• South Kansas offers more hunting opportunities and higher deer density compared to North Kansas.
• Hunting in Kansas can be a fun and exciting experience, especially for those who have not hunted there before.

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Dan Johnson (00:02.064)
What's up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Nine Finger Chronicles podcast. I'm your host, Dan Johnson. And today we are joined by a returning guest all the way from Kansas, Mr. Brett Conan Brett. What's up, man?

Brett Konen (00:16.142)
How you doing, sir? Good to be back.

Dan Johnson (00:18.865)
Yeah, absolutely. Love having you on. And one of the reasons why I wanted you back on the podcast today is because you live in Kansas and I recently drew Kansas. And so today I want to talk a little bit about what I can expect when I come to Kansas, when you suggest I come to Kansas, terrain features, things like that. What should I be looking for while I'm here?

public, private, can I get permission? All of those things I wanna talk about today. And just kinda, I need a little help setting my expectations for this particular out of state hunt because, and the reason I wanna set these expectations is the same reason I wanna set expectations for those people who reach out to me coming to Iowa. Like people think Iowa is this,

land of magic where you're going to run into like 160, 170 inch deer. And unfortunately, it's just not the case, right? It's not the case. In some areas it might be, but not statewide. And so I want to set some expectations. I want to get my expectations set. And that way it's going to help me say, okay, if a 130 class walks by, should I shoot it? What's a good deer? And so we'll have that conversation.

The other thing that I wanna get into real quick, and I'm sorry that you're gonna have to wait here a second, but I have to clear the air a little bit, because I know that Kansas recently went through a public land cell camera ban, correct? Okay, all right. And so I think the last time we talked was all the way back in November, right? Yeah, okay. So.

Brett Konen (01:53.678)
That was good.

Brett Konen (02:04.11)
Yes, sir.

Brett Konen (02:11.918)
I think so, yeah.

Dan Johnson (02:15.282)
Since that timeframe, what has the vibe of the hunting community been like in Kansas, especially those maybe that hunt private versus public? What's the cell cam vibe there now, now that the official ban has gone through?

Brett Konen (02:36.238)
I think the biggest thing is, you know, the private land hunters like myself, it didn't really affect. But the people that are coming probably from out of state or your everyday hunter that want to just get a little bit more intel on what deer could possibly be around, it really affected. Because I think, I don't know that it's a full band, but you have to, you have to, you can put your control camera up during the day.

but it has to be pulled down every single day. Well, I think that's how it read.

Dan Johnson (03:09.139)
okay, okay.

Yeah. So this is perfect, though. This is perfect. Because what we're starting to hear a lot of, and I'm guilty of this too, is I think I've heard, you know, like, nobody is really 100 % sure on what the actual black and white rules of some of these trail camera bands are supposed to do. Now.

Brett Konen (03:28.75)
Hmm.

Dan Johnson (03:42.643)
And this gets me into this, what I wanted to say is I recently reached out to a conservation officer here in Iowa, and I wanted him to come on and talk about these new rules. Okay. Now, he said, I want to wait till I have my district meeting to try to clear up some of this stuff. Well, I got a text from him yesterday and I said, hey, man,

He's like, man, nobody here is still comfortable being able to discuss what these black and white rules are.

Brett Konen (04:25.002)
That's crazy to me because he's a conservation officer and he can't even answer those.

Dan Johnson (04:28.69)
Yeah.

Right. Right. And he says it's because Des Moines, the government, has pushed this on them, basically saying, I really can't understand what they're saying. It's basically, we need to clear up some laws. And then they pushed this on to.

all these different departments, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Education. And the people who are actually supposed to enforce these laws are like, wait a second, what does that mean? And there's no clarification back to them. So now these people who are supposed to enforce some of these laws are very confused of what to do. And I'm not going to say, it's definitely not.

the conservation, like the DNR's fault, it's the government's fault that is pushing this on. Okay, so what happens if this? And then they ask these questions back to the government and the government goes, I don't know. Like that's an acceptable answer to shrug your shoulders. Or they pass it back and go, well, that's your job, right? And so it's, I'm really still trying to work on this to get like,

information right from the horse's mouth. Yes, you can do this. No, you can't do this. But still at this time, I don't think anybody really knows what you can and can't do with cell cams anymore. Right? And so until I get, really until I get, and this is specifically for Iowa, until I get a 100 % clear and correct answer, it's all speculation at this point.

