• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Successful ozark hunt ( pic heavy)

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AWsaddles

40 Cal.
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
236
Reaction score
2
Finally got a chance to sit down and tell about one of the most fun and successful deer hunts I've been in in a long time. Fellow forum member and friend, turkhunter and I had spent the last year at work planing a muzzle loader hunt in the Ozark National Forest. We got to leave late Thursday night and after a long drive arived at our camping spot to set up in the dark at about 9:30 pm. Temperatures that night were going to get cold so we built a good fire and put up a tarp shelter and settled in for some rest before the next mornings hunt.
3D46D6A6-0B3F-4B56-950B-8591A7365B58-469-0000004F25AD8CAB_zps3c35e533.jpg
E952C2E2-AD88-49EB-B36C-1CAEC96A112D-469-0000004EE3A51616_zpsd6e70409.jpg

Morning came early and cold and after we both got ready we set off for the first mornings hunt. I had not been to this area before but Travis had and informed me that about a half mile from campsite was a spot that deer was know to frequent and meanwhile he was going to head down the other hill side to a spot where he had hunted before. We left about ten till seven and I was no more than five min out of camp than I came upon a clearing that had a few standing whiteoaks and abundant acorns. I carried my 40 cal flintlock that day as i thought that if no deer presented itsself i could shoot a few bushytails. I sat down beneath a fallen tree and as soon as I did saw a doe slipping through the woods. I watched her for fifteen min or so but could not get a shot I was comfortable taking. I lifted my rifle about the time I thought things were going to work out she lifted her head looked in my general direction and bolted. HOW did she me. I was hidden so well! As I lowered my rifle in disgust I heard something comming through the brush directly behind me. As I peered over the log I was behind I saw what had disturbed her. The buck was walking along at a brisk pace and heading in my general direction. When an opening appeared I bleted , then grunted, thin whistled. Nothing caused him to break stride he was focused. I finally got a shot at about 40 yards through an opening in the brush. When the smoked cleared he was down for the count. It was only 7:30
ED5C6D6D-B5E7-4C25-BD0A-B4EEDCDFBAD7-469-0000004F644ECB9D_zps31216c09.jpg
4063A2FC-4E89-4010-8336-81C48CEB9A23-469-0000004F4702BC7B_zps797c7ed2.jpg

I got him back to camp about 8:30 and decided to put on breakfast. As soon as I had the sausage done I heard the report if Travis's 50 cal mt rifle echoing down the valley.
5961A9CE-E647-434D-B57E-58A881B0026B-469-000001A8EA49BDB1_zps7ae92d92.jpg

After a good hearty breakfast he told me of his hunt which was very similar to mine. He walked up the road a few hundred yards and sat at the edge of an old logging road at the base of a tall whiteoak. After passing on a doe deer earlier in the morning a nice six point came up the old logging road where he sat. He was chasing a doe hot and heavy and he to was hard to stop. He took about a fifty yard shot to drop his deer in his tracks.
491BCCE6-BA0A-4C3F-A5D5-DE48770024BA-469-0000004F5B21B5D9_zps054e2c40.jpg

BB0E57AE-A192-40BA-97C2-C0FC4D761283-469-0000004F3DFAA327_zpsbe35871f.jpg

After we got all the deer back to camp we had lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon throwing tomahawks and taking in the scenery. The mountains were beautiful this time of year.
96A846BB-D699-41D7-8351-27114A3C88F4-469-0000004F01767402_zpscab59c8f.jpg
818FF8C6-8A26-4778-9D75-8B62F2BCBA74-469-0000004F1EC5E255_zps6c890261.jpg
E213AEA7-931E-4860-AA59-7C9B1352E14F-469-0000004F16B6F307_zpsf44ec19e.jpg
8B43DCF7-2DEF-4C45-B041-FAFD6969330B-469-0000004EF407FB1B_zps65ff127d.jpg

After another cool night we arose early the next morning to finish the hunt before we had to head home that afternoon. Travis went for a walk down a trail where we had heard some deer the previous day and I decided I would try my hand at some of the local grey squirrels. The morning before they were everywhere but this morning they proved to be more scarce. I did manage to get a shot at one high up in a tree and I just clipped his neck behind his ear. He will make a nice pot of dumplings sometime this week.
607F0191-DF1C-4501-AE60-79AE45B59C18-469-0000004ED0328183_zps48b602b9.jpg

We soon had to break camp and start the drive back home but I will always remember the fun and the companionship shared on this, one of the most memoriable hunts of my life.
A5AC8AD6-5CAC-42A7-9EAC-84042C28ED7E-469-0000004F32F4A70C_zpscdf22a58.jpg

Thanks for listening.
 
The only thing better than getting "a" deer during hunting season.
Is getting it the first day out.
Nice job. Those are some fine looking bucks.
 
Thanks for posting the pics and chronicle of our hunt. As I am technologically challanged and havent figured out how to post pics I am glad you did. As was said, it was the best hunt I have ever been on. I have shared many hunts and camps with friends and family over the years but never have I shared a camp with someone who shares so many of the same interests as I have. There is just something about traditional muzzleloaders and the smell of real black powder that makes a hunt special. I have hunted this area for many years and for both of us to be successful especially considering Allen had never set foot there was rare and special. The food was great, the scenery spectacular, and the companionship unbeatable. Im looking foreward to next year doing it all again. Can't wait!!
 
Fantastic hunt and beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing. Those are the kind of hunts that you will always remember. Congratulations on the beautiful buck and the excellent shot that you made! I took my wife on a ride through the Ozark National Forest today near Sams Throne. The fall colors are really starting to pop. Made me wish I could set up camp and hunt a few days.
 
Excellent hunting trip, deer, story details, and photos...congratulations to you both !!
:hatsoff:
 
"ALW & Turkhunter's Excellent Adventure" is an apt title for that hunt. Excellent hunt and excellent scenery .. congrats to you both.
 
That's a excellent story with pictures of a successful hunt. The scenery is just breathtaking I could live up there all the time. :hatsoff: to a great hunt! those deer are nice size and should stock a freezer well. I'm getting all worked up, you folks are lucky, I still have until Nov. 18th before I get to go deer hunting :td: 21 more days of waiting :( .
 
What breathtaking scenery and great kills. Almost makes me wanna cry like John Boehner does everyday
 
I believe you just "primed" a bunch of us for hunting season! Very nice bucks and beautiful photographs of camp in the Ozarks :hatsoff:
 
congrats to both of yall. All these pics are killin me but keep em coming cause ours dont start till mid nov :thumbsup:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top