Post by: Smokepole on October 10, 2014, 08:18:03 AM
Two days into the season I missed two easy shots at a big three point. I could have clubbed it with a rock. So I decided to do some target shooting to make sure my gun was on. First thing I did was accidentally double load my barrel with two Lee Real bullets and a total of 200 grains of pyrodex. Tried driving the loads out the breech & it all got stuck in there real bad. Crap. I came down with a bad cold & wasn't feeling too good, so blame it on that.
Made it to Big R's in Omak the next morning & bought another smokepole. Shot it & it was dead on from the factory. Three days left in the season. Climbed up on the hill by first light & a bruiser 4x4 with eye guards jumped right out in front of me. 30 yards. "Click!" Buck took off.
I fiddled with the gun that night & adjusted the ignition. Got it working pretty good, but I only saw a pisscutter 2x2 the next day. Wife saw nothing, so we decided to hunt the last day of the season together. I had been seeing a small buck, but he kept his head tucked in the brush. Maybe we could take a better look on Sunday.
Got up at 4 a.m. and we were in the field by first light. Saw three does right away & we followed them at a distance up a draw. In the opens across the draw, two bucks were browsing. One was the pisscutter along with the mystery buck. From about 250 yards he looked like he might be legal. There was some cloud cover & the light was flat. Since the bucks didn't see us, we took our time climbing the ridge to get above them. Strong wind in our favor. We traversed to get above the bucks, which by now had turned the corner, heading for a pass with lots of timber. I knew they were just getting a few more bites before they bedded down, so we hoofed it pretty fast to cut them off.
Next thing I knew, I was face to face with the pisscutter. He wasn't sure about me, and he took a bite. I got down low and blew a doe bleat to calm him down. We got behind some taller brush and made it quick to the pass & waited. The deer were below us... two bucks, and the does, too. Waited a good 5 minutes when the mystery buck came browsing below. He showed his rack,neck, and the top of his back.
I raised my new gun to shoot him, and it went "Click!" I told my wife to shoot the buck, but she handed me her gun. "You shoot it." So I raised her gun and shot a nice big hole in the dirt. I took my new gun back & capped it up with a fresh one. By now I could only see the bucks head, and he was getting huffy. "Powww!" Right in the chops.
One thing I've learned over the years... muzzleloading sure is a pain in the arse. It makes me tired, but it sure is fun! :tup:
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