Brett Konen (06:25.934)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (06:27.444)
So that's, it's really frustrating because now I wanna get into another little thing before we get started on this episode. There are people out there who are concerned, specifically non -resident landowners in the state of Iowa. I have heard a rumor that non -resident landowners are starting to call.

some of these land sales companies who focus on recreational hunting ground or any type of recreational ground, they're calling and saying, hey, what's going on here? They don't have an answer for us. They're getting nervous because they want to be able to use cell cameras on their land to give them the best shot to hunt and things like that. And so it...

Brett Konen (06:59.086)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (07:23.413)
this law has the potential to, I'm not 100 % sure if it's gonna happen or not, but potentially flood the market with land, recreational ground. Because if there's a cell cam ban, people don't wanna own ground in a state that they can't use cell cameras in. Which to me sounds absolutely ridiculous, but some people, I guess, are more concerned about it than I am.

Brett Konen (07:50.862)
To me, if that's your reasoning to get rid of land or not want to hunt a specific state, you're taking away from the actual hunting.

portion that we grew up with. You're you're relying on electronics to to guide what whether you're going to hunt or not. I mean that that just I prefer the old school ways. I don't like baiting. We can't hear in Kansas for myself. You know the kids I'll I'll bait a little bit to get the deer come in for kids, but. I like the old school.

Dan Johnson (08:08.755)
Yeah, yeah.

Brett Konen (08:36.494)
So cell cams, I can take it or leave.

Dan Johnson (08:41.14)
Yeah. Man, it's just, it's so strange that the conversations that we're having to have now about just deer hunting, right? And it's not necessarily like, it's not necessarily about deer hunting. It's whether or not my trail camera is on or off. It's whether or not I'm too far away or close to a mineral station. Can I bait or can I not bait? Can I even have my cell phone with me? Can I communicate with someone else who has a cell phone?

Can I fly a drone over my property? Can I use a dog to track deer? Like, it's almost exhausting trying to keep up with all these rules and regulations, but I understand why they're needed because if you don't, there's people out there who will exploit and take advantage of the natural resource for their own benefit. So I don't know, man. It's getting crazy out there. Now, do you...

Brett Konen (09:29.902)
Absolutely.

Dan Johnson (09:37.748)
I forget, do you own land? Okay. Permission. All right, I heard a number. I want to hear what your thoughts are on this. I heard a number recently and I'm going to be doing some investigating on this topic specifically, right? We are starting to hear this a lot more where people are saying hunting is becoming a rich man's sport. Okay. Now take that however you want to take it.

Brett Konen (09:39.502)
No, no, just permission only.

Dan Johnson (10:07.732)
Right? So I did, I'm starting to do some digging about this, right? And so rich men, what is a rich man? Okay. So according to the research that I've done on Google, on the internet so far is that the top 1 % of Americans make, it's like 438 or $450 ,000

a year, okay? So that is, in order to be considered the top 1 % income or earners in the United States, it's 400 some thousand dollars, okay? I reached out to a guy who knows a thing or two about land sales and income and loans, right?

