Buttermilk
Well-Known Member
This morning, I met my son at our usual meeting place. This place is a public boat ramp at an area lake.
In the predawn darkness we launched the boat into the lake, which is very low with the drought conditions currently. The low lake level made launching the boat a bit of a chore but quickly was done and we were off.
A few minutes later we beached the boat and we headed off to our respective spots. We arrived earlier than normal and had a long wait for legal shooting light.
Slowly the morning passed, as the sun began to creep over the eastern horizon. While the temperature wasn't cold, there was a noticeable drop in the air temperature as the sky began to lighten. Soon the woods were full of life, with squirrels scurrying everywhere, and birds chirping with pleasantries.
While making the drive early that morning, I was wide awake. Now, however, my eyes, my body and every fiber in my being begged for sleep. It had been a short night.
I stayed alert as I could, scanning the area constantly, not wanting to be caught by surprise by a deer sneeking in on me unawares.
My breakfast had long played out, so I began nibbling on the snacks I had brought. First was an energy bar. That was soon gone. Then came the peanuts. Those were salty and tasty.
At one point I became uncomfortable so I turned to the west to ease the discomfort. I continued munching on peanuts.
Seemingly outta nowhere, there was a buck! Where did he come from?!? As I observed, he looked back towards the north, and based on his body orientation, I presumed he had came from that direction. Who knows. Either way, there he was.
I quickly realized he was a decent buck, so I decided I would attempt to shoot him if I had a shot. A quick visual of the immediate area revealed lots of limbs. However, there was one spot I was certain I could slip a bullet through.
Shouldering the muzzleloader and looking thru the scope indeed confirmed I could shoot thru a small opening the size of a softball to volleyball.
The buck was quartering hard towards me. I lined up the reticle on the buck's near side shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The gun came to life with a loud boom, a hard kick and a cloud of smoke!
The wind carried the smoke away rather quickly and I saw the buck was hit hard. He was down inside of twenty yards. Then the shakes hit me! I was shaking badly enough that loading up the muzzleloader again was difficult to say the least. But I got it done.
I eased over to where the buck lay. He was indeed expired. I had taken my fourth deer with this muzzleloader since I acquired the it. I was ecstatic! And I still had the shakes! The buck was a decent 9 point. The shot was about 40-50 yards so.
The shot impact was on the shoulder with no exit. The bullet appeared to be just under the skin at the back of the ribs on the offside.
I walked back to my spot to grab some items I needed from my pack and gutted the deer. After gutting the deer, I did find the bullet just under the hide and cut it out.
I returned to my spot, gathered my pack and gear and headed off to the boat. At the boat I retrieved my safety harness which I needed to drag the deer back. Unfortunately the game cart was a mile away and would take longer to retrieve via waterway than it would to drag the deer back.
One hour and about twenty minutes later I had the deer back to the boat as well. I was beat!
All in all it was a good day. Unfortunately my son did not see any deer he wanted to shoot, so he arrived back at the boat just after I made it back.
My son and I have a rather extraordinary relationship. Would not change it for the world! We had a great day!
I use BH209 at a very healthy charge weight. I shoot the Hornady 340 ELDX Bore Driver bullet, with which I get phenomenal accuracy. All lit by a F215GMM primer. Velocity has been Garmin'd @ 2050 fps. (I've shot this load accurately out to 500 yards on steel)
Bullet did considerable damage internally. Entire insides were blood filled, with extensive liver and lung damage.
I can say this old man was thrilled.
In the predawn darkness we launched the boat into the lake, which is very low with the drought conditions currently. The low lake level made launching the boat a bit of a chore but quickly was done and we were off.
A few minutes later we beached the boat and we headed off to our respective spots. We arrived earlier than normal and had a long wait for legal shooting light.
Slowly the morning passed, as the sun began to creep over the eastern horizon. While the temperature wasn't cold, there was a noticeable drop in the air temperature as the sky began to lighten. Soon the woods were full of life, with squirrels scurrying everywhere, and birds chirping with pleasantries.
While making the drive early that morning, I was wide awake. Now, however, my eyes, my body and every fiber in my being begged for sleep. It had been a short night.
I stayed alert as I could, scanning the area constantly, not wanting to be caught by surprise by a deer sneeking in on me unawares.
My breakfast had long played out, so I began nibbling on the snacks I had brought. First was an energy bar. That was soon gone. Then came the peanuts. Those were salty and tasty.
At one point I became uncomfortable so I turned to the west to ease the discomfort. I continued munching on peanuts.
Seemingly outta nowhere, there was a buck! Where did he come from?!? As I observed, he looked back towards the north, and based on his body orientation, I presumed he had came from that direction. Who knows. Either way, there he was.
I quickly realized he was a decent buck, so I decided I would attempt to shoot him if I had a shot. A quick visual of the immediate area revealed lots of limbs. However, there was one spot I was certain I could slip a bullet through.
Shouldering the muzzleloader and looking thru the scope indeed confirmed I could shoot thru a small opening the size of a softball to volleyball.
The buck was quartering hard towards me. I lined up the reticle on the buck's near side shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The gun came to life with a loud boom, a hard kick and a cloud of smoke!
The wind carried the smoke away rather quickly and I saw the buck was hit hard. He was down inside of twenty yards. Then the shakes hit me! I was shaking badly enough that loading up the muzzleloader again was difficult to say the least. But I got it done.
I eased over to where the buck lay. He was indeed expired. I had taken my fourth deer with this muzzleloader since I acquired the it. I was ecstatic! And I still had the shakes! The buck was a decent 9 point. The shot was about 40-50 yards so.
The shot impact was on the shoulder with no exit. The bullet appeared to be just under the skin at the back of the ribs on the offside.
I walked back to my spot to grab some items I needed from my pack and gutted the deer. After gutting the deer, I did find the bullet just under the hide and cut it out.
I returned to my spot, gathered my pack and gear and headed off to the boat. At the boat I retrieved my safety harness which I needed to drag the deer back. Unfortunately the game cart was a mile away and would take longer to retrieve via waterway than it would to drag the deer back.
One hour and about twenty minutes later I had the deer back to the boat as well. I was beat!
All in all it was a good day. Unfortunately my son did not see any deer he wanted to shoot, so he arrived back at the boat just after I made it back.
My son and I have a rather extraordinary relationship. Would not change it for the world! We had a great day!
I use BH209 at a very healthy charge weight. I shoot the Hornady 340 ELDX Bore Driver bullet, with which I get phenomenal accuracy. All lit by a F215GMM primer. Velocity has been Garmin'd @ 2050 fps. (I've shot this load accurately out to 500 yards on steel)
Bullet did considerable damage internally. Entire insides were blood filled, with extensive liver and lung damage.
I can say this old man was thrilled.
