It was a cold winter morning with a fresh snow covering the ground as I set out with my .54 GPR flintlock. This was the first deer season I had carried a muzzleloader instead of a shotgun but my confidence was high. I'd been practicing all fall and thought I was ready.
As the first rays of sunrise lit up the East, I worked my way down a drainage to where I knew of a nice logpile that makes a great ground blind. Sometimes deer use the gully for a bedding area, but I didn't see any that morning.
After sitting in the logpile for a few hours without seeing any deer, nature was calling pretty loud so I leaned my rifle against a tree and stood up to get things done. Well, about halfway thru the job 2 deer show up across the gully. There I was with the wrong gun...:haha:
The 2 deer, a doe and a button buck, kept coming until they were straight across from me at about 50 yards. I occupied myself with getting the proper weapon in hand and pointed their direction, brought the gun to full cock, aimed carefully,..... KLATCH!!!
No flash, no boom, no cloud of smoke, nothin'. The deer both heard the klatch and were now standing there staring at me.
After a couple seconds I eased my head up and looked in the pan with one eye while watching the deer with the other. Yep, there's powder in there. So I stirred it around a little with my finger, pulled the hammer back to full-cock, and closed the frizzen. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! And the deer both just stood there watching me...
OK, let's try this again... BOOOOM!
I got the doe! Nice double lung shot. She ran about 50 yards and piled up. And I was a successful muzzleloader deer hunter. :grin:
I've learned a thing or two since then, killed a few more with my MLers, even got the best buck of my life with a ML, but that doe will always be remembered.
As the first rays of sunrise lit up the East, I worked my way down a drainage to where I knew of a nice logpile that makes a great ground blind. Sometimes deer use the gully for a bedding area, but I didn't see any that morning.
After sitting in the logpile for a few hours without seeing any deer, nature was calling pretty loud so I leaned my rifle against a tree and stood up to get things done. Well, about halfway thru the job 2 deer show up across the gully. There I was with the wrong gun...:haha:
The 2 deer, a doe and a button buck, kept coming until they were straight across from me at about 50 yards. I occupied myself with getting the proper weapon in hand and pointed their direction, brought the gun to full cock, aimed carefully,..... KLATCH!!!
No flash, no boom, no cloud of smoke, nothin'. The deer both heard the klatch and were now standing there staring at me.
After a couple seconds I eased my head up and looked in the pan with one eye while watching the deer with the other. Yep, there's powder in there. So I stirred it around a little with my finger, pulled the hammer back to full-cock, and closed the frizzen. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! And the deer both just stood there watching me...
OK, let's try this again... BOOOOM!
I got the doe! Nice double lung shot. She ran about 50 yards and piled up. And I was a successful muzzleloader deer hunter. :grin:
I've learned a thing or two since then, killed a few more with my MLers, even got the best buck of my life with a ML, but that doe will always be remembered.