Brett Konen (10:50.638)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (11:06.548)
There are some people that buy ground outright in cash, but there's a lot of people that also use loans, like a mortgage, like you would buy your house, put your 20 % down. But in order to get that loan, you have to, what was that? Disclose your income or your household income. So the guy told me that he doesn't know if it's accurate now, but the average, it's not saying,

Brett Konen (11:12.494)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (11:36.212)
this much or higher, it's saying the average income for someone who is buying recreational ground is sitting somewhere around $500 ,000 a year. That's a combined household income or whatever income is on the loan application. So that tells me the people that are buying ground,

Brett Konen (11:56.558)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (12:05.044)
have to have somewhere around an average income of $500 ,000. Again, average, right? So in order to buy a thousand acres, you need more money. In order to buy five acres, you probably can get away with less money, but the average is $500 ,000. Now, to me, I hear that and I go, holy cow, in order to buy recreational ground, I need.

I need to make a hundred or a $500 ,000 a year. My household needs to have that income. And so, you know, there's a lot of people out there that are gonna start saying things like, well, what if you save your money? You're correct. What if you save your money? What if you eat ramen noodles every day? Yep, you can do that. What about, you know, all this stuff? But I just, I look at that and I say, man, the blue collar guy,

Brett Konen (12:49.678)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (13:04.661)
the average American, they're starting to get priced out of recreational land.

Brett Konen (13:11.758)
definitely seeing that here in Kansas.

Dan Johnson (13:14.068)
What are your thoughts on that?

Brett Konen (13:16.27)
It, in my opinion, it is becoming a rich man's sport. you know, the days of going and knocking on doors and getting the majority of, of, farmers to say, yeah, go ahead. They're getting numbered. luckily I don't have to pay for any hunting ground yet, but I'm sure the day is coming, whether I'm going to have to make a decision to pay to lease some ground or.

hang up the bow. So, you know, at this time I don't make $500 ,000 a year, so I don't have the funds to buy some recreational ground for myself. But I can definitely see where that's going.

Dan Johnson (14:02.132)
Man, and there are some states out there that have a ton of public land, right? And so there is always something to fall back on in public land. Man, the county that I grew up in, there's, I wanna say an entire county, I think there's only a hundred acres or less of public hunting ground on that.

And one of those areas, it may even be more if you consider this one state park that allows you to bow hunt it if you pass a test. There are some of those out there. But for the most part, not all hunting rules and regulations apply to these state parks. However, there's like a little 30 acre piece on this county. And then there's also like a boat landing with a strip of timber that you can hunt.

Brett Konen (14:44.974)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (14:59.893)
But outside of that, man, Iowa, Kansas, like I'm not joking. I am kind of freaked out about where my kids are gonna be able to hunt once these landowners that are currently giving me permission either sell or die.

Brett Konen (15:21.59)
Yep. I would agree with that. Like you said, the county that you grew up in, I bet mine's the same. I don't know that we have a hundred acres of public ground to hunt. And if there is, it's going to be slammed with people, especially come November when bird hunting comes along. But we don't have the public ground like a lot of other states.

Dan Johnson (15:43.189)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dan Johnson (15:50.229)
Yeah, yeah. I mean.

Dan Johnson (15:55.478)
I love hunting, I love the outdoors, so I'm going to find a way to make that work. I think the biggest band -aid rip of this whole thing is telling guys like me and you that we're going to have to adjust what we feel is success, right? Right now, man, I'm passing some four -year -olds, right? For the most part, if it's a small four -year -old, I'm gonna pass him. You...

Brett Konen (16:11.758)
Mm -hmm.

Brett Konen (16:19.918)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (16:25.174)
You put me on public, I'm going to have to change what my goal is, or I'm going to be waiting for a very long time in the woods. So I don't know, man. It's getting frustrated. It's getting a little scary. I'm not going to ever quit hunting, because I think I'm just going to have like, just like everything in this world, I feel like there are glory days.

And I just have this feeling that the glory days are over or coming to an end.

Brett Konen (17:01.742)
I would agree with that 100%.

Dan Johnson (17:04.598)
So I don't know. And then I'm going to have to travel out of state to places that have a ton of public land.

