My Saturday Muzzleloader hunt.

OkieKubota

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Last week I realized I had not been to our deer lease since April and had no idea what the deer population looked like down there this year so Tuesday I went down and was pleasantly surprised that the camper was in good shape with no mice issues whatsoever and the only problem was a wasp infestation that I took care of quickly. I then went down to my mountain and went up on the ridge and realized maple and ash seedlings had really taken off and I had to use my chainsaw to cut a couple shooting lanes near my stand where I expected to see deer. Some areas were open but not all and a few oaks were dropping. I then put a cellular trail cam in place in front of some rice bran and I checked a nearby ladder and left. I got a few photos during the week and it looked kind of promising even though we were forecast upper 80’s with winds up to 40 mph.

I returned Friday night and spent the night and I decided to carry my old side hammer TC New Englander the first couple days in the high wind and heat. As it lightened up I saw a doe who got into my wind swirl and got jittery and left. A few minutes later I had a small buck and a doe come from my left headed toward the rice bran. You can see them in the following photo.

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I watched them until they left about 5 minutes later and then about 20 minutes later I had a small buck come from the hillside in front of me and travel down the hill to my right. 15 minutes after that another small buck came up the hill on my left and just went right on up. At 9:53 I glanced to my right and saw a shooter coming down the hill and he was going to pass me on the right at about 60 yards so I moved my body to get the awkward shot that always comes when shooting to the right when you are right handed. The buck was working his way downhill and his tall, thick 8 point rack was moving through the trees and I saw a small opening he would pass through so I readied myself and when he entered the opening I squeezed off and through the smoke I saw a decent sized maple limb hinge down from the tree between me and the deers vitals. The buck turned and ran back up the hill and stopped once an looked back and trotted off. I hope to see him again later this week...
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Been there, done that ! :eek: Always disappointing when you see a sapling fall after your shot !o_O Maybe you’ll get another chance.
 
I’ve also done that with opens sights as well. Hopefully you will take the other TC next time but where’s the challenge in that.
 
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Last week I realized I had not been to our deer lease since April and had no idea what the deer population looked like down there this year so Tuesday I went down and was pleasantly surprised that the camper was in good shape with no mice issues whatsoever and the only problem was a wasp infestation that I took care of quickly. I then went down to my mountain and went up on the ridge and realized maple and ash seedlings had really taken off and I had to use my chainsaw to cut a couple shooting lanes near my stand where I expected to see deer. Some areas were open but not all and a few oaks were dropping. I then put a cellular trail cam in place in front of some rice bran and I checked a nearby ladder and left. I got a few photos during the week and it looked kind of promising even though we were forecast upper 80’s with winds up to 40 mph.

I returned Friday night and spent the night and I decided to carry my old side hammer TC New Englander the first couple days in the high wind and heat. As it lightened up I saw a doe who got into my wind swirl and got jittery and left. A few minutes later I had a small buck and a doe come from my left headed toward the rice bran. You can see them in the following photo.

903cee62133337d3b64584a832ac8354.jpg


I watched them until they left about 5 minutes later and then about 20 minutes later I had a small buck come from the hillside in front of me and travel down the hill to my right. 15 minutes after that another small buck came up the hill on my left and just went right on up. At 9:53 I glanced to my right and saw a shooter coming down the hill and he was going to pass me on the right at about 60 yards so I moved my body to get the awkward shot that always comes when shooting to the right when you are right handed. The buck was working his way downhill and his tall, thick 8 point rack was moving through the trees and I saw a small opening he would pass through so I readied myself and when he entered the opening I squeezed off and through the smoke I saw a decent sized maple limb hinge down from the tree between me and the deers vitals. The buck turned and ran back up the hill and stopped once an looked back and trotted off. I hope to see him again later this week...
faf99bd3a4f1e2be4e538ec4802bb88e.jpg



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Congrats, that's definitely a trophy sapling, a real toad of a stick, and a good solid hit as well, you just smoked it. It should score pretty high in the twig book of woodies with the bark on.

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I can take the ribbing...the guys in camp other than 1 thought I was nuts to carry the side hammer instead of my Encore but my thought was “35 mph wind, 80’s, just be nice to sit there with the old gun and reminisce”...I had no idea a shooter caliber buck would stroll past on opening day! I had confidence in it at that range and it went off immediately with no lag but there is something about something as small as a bullet, in my experience, is if a deer is on the other side of a twig...you will hit the twig almost 100% of the time even though you could shoot at the twig 50 times with no deer on the other side and never hit it!
 
