TN Larry
Well-Known Member
I am not sure where to start. I have wanted to kill a perfect mainframe 10 for years. I have killed some big mainframe 8s but never a 10. I have killed some with 10 or more including stickers or splits but no mainframe. I had just decided that it wasn't meant to be.
Muzzleloader thus far had been good in terms of seeing a ton of bucks but mostly small ones. My 10 year killed one opening morning which was great. I've hunted several days the past two weeks without seeing a good deer. I took off Tuesday for my last mzl hunt of the year, and as I got down that evening I realized that I wouldn't kill a deer with a mzl this year. I checked the weather when I got home and realized that the weather was now supposed to be good this morning, and I had one more vacation day to book. It would also give me 10 days straight off since I'm off all next week so I turned it in on Wednesday for one more chance. I decided to go to a spot that I hadn't been to this year. I killed killed my best deer prior to today out of this tree which was a 140" eight and a couple of decent bucks last year. There wasn't a whole lot of sign there and no shooters on camera. However, it is a travel spot during the rut, and it's November. It's also good for a south wind. It is in the bottom of a hollow where three points come together and about a 75 yard flat in the middle where they come together. I told my wife last night that I was going to the killing tree this morning.
So this morning started with a deer snorting at me before daylight. The wind was a little different than I liked it but good for the direction that most of the deer come from. Even though there was a frost last night, the leaves were super wet from the this morning. I was on super alert since I knew that I wouldn't hear a deer. It was about 7:15, I had scanned all the way left, and came back to the center to see a buck crossing the point. I couldn't tell how big but grabbed my can call and turned it over. I then heard him walking and he popped out on the right hand hillside. I instantly seen it was a real good deer, pulled to his shoulder, and fired. He warped the ground. Before I could even think, he started trying to get back up so I went to reloading. I got reloaded, and he had flopped in some thick stuff. I fired again and thought he was dead. In the process, I had dropped my ram rod out of the tree. He got to trying to get up again. I carry an extra ram rod on the side in a pouch that screws together. So, I screwed it together and reloaded. I then couldn't see him so came down the tree as fast as I could without breaking my neck.
I slipped up the hill, and he still had his head up. I sided stepped, took rest off a tree, and shot him in the base of the neck which is all that I could see. The first shot wasn't bad. It was high shoulder but exiting right below the spine on the other side due to the up hill angle. I walked up on him and could see he had 5 on one side and praying that he had 5 on the other. I got close and could only see 4 on the other. Just my luck, still no ten...... I picked him up and that 5th point just kind of appeared as it was covered in grass. I about lost it.
He has 23" beams, a lil over 21" inside, and 5" bases. 147 5/8" gross as a "perfect" 10. I will have to say that is my dream deer. Praise the Good Lord for such an awesome day! I am still on cloud 9.
Muzzleloader thus far had been good in terms of seeing a ton of bucks but mostly small ones. My 10 year killed one opening morning which was great. I've hunted several days the past two weeks without seeing a good deer. I took off Tuesday for my last mzl hunt of the year, and as I got down that evening I realized that I wouldn't kill a deer with a mzl this year. I checked the weather when I got home and realized that the weather was now supposed to be good this morning, and I had one more vacation day to book. It would also give me 10 days straight off since I'm off all next week so I turned it in on Wednesday for one more chance. I decided to go to a spot that I hadn't been to this year. I killed killed my best deer prior to today out of this tree which was a 140" eight and a couple of decent bucks last year. There wasn't a whole lot of sign there and no shooters on camera. However, it is a travel spot during the rut, and it's November. It's also good for a south wind. It is in the bottom of a hollow where three points come together and about a 75 yard flat in the middle where they come together. I told my wife last night that I was going to the killing tree this morning.
So this morning started with a deer snorting at me before daylight. The wind was a little different than I liked it but good for the direction that most of the deer come from. Even though there was a frost last night, the leaves were super wet from the this morning. I was on super alert since I knew that I wouldn't hear a deer. It was about 7:15, I had scanned all the way left, and came back to the center to see a buck crossing the point. I couldn't tell how big but grabbed my can call and turned it over. I then heard him walking and he popped out on the right hand hillside. I instantly seen it was a real good deer, pulled to his shoulder, and fired. He warped the ground. Before I could even think, he started trying to get back up so I went to reloading. I got reloaded, and he had flopped in some thick stuff. I fired again and thought he was dead. In the process, I had dropped my ram rod out of the tree. He got to trying to get up again. I carry an extra ram rod on the side in a pouch that screws together. So, I screwed it together and reloaded. I then couldn't see him so came down the tree as fast as I could without breaking my neck.
I slipped up the hill, and he still had his head up. I sided stepped, took rest off a tree, and shot him in the base of the neck which is all that I could see. The first shot wasn't bad. It was high shoulder but exiting right below the spine on the other side due to the up hill angle. I walked up on him and could see he had 5 on one side and praying that he had 5 on the other. I got close and could only see 4 on the other. Just my luck, still no ten...... I picked him up and that 5th point just kind of appeared as it was covered in grass. I about lost it.He has 23" beams, a lil over 21" inside, and 5" bases. 147 5/8" gross as a "perfect" 10. I will have to say that is my dream deer. Praise the Good Lord for such an awesome day! I am still on cloud 9.