So I don't know, I don't know. It's tough out there for a guy, I guess. I don't know. I don't know. Meanwhile, there's people going, quit bitching. You bitch too much. You bitch too much. So, all right. You're on the podcast today because you live in Kansas. I drew Kansas. What, are you comfortable with disclosing what unit you hunt in or you live in and hunt in?

Brett Konen (17:20.43)
you

Brett Konen (17:24.494)
yeah.

Brett Konen (17:39.31)
Yeah, I live in Haun, in unit six. So pretty much smack that in the center. I think you drew east of me. And so you're gonna have more of the timber area and more of the trees.

Dan Johnson (17:43.51)
sex, okay.

Dan Johnson (17:48.981)
Yep, two units east.

Dan Johnson (17:59.605)
Okay. Okay.

Brett Konen (18:00.334)
Which benefits you, there's a lot of big deer shot in that unit over there. So you're in the prime spots.

Dan Johnson (18:12.759)
Yeah. All right. So my first question to you is, just like the people who come to Iowa, everybody has dreams of shooting a big Kansas buck. Like some of the media that I grew up on, especially print, like Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, 100 % North American whitetail, right? Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine. These...

These guys were showcasing the best of Kansas. Almost every article, a giant, every year giants come out of Kansas, just like they come out of Iowa. And I wanna have that same type of success. What can I expect when I come to Kansas?

Brett Konen (19:02.446)
Honestly, you know a four -year -old is not unheard of to be on public There's enough good hunters around that we're not just shooting every three -year -old so that the age structure and and the fact that you can only shoot one buck in this state helps Where you're gonna be at I can see four and five -year -olds being a

they're not going to be running around everywhere. But I think if you come out for a week or two, you're going to have a shot at a four or five year old. And it wouldn't surprise me if you're in the high 140s, low 150s class. So.

Dan Johnson (19:45.11)
Okay, all right. That makes me feel good because you kind of just described what my goals are here in Iowa. Like I definitely pass 144 year olds on some of the farms that I have here in Iowa. But once you start getting into 150s, man, I don't know if I'm gonna ever have the guts to pass a 150 class deer, even in Iowa.

Brett Konen (20:09.262)
Yeah, even at a four year old, you get up into the 150s and I mean, that's a good buck to take, especially if you're on public and you're not watching that deer year after year.

Dan Johnson (20:11.862)
Yeah, exactly.

Dan Johnson (20:22.486)
Yeah, exactly. Okay, so that kind of pumps me up a little bit. Now, is that because Kansas has fewer hunters? Obviously, Iowa has fewer hunters than Michigan does. And it's very rare, from my understanding in Michigan, for a buck to continue to slip through the cracks year after year to get to a four and five -year -old.

Brett Konen (20:38.862)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (20:51.99)
type status, right? Are deer, are there a lot of deer that slip through the cracks in Kansas that allow them, allow hunters to start to see these four and five year olds? Yeah.

Brett Konen (21:06.35)
Absolutely. It's managed a lot better than it used to be. Everybody in the hunting community that I deal with, they don't go out and just shoot the spikes or first thing that moves if it's brown, it's down type of deal. And so, and correct me if I'm wrong, but in Iowa, you guys can shoot two bucks, right? As a resident.

Dan Johnson (21:32.759)
Yeah, as a resident, I can shoot two bucks and landowners, depending on how much ground they have, I believe it's four, somewhere between four and 10, you can shoot a third buck with your landowner tag.

Brett Konen (21:36.398)
Mm.

Brett Konen (21:49.39)
Wow. So yeah, we do not have that. Which, I mean, at times there's some coal bucks that I'd like to take out, but I'm very happy with being able to take one buck a year. And so I think that allows the age structure to really grow.

Dan Johnson (22:10.423)
Yeah, yeah, okay. Man, I, all right, so four -year -old, maybe even a five -year -old. When it comes to time of year, this is the thing that I'm debating right now is, and I'm gonna tell you what I like. I like being in the woods when the bucks are ready to breed, but the does are not ready to breed.

