this is for those who have not read it yet...and Griz
ya rat bastard!
Griz usualy never misses an opportunity to roast me on this one.
Griz, let this be no exception.
to summerize, i have never shot a deer with more than four points. until six years ago, i could have give a #$%! less. then i got to thinking why is that.
i thought the reason was simple. i shot the first legal buck that came by each year. when my brother shot the nice eight pointer the first year we started hunting my other brothers property, it got me thinking.
so from that point on, i told myself i was going to raise the bar.
i was going to at least better myself each year, or i wasn't going to shoot it. five points or more was my seemingly modest mark.
i spent the first couple years with near misses. i mean i saw a buck and doe in the cedar, and thought "oh boy, the ****'s on"! only to have the buck pull a quickie on me.
fine, i can accept that.
each year it would seem that i got a little closer to finaly taking that mature buck, but something always got in the way.
this has been tormenting me. getting up early staying out late in efforts to put all possibilities in my favor.
scent free shampoo, laundry detergent, watching the wind. day after day. i even buy the all season deer license not for the extra tag, but it allows me to hunt all of the seasons including the muzzle loading season. that is what i am doing right now.
i did take a doe a couple years ago with my traditional CVA fifty caliber, but i decided this year i wanted to shoot a new in-line.
i bought a winchester apex fifty caliber muzzleloader. it fits nice and is extremely accurate.
now i am not new to muzzleloading. i have been doing it my whole life. well darned near. my dad belonged to a muzzleloading club in the twin cities. i got to tag along and i had my own gun when i was sixteen.
after going out each day this season so far, i stayed in this morning because my wife was working midnites, and would not get home until eight o'clock a.m.
i chose to do some things around the house and hunt the afternoon hunt.
i chose a spot just up the road that can be realy good at times if the pressure has not been to great.
i have hunted this spot for years, and i know it's a crap shoot, but if they come in, there's a good chance to get a clean shot.
it is a forty acre piece with private borders that does not get hunted after rifle season. it is made up of aspen slash, about 10 acres worth of year growth. the south part of this forty is patchy balsams which are great cover. to the east, is mature hardwoods.
the transition between the slash and the hardwoods to the east have been very good throughout the years.
today was no exception. we recieved four inches of new snow monday night, early tuesday. i could see they had been moving throughout the area like usual.
one set of tracks caught my eye. a large, single set of tracks made there way out from the area i was looking to head to. slow moving tracks. shuffleing it's hooves between each step. this one had my interest.
as i made my way inside the transition area, i found many sets of tracks. does, fawns, even one day old bed. i searched for a tree to put my tree seat on. i use this sometimes when i am not sure where exactly i am going to end up, or if i don't have alot of time.
i found a tree that gave me pretty good visibility, yet offered fair cover in front.
i got set about three o'clock. staying as still as i could, i waited until about four forty five. i started thinking about maybe getting out and still hunting my way back out the trail cuz i wuz getting cold. then thinking about the trail as it wandered out through the slash, i couldn't imagine a realistic opportunity to make a shot without being busted, so i stayed put. the wind could have been better, but the only way they would wind me is if they came from behind, which i guess was quite possible, but i didn't think it was likely.
i stayed put.
then like out of a dream, there it was. a large bodied deer making it's way into an opening right in front of me. it had horns!! what looked to be an eight pointer! glory be. if i can just get the hammer back without him hearing me. no problem.
i looked towards the area he was moving to and found a nice opening that he would, in seconds be just fifteen feet on the other side of.
i raised the gun, he didn't even suspect anything.i found the sights,he steped into the opening, i rested the bead on his front shoulder.....and squeezed the trigger......SNAP! went the 209 primer with the smallest cloud of smoke exiting the barrel. NO!!!! he lifted his head and just stood there. i had to think for a moment, what the hell just happened???? then it dawned on me. the other night after hunting out in the rain, i brought my gun in and cleaned it. i discharged the weapon out the back door into the creek, then cleaned it.
in minnesota, it is legal to have the gun loaded, cased, in the vehicle, as long as there is no primer in the gun.instead of shooting it empty each day, i simply take the primer out, then case it and leave it in the vehicle until the next day, when i put the new primer in and go hunting.
after cleaning it, i put it in the truck, but failed to load a charge in it. EGADS!! WHAT HAVE I DONE! i tried to get another load out of my pocket and into the gun before he totaly busted me, but i only got the pre-made load out of my pocket when he turned and bounded out almost the same way he came in. ARRRGG!!