Wouldn't have it any other way

For the past 7 or so years I have been hunting, by choice, with either my smoothbore trade gun or 50 cal. Hawken and I have yet only taken 1 deer.

My results are not due to a lack of effort,or lack of opportunities. In fact I had a wonderful opportunity two days ago that I figured I would share with my fellow black powder hunters.

It was about 8 am and I had been out since daybreak, still hunting in my mocks on a cold November morning (12 dergrees to be exact).

There I was, cautiously placing one foot of the other, moving as slowly as possible when all of a sudden a large, wide spread, 6 pointer came charging in my direction from 35 yards out. I instinctively shouldered my gun ready to let the round ball fly however my gut told me not to shoot at this running deer especially when I only have one shot. So my next move was to try to stop the deer by blatting which I did three times. He eventually stopped about 25 yards from me however he was behind a small knoll just out of sight.

"What do I do now"? was the obvious question. Do I try to sneak up on him or do I try to call him in with my grunt call? Well I blew on the call a few times while I heard him rustling around but I still couldn't see him. Finally I made the 8 slow and quiet steps to get a visual over the knoll and sure enough he was gone. I don't know where he went but he was gone as fast as he appeared.

My immediate reaction was "Sh.t" but as soon as my heart rate dropped back down to normal, I was soon overcome with a feeling on contentment. I was happy that I was fortunate enough to have an encounter with such a majestic whitetail as well the fact that, I didn't take a chance at wounding a running deer. Mostly, I was content with my choice to hunt that day with my Smoothbore. Of course if I had had a center fire rifle I could have easily emptied numerous shells into this deer, but because of the way I choose to hunt, I was pleased with the result. Sure I didn't get the deer, but how angry at myself would I have been had I shot that deer with a modern rifle when I could of had even a slight chance at getting him with Ole Smoothie.

So as the Vt rifle season winds down I can only hope to have anther such encounter tomorrow as it is my last opportunity to hunt before the season comes to a close.
But don't despair, Vt Muzzleloader season starts Dec 6th.
I am already looking forward to it.

You are a true hunter hope you get one soon!

You did good. :hatsoff:
That's a tough area to hunt and even see deer.
Many hunters in that area don't see what you saw.
Good Luck and maybe you'll catch up to him in Dec. (Or later this week)

We don't have a rifle season here. Shotgun/handgun/ML during the "Firearm" season and ML Rifles only during the ML season. Then there's a late-winter-antlerless season when we can use whatever of those that we want + ML pistols.
I own a scoped semi-automatic shotgun with rifled barrel that hasn't seen a deer season in 7-8 years. That's when I switched to a rifled/scoped single-shot 12 gauge... which hasn't been used for the last 4 years. The only guns I want to hunt deer with any more are my MLers. :thumbsup: It just feels right.

Best of luck to you!

In the end it's the experience that counts. :thumbsup: Some of my fondest happened up there in Vermont many many moons ago. It's one place I miss terribly.

Great story! I had two encounters like that last year, but came home empty handed. Doesn't matter. We're out for the experience, right? :wink:

Thanks for sharing your hunt. :thumbsup:

Great story and a true hunter indeed. :thumbsup:

" I was happy that I was fortunate enough to have an encounter with such a majestic whitetail as well the fact that, I didn't take a chance at wounding a running deer. Mostly, I was content with my choice to hunt that day with my Smoothbore."

Well played, and there is no doubt that when it comes to traditional ML hunting you "get it"

I had a very similar experience about three weeks ago. I had just settled down in my treestand when I heard a nice large body 6 point come flying by me. Yea, I could have "shot" at him, but I couldn't bring myself to shoot at this running buck. That is just not the way I am.

A very successful hunt, even if I didn't bag the buck. I had the pleasure of seeing one of God's most beautiful creatures at very close range.

Jerem0621

Sometimes the most difficult shot is the one not taken. I used to be one for taking "grouse shots" and fast running shots at deer. With the muzzleloader I am much more conservative (or just older and wiser).

Hereabouts the regular season is slug shotgun and you can usually tell the successful single shots from the "prolonged bursts" of five (or more??) shots at fleeing deer. Back when I hunted with a group of five we had a rule of thumb that the single shots meant a deer was down. That's still pretty much the case.

One year I heard a series of what seemed like a dozen shots along a "choice" hedgerow between alphalpa fields and shortly thereafter a fork horn ran past me and I dropped him from 15 yards. A bunch of hunters showed up and one said "well, you can keep him since he's so shot up."

I found one hole through both lungs and not a second hole in him, and my slug left a scattering of deer hair where he was when I connected. He'd run quite a gauntlet.

That's about the same time I switched to hunting thickets and got away from the hedgerows. I've had slugs hit the tree I was leaning against! :shocked2:

You done the right thing, Hang in there your time will come! :hatsoff:

ya dun good! ya dun right! :thumbsup:

I would say you done good, would allso say you are an ethical hunter. I have never taken a shot at a running deer and never will, I have a hard enough time shooting one standing still under 50 yards. I would imagine the modern folk would say ya gotta throw some lead to get a deer, a lot of people think it is no big deal to wound a deer, never find it, (if they even look) knowing the deer will die a slow death. You should be proud, just don't tell anyone else what you did, most would not understand. flinch

Thanks for all the kind words. Maybe the good Karma will come through as this weekend starts the Vt. muzzle season. Too bad its not flint lock only.

great post , your heart is in the right place