That is this end right at the tail end of the pre -rut right before the does come into estrus. That is my favorite time to be in the woods because I feel like the bucks are really aggressive, easily callable. They're looking, they're searching and not necessarily full blown rut type of searching and running around, but they're anxious.

and they want to get there. When does that hit down in Kansas?

Brett Konen (23:15.406)
So the full blown rut when they're ready to breed is usually around the 15th of November. So the first week of November is where they're more seeking. It's a little more of the craziness. You're not in lockdown yet. To me, I really like the last week of October.

Dan Johnson (23:25.815)
Okay. Yep.

Dan Johnson (23:35.992)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Brett Konen (23:42.03)
just because the bigger bucks are really getting on their feet and they're more susceptible to call to. They're not just running crazy, not paying attention to you. They hear you rattle at them or you grunt at them and they're gonna come. They're a lot more easily persuaded. So that last week of October, first week in November, but the...

Dan Johnson (24:06.296)
Gotcha, gotcha, okay.

Brett Konen (24:11.662)
Definitely for me the last week in October is the best.

Dan Johnson (24:15.097)
Okay. All right. So that sounds similar to what I like in Iowa, right? That pre -rut timeframe that floods over into, from late October into November. And that's when I find most of my success would be in the first five to seven days of November is when I like to be in the woods the most.

Brett Konen (24:18.35)
Pfft.

Dan Johnson (24:44.056)
Past that, it gets iffy because the does are in heat and the bucks are, who knows where they go at that point. OK. So I want to hear this opinion because my uncle, he used to live in Iowa and hunt Iowa. Now he lives in Southeast Kansas in the unit that I drew. That's why I drew this, just in case he could potentially help me out. He said that I should hunt Iowa first.

Brett Konen (25:05.006)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (25:14.266)
and then come down a week after, after I've like, if you like hunting Iowa the first seven days of November, then you should come down a week after that. So if you like, if you feel that your best chances are from the first to the 14th, then he feels that the 14th to, I don't know, the 25th would be a better timeframe for me to come.

Do you agree with that or disagree?

Brett Konen (25:45.902)
I would stick away from like the teens. If you're wanting the chasing and all that, you know, you go, you go a little closer to Thanksgiving. Then they're starting to seek again and really back up on their feet. You're not, you're not seeing the lockdown, but, I will say, you know, being out of state, some of the good bucks may have already been taken, but.

Dan Johnson (25:54.649)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (26:01.049)
Mm.

Brett Konen (26:15.15)
You're also at the time where there's going to be less hunters in the woods because the one that are either tagged out or they're like, the rut's over, I'm done.

Dan Johnson (26:24.121)
Okay, okay. Because that's, I have no problem coming before, because in my head, I want to avoid the most saturated time in the woods. Yes, it might be the best time in the woods, but there's going to be more hunters on the landscape in, let's say in Iowa. I'll tell you this right now. Iowa blows their, whoever hunts Iowa,

When they take their vacations, they blow their load the first of November to the seventh of November, the first full week of November. They're in and then they're gone. And then there's still a ton of action that happens that second week. I mean, shit, even all the way up to November. The best trail camera data I have says that the biggest bucks are cruising on their feet from

Brett Konen (27:09.102)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (27:22.97)
the 15th all the way to the 25th -ish time frame, right? And when the big dogs aren't hooked up with a local doe, they're looking for other does. And so that's not a bad time to be in the woods either, up here anyway.

Brett Konen (27:38.99)
I would say the 23rd to the 29th of November would be after everybody's left, the woods have calmed down a ton by then, and you've got the bigger bucks, the mature ones, seeking pretty heavily at that time. If you want to get in before everybody else trumps through the public ground, I would say that last weekend of October.

Dan Johnson (27:56.921)
Okay. Gotcha.

