Kansas Deer Hunting
Kansas deer hunting described in this article is relative to Mid-America Hunting Association and general in nature. Specific archery, firearms and muzzleloader or Iowa and Missouri deer hunting details start at our main deer hunting section.
Trophy Deer Hunters Are Grown
TJ had an opportunity on a much nicer buck the 1st day, one that would have gone on the wall, but the buck got lucky and slipped away. He settled for this one early the second morning to regain his confidence and was happy doing so.
This is his 4th buck and he's only 12 years old. His favorite part of the deer hunt is walking to the stand in the dark. I sure hope he continues to hunt on his own when he gets older. It's been some of the best memories of my life hunting with my boys at an early stage. 
They have had great success but have definitely learned the art of patience and staying with it to the bitter end. Some our best stories on the way home have been shared on days that we came home empty handed.
A rub near the stand where he was hunting.
Kansas deer hunting is for both Mule and Whitetail Deer for the self guided hunter, season long on private hunting lease land across multiple Kansas deer management units.
While part of this discussion provides description of Mid-America Hunting Association deer hunting it also includes the opinions of other deer hunters. We long ago found the opinion and ideas of others more valuable than our own. The collective ideas from many Association deer hunters will become evident through this article of of hunters found enjoyable hunts. Not necessarily tag-on success.
Our Kansas whitetail deer hunters account for more 140's and above trophy whitetail deer over all seasons than our other two states. However, that is not to discourage use of our Missouri or Iowa deer lease land as second choice deer hunting states to that of our Kansas' deer hunter success.
Missouri deer account for the last four 200+ whitetail and Iowa bow hunters have nearly double the trophy deer success rates of archery deer hunters elsewhere. With these facts in mind, deer hunt the state of choice and in the case of our Kansas deer hunting, rarely is anyone disappointed at being able to see at least one trophy deer during a hunt. However, there is a big jump between seeing one and putting that trophy deer in the truck. We have far more near success than actual deer hunting success stories every season - real deer hunting.
The statement about our deer hunters having far more eyes on rather than bucks in trucks was highly criticized by one of our trusted Association deer hunters who is also a salesman. He expressed it was sales suicide not to imply everyone will be successful believing that success is in terms of filling tags is the only objective. How far that would be from the truth about trophy whitetail deer hunting is beyond measure.
The reality of our whitetail deer hunting is the same as anywhere, it is a hard discipline and only the most disciplined deer hunter does well.
What MAHA offers with its Kansas deer hunting leases is yet one more option of where and when to deer hunt. For those that enjoy deer hunting as much as the tag being filled that is the deer hunting we seek to offer. Those that believe they must have a trophy whitetail deer every season should hunt elsewhere.
The Trophy Deer Hunter's Expect To See On A Web Site
The quality of deer every deer hunter wants to believe that he will gain tag-on success on each hunting trip knowing full well the odds are against it.
What should be more impressive about the many deer pictures on this web site is that every one of them was sent into their Association at the courtesy of that hunter at no personal gain. That is when we feel we have a good working relationship between the Association staff and the hunter.
When folks feel comfortable enough to send in their pictures of the hunt they paid money for that is a good thing.
As a self guided hunter organization the staff is not running around with a camera to gain pictures of all harvest. We work with hunters to make sure they have as good of a hunt as we can make possible without any trophy warrantees.
Kansas deer hunting regulations seem to be in a continual overhaul intended to make deer hunting and the regulations governing Kansas deer hunting simpler and easier to access. The information on these pages has been updated with each change the Kansas legislature has approved.
Kansas Deer Management Units
Kansas for Whitetail Deer requires non-residents to apply for unit specific tags. Numbered on the Kansas map at left are the deer management units that the Association has land to hunt and the relative location of those units in Kansas. In the case of our kansas deer land it is all within agricultural regions of grain farming.
2013 Mid-America Hunting Association Lease Land Locations
Kansas county name, relative location within Kansas and the acreage amount available for hunting in that county.
Agricultural land use in these areas ranges from 45 - 55% land use in farming. That leaves the expectation of huntable acreage at 50% or less of the actual acreage under lease.
We will assist the first year member of where to hunt right down to the spots where to park his truck. We have been working with the traveling hunter for years and will not let any one flounder.
Our Kansas deer hunting approach creates options or capability of choosing where to deer hunt is also on a strictly self guided hunt basis. Self guided hunts reach back to our hunting organization's conception in 1965.
That aspect alone screens away a great number of deer hunters that are of the "trophy room" class where a collection of multiple animal mounts is the goal to achieve a Hemingway style or world class hunter status. That deer hunter is well suited to the guide service hunt rather than our do it yourself approach. Our approach is only successful for the dedicated deer hunter that makes the deer and the deer hunt a disciplined study.
The deer hunter we seek is the one that takes a lifetime of endeavor to learn the whitetail and knows that success is achieved over time and effort. No one deer hunter is lucky enough all the time to succeed at deer hunting over multiple seasons. Those that have recurring success have a method we have been able to observe over the years working with hunters from a multitude of states and experiences. That deer hunting success method is described in the paragraphs to follow.
The first element of recurring deer hunting success in Kansas and anywhere for that matter is to scout. An obvious point many readers will dismiss as an overly written about deer hunting topic. Our experience has shown the same plus more.
Deer scouting is either pre season or part of the deer hunting trip itself. This is opposed to those that study aerial photos, pick a spot and first morning in the area are deer hunting from a tree stand. The missing part of boots on the ground deer and habitat scouting is frequently overlooked and common to many bad deer hunting stories.
Effective scouting grows into the next set of elements that seems to distinguish the deer hunters with more recurring trophy success than those with less.
Kansas deer hunting success elements continue with believing it takes hunting from more than one deer stand and deer lease rather than place all hopes and effort into just one farm. Kansas deer habitat while seemingly sparse has plenty of spots and they are spread out. This open nature requires flexibility where to hunt. This is the difference between arrogant stubbornness that the deer hunter that knows better than the whitetail where to be and objective observation.
Proof of this deer hunting fact is that regardless of how good our first year recommendations may be of where to Kansas deer hunt or that first year member's scouting, by his third season he will most likely be on entirely different leases than those he selected the first season due to finding habitat more to his liking.
