My hunting partner had his deer down first thing in the morning. I unfortunately missed my first shot of the morning. Later in the day I was able to get back on the buck. I went up the hill side and was looking down onto a thick bench. I saw two does running around when the buck I missed stood up. I dropped out of site closed the distance and popped back out. I crawled on my hands and knees for about 200 yards until I got within a good range of where I last saw the buck. Unfortunately I did not see him and thought I had spooked him and he snuck off. I sat for a bit picking burs out of my hands when I saw two does pop up. The buck then stood up again right in front of me. I slid behind a bush and drew down on the buck. I fired and he dropped. I laid on my back and reloaded the muzzleloader quickly. I sat back up and noticed his head was coming back up. He was still facing away. I closed the distance quickly and placed a final shot to put him down. Always a good way to start the season.