Brett Konen (28:08.91)
is there's always money because you don't have people just tromping through everything and they are very very easily callable at that time.

Dan Johnson (28:20.89)
Okay, gotcha. All right, that's good to know. All right, so terrain features, the landscape out in the units that I hunt. And I know it's a little bit different. Are you still familiar? Have you hunted any of that area of the state before?

Brett Konen (28:39.054)
I haven't hunted it much, no, but I am familiar with that area of the state. There's a lot more terrain feature. You got a lot more rolling hills, cliffs, things like that. So it'll be, you're in a prime area for sure.

Dan Johnson (28:45.017)
Okay.

Dan Johnson (28:58.649)
Okay, all right. What should I be looking for as far as terrain features are concerned?

Brett Konen (29:04.654)
So to me, I would look at your pinch points between grass and ag. If you can find that set up just 20 yards off of that pinch point, 30 yards off of it, they're going to come cruising through there a lot. I wouldn't hop on the top of a bench top, but halfway up it, so that way you can catch them cruising.

the bottoms and then if you've got one that wants to cruise the top so you can catch him as well. I personally don't like hunting the tops of a ridge. I'm more towards the bottom.

Dan Johnson (29:50.52)
Okay, all right. Do you feel like cattle are going to impact my hunts at all or any type of livestock or farming?

Brett Konen (30:04.778)
Cattle out there, yeah, you may run into some of it, but you should be pretty good with a little more timber. And, you know, the deer will shy away from the cattle. So if you have a pasture that is pretty heavy with them, I would find somewhere else. The ag that time of year, you know, you're still possibly going to have some beans in.

The the Milo if there's anybody planting or if they have Milo planted out there Will come out, you know, usually the middle of November So it's just kind of hit and miss but if you have a cut bean field they're gonna be hammering that in the evenings

Dan Johnson (30:44.537)
OK.

Dan Johnson (30:51.129)
Okay, all right. All right. When it comes to, and you kind of already alluded to this, but access, all right? When I'm doing my e -scouting right now, I'm looking for walk -in, I'm looking for public, a core engineer ground, what's that called, we -ha? Yep. Walk -in hunting area, some of that stuff.

Brett Konen (31:13.998)
Yeah, walk in the hunting area.

Dan Johnson (31:20.569)
And that's about it. There is some state ground around some lakes that is some not core engineer ground, but still very limited. What are the chances that I knock on somebody's door and I go, man, I just saw some deer in your back pasture or in your field. How would you feel about me going and spending a couple of days trying to hunt them?

Brett Konen (31:26.03)
Thanks, yeah.

Brett Konen (31:46.734)
pretty slim, but it's not impossible. it's just going to be luck of the draw. I mean, I've known some of these farmers my whole life out where I live and I could knock on 30 doors and get one permission piece. You know what I mean? So,

I would definitely, if you see one, definitely try it. But I wouldn't hold your hopes too high on it.

Dan Johnson (32:16.378)
Yeah, understood.

When it comes to pieces, like, do you feel that there's any feature or any property type that you feel is overlooked? Like, hey, Dan, I know it looks like shit, but don't count it out type of setup.

Brett Konen (32:39.662)
If you've got a little group of trees with grass surrounding it, whether they're mature trees or, you know, saplings that are 15 feet tall, you couldn't hang a tree stand in, I would still look there. Whether you're just sitting up on the ground or making yourself a little makeshift ground blind, I would definitely look there. And then look for places where...

You only have one water source within a mile. They're really going to hammer that water source. So I would definitely look at some of that because I know my dad, for instance, he's got this piece of ground that it has the only water within like a mile and a half. And it is unbelievable the amount of bucks that just cruise through there on a daily basis.

Dan Johnson (33:12.185)
Okay, that's a good point.

Dan Johnson (33:35.609)
Okay, all right, that's good to know. So I take it where there's a little cover and where there's water, you know, all just like anywhere, all the necessities that a whitetail needs, that's when, you know, those are the places with the highest deer action, the density or whatever. Okay, all right. So late October, early November food sources, you've already kind of mentioned picked bean fields.

