Atchman2
Well-Known Member
I missed the opening weekend of muzzleloader season. Between being sick, family, and work, it just wasn't going to happen for me. It is my FAVORITE time to hunt every year, and I had actually planned on taking the entire week off.
Okay so the GOOD thing is I sold a very expensive piece of equipment to a local hospital. That bad thing is that they decided to install the equipment during the first week of muzzleloader season. Oh well, the good was better than the bad on this one, since I get a bonus check for selling the equipment.
On Thursday, I managed to slip away a little early so I could hunt at least for an hour or so at my spot in the back of a subdivsion. Since I haven't picked up the muzzleloader since i sighted it in back in September, I grabbed it out of the safe and got my speedloaders ready to go for a quick hunt. That's good right?
When I get to my spot, I can't find my ammo anywhere! Don't know if I put it on top of the car or what or it fell out haven't found it yet. Luckily for me my compoud bow was still in the car and so I grabbed it and put on my safety harness. I was going to hunt from a blind with the rifle, but with the bow I prefer the treestand. So I grabbed everything and what was missing? My release! I decided to go down anyway, if I had to shoot, I would just use my old three finger technique. The GOOD thing was, when I got to the tree-there was my release. I'm glad because I'm not used to the other one I have at home. So I hunted until dark and went home seeing only squirrels. The squirrels were lucky because I had removed my air rifle from the car earlier in the day. I had to go to the Veteran's Day celebration at my son's school and didn't want to have anything that even resembled a firearm in the car.
I was looking at Facebook last night and noticed that I have killed several deer on this very day over the last four years. That inspired me, though I was pretty tired, to get up and go anyway. I couldn't convince my wife to get up with my son, so I didn't leave the house until 7:10 AM. The drive down to Roane County is short, so I was there at about 7:35. This time I had some ammo, but I'm still missing my ammo, bullet starter, and the ramrod cover.
As I walked towards, where I wanted to hunt, I decided that I had better load my rifle. It was nice an clean so loading it was easy. Moving down the hill I always pause at the entrance to the clearing and see if there are any deer around. Nope, clear and I went over to my friend's shooting house. It isn't a deer blind house, he actually uses it to sight in guns while under cover. For my purposes though it doubles as a blind for me, since the deer pretty much ignore it.
My friend Jim and I have been working on some self filming accessories. I've tested it a bunch of times, but haven't been on a "live hunt" with it yet. I was reaching for the camera to mount it, when a herd of deer came out of the brush! I wan't there even five minutes and there were deer in front of me. Remember that installation? Well my wife texted me that they needed me out there by noon! Well with a large doe in front of me at 89 yards, I put the Traditions muzzleloader up on my tripod mount. (I know you hardcore ML guys will make fun of me, but I shoot the classic two pellets and a Powerbelt; it works perfect out of my rifle). She was facing away from me up the hill. Something was behind her, and another group of does appeared. She turned to look at them and KABOOM! She went down instantly and kinda flopped for a bit, but was obviously dead in seconds. The 300 grain Powerbelt did its job to perfection.
Since I had just arrived and I knew she was dead I decided to sit for a little bit. It looked a little small to me so I thought I could easily get it out of there. WRONG! When I finally decided at 9 to get up I walked over to where the doe fell. With the recent rain the creek was pretty full and she was across the creek, and up a hill, and in a briar patch, and wedged between two trees! Also she was huge for an East Tennessee doe. I knew I couldn't just drag her out without killing myself.
I took my rifle and backpack back to the car and got my deer cart. It was the first time I ever used it. I have a selection of deer cleaning tools on a belt so I slung that around my waist. The hill worked out in a way as it helped me when I was cleaning the deer. However, the cart would barely move in the tall grass and briars so I left it in the field. I had to drag the deer up the hill a ways and then across the creek, and the swampy ground. It was easy to load it up on the cart and the cart worked great! However, I'm a middle aged guy with MS and it was up a hill in the mud to my vehicle. After many stops to rest, I finally got it to the car. It took me a couple of tries to get her in the car, but I finally did.
I ran off my tag when I got home. My wife agreed to take it to the processor for me so I could get to work. Sure it is a doe, but those were the first deer I've seen all year and I'm a jerky making fiend in the winter time. She'll produce several succulent pounds of jerky for me!
