Time was running out for Kirk Keller. On the last afternoon of a week-long hunt, another person came in and deliberately took a stand almost on top of him. With precious little daylight remaining, Kirk was forced to move.

I was so mad that I just got up and left,” Kirk Keller said. “A hunter from the adjoining property walked right up on me. He knew I was there, but he didn’t care. He sat down right on top of me. So I went to a box blind that was the closest of our stands to where I’d been hunting. I just knew my hunt was ruined. I was so ticked off at that hunter for being so thoughtless and unethical.”

It had been a long week. Kirk, a 25-year-old native of Stuttgart, Arkansas, had spent the last six days hunting in Kansas alone. He knew that his chances of success were slim at that point. This would be his last day of hunting during the 2005 season except for possibly an hour or so in the morning before having to leave for home.

Chasing big whitetails was nothing new to Kirk. He’d been hunting his whole life. He killed his first deer at the age of 11. Actually, he killed two deer when he was 11. His first was a doe, and the second was a big 6-pointer. As he matured, the quest for big deer became a major motivation, not just for him, but for his dad, Bill, and younger brother Kris as well. Deer hunting had long been a family avocation. The Kellers, along with some of their close friends, had been hunting around Stuttgart and killing trophy bucks for years. But then a new twist entered the equation.

“Several of our friends had been hunting in Kansas for a number of years,” Kirk said. “And every year they would come home with 160-class bucks. So we finally decided to find a lease of our own so that we could hunt those big Kansas deer, too. We found a lease online. After making some calls, we drove to southeast Kansas to check it out. There were lots of deer and turkey on this property, so we decided to take it. Dad and Kris both killed good deer the first two years while I never filled a tag. But I knew my time would come.”

EARNING HIS BUCK THE HARD WAY
Arranging to spend a week in Kansas in early December 2005 despite upcoming final college exams, Kirk made the trek to the family’s hunting lease by himself. His dad and

brother would be coming in just as he had to leave.

“I saw a big 10-pointer on the second day, so I spent four more days sitting in the same stand. I knew it would just be a matter of time before I saw him again.”

Now, Kirk knew that time was a crucial factor and it seemed to be working against him. To complicate matters, this other hunter had walked in on him on the last afternoon

and he had to change stands at the last minute. In addition to being

discouraged, the young hunter was getting cold.

“The wind was blowing about 25 miles per hour and the temperature had dropped to 25 degrees. There was a major storm rolling in with sleet and snow. I thought the deer might be moving pretty good, but I sat for more than two hours without seeing a deer. I was sitting on

the edge of a very large Buck Forage oat field. I was carrying my Remington Model 700 7mm Magnum, so I knew that if a buck showed up in the field I could make a very long shot if I had to.”

Daylight was almost gone when a small doe appeared. She was alone, and as the light faded, the weary hunter had just about given up hope that a buck might show up.

“I started gathering up my things,” Kirk said. “All I could think about was the fact that I had spent a solid week of hunting and I had only seen one buck that I could not get a shot at. Then, this selfish, unethical hunter had come and sat down right on top of me. My dad and brother would be here tomorrow and I was sure that they both would kill big bucks, but I would probably go home empty-handed again!”