What's the hardwood situation down there?

Brett Konen (34:08.302)
Hardwoods, you know, I don't really see the mass crop that, you know, some other states would have with your acorns and all that, or persimmons or whatever else. You know, so I don't see that being an issue, but I could be completely wrong that far out east. I just haven't hunted out there enough to really be able to speculate.

Dan Johnson (34:34.267)
Gotcha. Okay. All right. What else do I need to know about Kansas? Here, let me take a backward step. Scouting. I'm doing my due diligence on e -scouting. That goes without saying. But once I get there, can I drive the roads? Will I see deer from the roads? Should I take a couple hunts off and do some heavy scouting?

driving the roads, whether or diving into properties or like do locals divulge information about where the best place to hunt deer is? Like what do what approach would you feel would be the best for me to get out there and put myself in the best position?

Brett Konen (35:21.358)
I would definitely take a day or two to drive, just see where you're going to be able to see them from the road. For the most part in Kansas, we have square miles. And so you're going to be able to see the backside of a property if you go to the other mile. And then just really focus on those overlooked spots that, you know, it doesn't have a huge.

block of timber or it's sectioned off away from everything else. Really focus there because those are going to be the most overlooked places from your typical hunter, you know what I mean? And then, like I said, that water source. If it's warm that time of year, really focus on that. If you can, make it out this summer.

it's definitely boots on the ground is always best.

Dan Johnson (36:24.891)
Yeah, that's tough, man. Like, dude, I looked at my calendar, like all of June is full already. I mean, I'm not joking. Monday through Monday for the entire rest of June is called for. The, what else? July, July 1st all the way until like July 25th is.

Brett Konen (36:27.342)
I get that.

Dan Johnson (36:53.34)
almost always called for. And then now we got football starting after baseball starts. And it's just, it doesn't stop, dude. Yeah, it doesn't stop.

Brett Konen (37:03.246)
Yeah, yeah. When you have a wife, when you have a wife and kids, man, it's 100 mile an hour all the time.

Dan Johnson (37:11.611)
Yep, yep. Okay, so I went to Michigan during, I'm trying to think of when it was. It was like, I don't wanna say the lull timeframe, but it was maybe a little after it. I think it was in the 20s, like right before pre -rut started. And I grunted at a small buck and he ran away. Right, he ran away.

In Iowa, calling works fairly well on the deer herd. Is there a best time to rattle or a grunt at these deer that is gonna make them potentially wanna come in?

Brett Konen (37:55.406)
I would say starting on like the 23rd of October is really when I found it as effective on grunting and rattling all the way up to like December. You know, you get into that December timeframe and they're focused more on food after the rut. And then you're pretty much just want to catch them coming to and from. But.

Dan Johnson (38:09.947)
Okay.

Dan Johnson (38:15.515)
Gotcha. Yeah.

Dan Johnson (38:23.451)
Gotcha.

Brett Konen (38:25.262)
Yeah, I wouldn't personally start before the 23rd of October.

Dan Johnson (38:31.259)
Okay, all right. All right, so it sounds to me like if you were in control of me and you had a video game controller in your hand, Dan Johnson should come visit Kansas like halfway through the first week of November into this second week of November. Okay, all right, I'll take that.

Brett Konen (38:53.038)
Yep, absolutely. The fifth through the 11th is you can guarantee that it's going to be fire. Yep.

Dan Johnson (39:03.162)
On, okay, all right, all right, good deal, good deal. I know you hunt on private, but the public land situation, like, do you know guys that hunt public still? Yeah, okay, what's their take on pressure on public during that fifth to 11th timeframe?

Brett Konen (39:18.158)
Yeah, yeah.