I can take the ribbing...the guys in camp other than 1 thought I was nuts to carry the side hammer instead of my Encore but my thought was “35 mph wind, 80’s, just be nice to sit there with the old gun and reminisce”...I had no idea a shooter caliber buck would stroll past on opening day! I had confidence in it at that range and it went off immediately with no lag but there is something about something as small as a bullet, in my experience, is if a deer is on the other side of a twig...you will hit the twig almost 100% of the time even though you could shoot at the twig 50 times with no deer on the other side and never hit it!
We weren't laughing at you but rather laughing with you. There's nothing wrong with your shooting skills, just a little shooting lane trimming needed. Anybody that's hunted for any length of time will have experienced a few twigs and misses (or more than a few), some are the hilarious no harm done kind, and some are the painful recordbook buck kind that we don't want to relive. But all of them happen while we are enjoying a great day in the woods, I appreciated your emphasis on just sitting there and reminiscing about days gone by.
 
We weren't laughing at you but rather laughing with you. There's nothing wrong with your shooting skills, just a little shooting lane trimming needed. Anybody that's hunted for any length of time will have experienced a few twigs and misses (or more than a few), some are the hilarious no harm done kind, and some are the painful recordbook buck kind that we don't want to relive. But all of them happen while we are enjoying a great day in the woods, I appreciated your emphasis on just sitting there and reminiscing about days gone by.
Oh I wasn’t talking about you guys light ribbing...the guys in camp were brutal though! I thought I was gonna lose my shirttail. The deer was a good one but I have killed a lot of good ones over the years so no loss and I sat there and realized I have been hunting that property since 1998 with only a 1 year break from it and I have seen a lot of change in that mountain over that time. It’s a happy place for me and I will probably keep it as long as I can. Some of the other hunters are getting up in age and I want to be around those guys as long as possible because the only time we see one another is down there at deer camp...
 
I remember hunting one our national forests as a young man. At that point good bucks, or any legal deer, were few and far between. I was sitting on the ground watching an old logging road that was half grown up in small saplings. I had a Remington 742 30-06 with a 2x7 scope laying on my lap. I can remember it like it was yesterday ! I saw deer hide, then legs, then mostly the whole deer as he stepped out of the woods and into the old road. He wasn’t more than 30 yards away. Chip shot ! I eased up the rifle, put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeezed one off. All I saw in the scope was white, so naturally I’m thinking deer belly. I got up after a few seconds to go claim my prize but no deer, no blood, no hair, no nothing ! I went back to where I was sitting to reconstruct the shot. About the time I sat down a sweet gum sapling sloooowwwwly fell over. :eek: I had centered that three inch sapling perfectly !:D There’s no telling where the bullet went but after walking a long ways down that logging road following running tracks I’m confident no part of it hit that buck.
 
Somewhere in West Tennessee there is an old xx75 aluminum arrow and a Thunderhead 125 stuck square in a tree limb about 12 feet off the ground. Only saw the antlers, never saw the limb but if you do this long enough it happens to everyone. Good story.
 
Somewhere in West Tennessee there is an old xx75 aluminum arrow and a Thunderhead 125 stuck square in a tree limb about 12 feet off the ground. Only saw the antlers, never saw the limb but if you do this long enough it happens to everyone. Good story.
I used to carry a small saw to cut all of the hits on limbs and small trees I had out as souvenirs…
 
I have that same ML and didn’t think any one but me still hunted w it using black powder , patch ,and ball. We have a heritage season and must use trad bow, which I use , or a side hammer ML. It’s my fav season except it occurs after all the others.
Congrats on the dead limb!!


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Follow up hunt this morning…same stand, different muzzleloader…
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If you look just above the deer you can see the limb I shot off last Saturday. This buck walked up and was in front of it and I dropped him on n his tracks.

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I have that same ML and didn’t think any one but me still hunted w it using black powder , patch ,and ball. We have a heritage season and must use trad bow, which I use , or a side hammer ML. It’s my fav season except it occurs after all the others.
Congrats on the dead limb!!


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My Brother just bought a CVA Wolf to use this year. Before that he only used a Pennsylvania Long Rifle he built from a Kit when he was a Teenager. I know he has shot at a bunch of deer with it, but think he has only got 1 or 2 of them with it.

Pa has or had a week long Flintlock ML Only Hunt the week after Christmas. I think they still do, but have added an In LIne ML Season for a week for Does only.
 
How fitting that he was standing next to the limb you shot off !:D Redemption is sweet !


That’s a nice OK buck Okie, congrats !
 
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