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- Mar 17, 2010
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Since it was regular TN rifle season, I decided to take the 58 flint rifle and go hunt in the rain. Anyway this little guy tried to sneak across the ridge i was watching at 7:45 this morning. From my tree i guessed he was about 55-60 yards. I was seated and tried to make sure i had a good rest. He luckily stood broad side in one of the only partial openings he was going to pass through. Anyway I touched off, he reared his hind legs up, hopped about 20 yards, stopped and stood behind a tree while i reloaded and walked off. I didnt feel too good about the casual walking off part. I studied the place he was standing and called my Dad. He assured me it was hit and he would come help me. I waited 30 minutes since we had rain on the way and found where he was standing when i shot. i found where the 58 round ball tunneled into the ground, and found a single sprig of white hair about like a dandelion seed. i crossed back and forth and could not find a speck of blood not even where he stood. My Dad showed up, at this point I realized it was a 75 yd shot and kinda scary with all the brush in between me and the tree i was in. We took the line the deer seemed to have taken and walked the place out for about 45 minutes.
It was raining pretty good so I told him I would go get my stand and meet him at the truck, he would continue to walk out a ridge.
I got my stand and was feeling pretty down, I had texted my wife that i had probably gotten a deer much earlier. I even questioned my sanity to hunt with my flinter during reg. rifle season. As I was walking out i looked ahead of me and a deer was crossing my trail about 40 yards ahead. I had to take my gun out of the oil skin case and luckily my prime was still dry. I took a knee and shot in a small opening. I walked up and found some hair, a lot of hair, the deer ran down the hill where we had just come from and appeared hit. It was really raining now, and my Dad showed up. He thought I was just checking to see if my gun would go off or something. Anyway we headed down the hill hoping to see a deer piled up at the bottom. As we got about 75-80 yds I found blood. it seemed odd that the deer would have taken a 90 degree turn but there was a lot of blood, across a hill, down a hill, up another hill, lots of blood, bright blood, spots every where, It was very difficult to believe this deer could go on like this, it even jumped a barb wire fence. We trailed it across a cut hay field, and just in the woods out of the field was the first deer i had shot earlier that morning. He didnt start bleeding until he had run a good ways, he was hit in the liver and back of the lungs. I was totally convinced I hadn't hurt him, after seeing him casually walk off, no blood, thick stuff to shoot through. He went a long way 400 yards maybe further. It was quiet a surprise. We gutted him and loaded him up and then spent the next two hours looking for the little miracle deer that put us on the first ones blood trail. We searched for over 2 hours in a downpour, I hope he only took a surface wound. He is the only reason we found this one.