Brett Konen (39:26.83)
It's more of, I'm going to go check this out and see who's all in the area. And then, and then they're looking for the, cause we don't have hardly any, especially where I'm at. I mean, I know of like two areas that have any substantial deer hunting that's public and they're an hour and a half apart.

So it's one of those things that it's kind of hit and miss.

Dan Johnson (40:01.195)
Yeah. Yeah. And it's funny because I'm also in an area of Kansas where it's like the one unit I'm looking at specifically, it's all the walk -in and all the public is on the north side of the unit. And then it's all on the southeast side of the unit. But it's like an hour and a half drive in between these two spots. So with that said, I'm looking at...

Brett Konen (40:19.79)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (40:30.171)
If there's a packed area, then I'm going to have to put some miles on to go make an adjustment to another area, which could potentially also be busy as well.

Brett Konen (40:40.406)
So I will say for the unit that you're in, focus on the ones on the south side. The ones on the north, they're great. I mean, but you have more of the city people. Topeka, Kansas, yes. And so I would definitely focus on that southern part of that unit.

Dan Johnson (40:49.243)
Okay.

Dan Johnson (40:55.643)
Okay, bigger population. Okay.

Dan Johnson (41:05.083)
Okay, so just like anywhere, the further away from people you can get, not necessarily on the piece specifically, just from like, for example, Wichita or any other bigger city centers in Kansas, the further you are away from them, the less people there are. Okay, makes sense.

Brett Konen (41:27.63)
Yeah, they're not wanting to drive two hours to go get in their tree stand. They're going to take the ones that are a little easier, more accessible for them.

Dan Johnson (41:39.708)
Okay, cool. I mean, that makes perfect sense. Makes perfect sense. All right, cool, man. Well, I got a good vibe out of you today, right? It's not like when I talk to some guys out in Michigan and I'm asking you on the phone when I went to Hunt Michigan and I start, I ask these questions to them, I'm like, hey man, what can I expect? And they're just like, there's like no emotion coming from them. It was, they were just like, yeah, good luck, buddy. So.

So that is what it is. Anyway.

Brett Konen (42:12.558)
I've got high expectations for you. I think you're going to have fun and it's a great place to be.

Dan Johnson (42:15.452)
Good.

Dan Johnson (42:20.156)
Good, I'm looking forward to it, man. Something brand new, just like I had, I was not necessarily, I didn't have any typically any expectations when I've hunted in Kansas or excuse me, Nebraska, South Dakota before. I really didn't have any big expectations. I just wanted to go out and experience something new. The activity in itself is fun.

Brett Konen (42:47.726)
Mm -hmm.

Dan Johnson (42:47.836)
So I'm really just looking forward to taking everything that I've learned so far and applying it to a completely different environment. And I guess from this point on, we'll see what happens.

Brett Konen (43:00.846)
I will say I followed your, your times that you've been in South Dakota and it's, it's going to be a way more action packed than that. I can promise you.

Dan Johnson (43:10.076)
Well, that's great. Well, that's good. That's good. Do you know why that's good? Because I felt like South Dakota was a blast and I was seeing good deer down there. And so if you're telling me it's better than what I've experienced just from following along in South Dakota, that gets me even more fired up because I think South Dakota is great.

Brett Konen (43:33.518)
Yeah, no, I'm not saying anything bad about South Dakota, but just following along on the stuff that you posted, it's gonna be night and day different.

Dan Johnson (43:37.212)
No, right.

Dan Johnson (43:46.076)
Yeah. Hey man, as long as I don't get bit by a dog, I'm all good. So, and we'll end on that dude. Hey, Bratman, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to hop on and fill me in on Kansas and let me vent to you about some of the other things that are going on in the hunting community. But I'm sure I'm going to talk to you before I leave, but if not,

Brett Konen (43:49.206)
Yeah.

Dan Johnson (44:14.172)
Good luck this upcoming season and thanks again, man.

Brett Konen (44:17.134)
Thanks. Have a good one, Dan.

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