Sunflower Outfitters of Kansas
It has been a long time dream of mine to chase monster whitetail in the midwest. When it comes to hunting the midwest very few, if any, states can compete with the monster bucks that Kansas produces every year. I called dozens and dozens of outfitters and talked for hours before I came to the realization that just shy of refinancing my house, I couldn't afford to hunt Kansas. The few outfitters that seemed affordable had terrible reviews and any outfitter with a 160 inch buck on their website wanted far more than I was willing to pay for a whitetail hunt. The entire process was quite discouraging and exhausting.
It was by complete happenstance that I came across Sunflower outfitters. The website was professional. The reviews were great. The owner John Peckham was very truthful, extremely knowledgable, and had a passion for the outdoors. John runs an extremely small camp in which he guides his clients personally. He is in the field year round guiding turkey hunts, pheasant hunts, bob white qual and whitetail hunts. After only talking with John twice, my spirits were lifted and I was excited to book with Sunflower Outfitters. He walked me through the draw process and my tags showed up in June.
John had set clients that booked his rut hunts full every year and his rifle hunts full every year, so after much debate I decided to go with an early season muzzleloader hunt. In the month that lead up to our hunt John sent me pictures daily of multiple 140 and 150 inch bucks that showed up in day light hours to the stands we would be hunting. I was beyond excited, spending many sleepless nights staring at pictures of what could be my biggest buck to date. It seemed almost as if it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
We met John at camp and found the lodging to be extremely comfortable and hanging out with him fun. It almost seemed as though we were hanging out with an old friend. The first evening we glassed some fields and John showed us the stand we would be hunting in the morning. Trail cameras had showed clearly that the bucks were hitting the site every morning. The first morning on the stand was extremely warm, but John had done his homework, the stand was set in a great pinch point with the wind in our favor. After sitting until noon we only had the appearance of a raccoon, small buck and a doe so we headed back to the lodge to grab some lunch. That evening we went back to the same stand even though the trail camera had not shown bucks coming through in the evening. We had an enjoyable sit with a few doe coming through and many other critters passing through. The next few days we sat that same stand. A few of the mornings in we bumped deer off of the site in the dark. John would glass fields while we were in the stand and report back to us after each and every sit. While watching the news on Thursday, we found out that the week had set records for being the hottest temperatures in 30 years. And to boot it was a full or nearly full moon all week. I clearly, in all my excitement, did not check the moon phase before booking, a mistake I will not make again. On the last night of our hunt my cameraman and I headed up to a large field and sat next to an abandoned building. This proved to be very productive. We filmed several eighty to one hundred class does and spotted a shooter buck. The sun began to set on our last day and panic began to set in. I turned the safety off and was ready to shoot a young one hundred class 8 point in front of us. I can say, without shame, that without my good friend and camera man with me I would have shot a young buck just to have filled a tag. Having a good friend with you to put things into perspective is priceless. Now he did film the entire conversation and I will be harassed for sometime, but I am glad that I did not shoot an animal just to fill a tag.
Our hunt ended and we thanked John for a great experience, but our communication did not end there. John sent us pictures of his hunter's harvests and trail camera pictures of the bucks he was patterning. We didn't just go on a hunt to Kansas, we made a friend for life. As well as found an amazing Outfitter to hunt with that we will visit every year we can. The entire trip John never made us feel like we were a bother, but more like we were an old hunting buddies.
We will be visiting Sunflower outfitters the first week of November this year. This time I will be joined by some good friends and fellow staff member John Weitzel. Staff member John Weitzel was my camera man for this past hunt. He would agree that a hunt with Sunflower Outfitters is at the top of both our lists of destinations to hunt. We suggest to any of our followers to look into this outfitter. This is the type of hunt where dreams can come true and lifetime memories are made. If you are interested in a hunt to the midwest contact John Peckham of Sunflower Outfitters today and set up a hunt.