Okay so the GOOD thing is I sold a very expensive piece of equipment to a local hospital. That bad thing is that they decided to install the equipment during the first week of muzzleloader season. Oh well, the good was better than the bad on this one, since I get a bonus check for selling the equipment.
On Thursday, I managed to slip away a little early so I could hunt at least for an hour or so at my spot in the back of a subdivsion. Since I haven't picked up the muzzleloader since i sighted it in back in September, I grabbed it out of the safe and got my speedloaders ready to go for a quick hunt. That's good right?
When I get to my spot, I can't find my ammo anywhere! Don't know if I put it on top of the car or what or it fell out haven't found it yet. Luckily for me my compoud bow was still in the car and so I grabbed it and put on my safety harness. I was going to hunt from a blind with the rifle, but with the bow I prefer the treestand. So I grabbed everything and what was missing? My release! I decided to go down anyway, if I had to shoot, I would just use my old three finger technique. The GOOD thing was, when I got to the tree-there was my release. I'm glad because I'm not used to the other one I have at home. So I hunted until dark and went home seeing only squirrels. The squirrels were lucky because I had removed my air rifle from the car earlier in the day. I had to go to the Veteran's Day celebration at my son's school and didn't want to have anything that even resembled a firearm in the car.
I was looking at Facebook last night and noticed that I have killed several deer on this very day over the last four years. That inspired me, though I was pretty tired, to get up and go anyway. I couldn't convince my wife to get up with my son, so I didn't leave the house until 7:10 AM. The drive down to Roane County is short, so I was there at about 7:35. This time I had some ammo, but I'm still missing my ammo, bullet starter, and the ramrod cover.
As I walked towards, where I wanted to hunt, I decided that I had better load my rifle. It was nice an clean so loading it was easy. Moving down the hill I always pause at the entrance to the clearing and see if there are any deer around. Nope, clear and I went over to my friend's shooting house. It isn't a deer blind house, he actually uses it to sight in guns while under cover. For my purposes though it doubles as a blind for me, since the deer pretty much ignore it.
My friend Jim and I have been working on some self filming accessories. I've tested it a bunch of times, but haven't been on a "live hunt" with it yet. I was reaching for the camera to mount it, when a herd of deer came out of the brush! I wan't there even five minutes and there were deer in front of me. Remember that installation? Well my wife texted me that they needed me out there by noon! Well with a large doe in front of me at 89 yards, I put the Traditions muzzleloader up on my tripod mount. (I know you hardcore ML guys will make fun of me, but I shoot the classic two pellets and a Powerbelt; it works perfect out of my rifle). She was facing away from me up the hill. Something was behind her, and another group of does appeared. She turned to look at them and KABOOM! She went down instantly and kinda flopped for a bit, but was obviously dead in seconds. The 300 grain Powerbelt did its job to perfection.
Since I had just arrived and I knew she was dead I decided to sit for a little bit. It looked a little small to me so I thought I could easily get it out of there. WRONG! When I finally decided at 9 to get up I walked over to where the doe fell. With the recent rain the creek was pretty full and she was across the creek, and up a hill, and in a briar patch, and wedged between two trees! Also she was huge for an East Tennessee doe. I knew I couldn't just drag her out without killing myself.
I took my rifle and backpack back to the car and got my deer cart. It was the first time I ever used it. I have a selection of deer cleaning tools on a belt so I slung that around my waist. The hill worked out in a way as it helped me when I was cleaning the deer. However, the cart would barely move in the tall grass and briars so I left it in the field. I had to drag the deer up the hill a ways and then across the creek, and the swampy ground. It was easy to load it up on the cart and the cart worked great! However, I'm a middle aged guy with MS and it was up a hill in the mud to my vehicle. After many stops to rest, I finally got it to the car. It took me a couple of tries to get her in the car, but I finally did.
I ran off my tag when I got home. My wife agreed to take it to the processor for me so I could get to work. Sure it is a doe, but those were the first deer I've seen all year and I'm a jerky making fiend in the winter time. She'll produce several succulent pounds of jerky for me!
