Opening morning of the Vt. regular season came and went and "man did I have a good time"!
I have been hunting exclusively with my smoke pole for the past 8 years and although I had never taken a deer, it has always been more about the hunt than the kill.
In fact I have taken quite a ribbing from my center fire buddies over the past 8 years for passing up deer because they were out beyond 50 yards, or in one case, for forgetting to put a charge in my barrel as I blasted 9 caps at a beautiful 8 pointer without any ignition. Regardless of how you measure success I have always enjoyed myself and have never put much emphasis on the actual kill.
As for this season, once again I grabbed my 50 Cal Hawken yet things were to be different as I had what turned out to be the best hunt of my life.
Thanks to my Moccasins, I was able to walk into the woods fairly quietly spotting 2 does. As they passed I continued up the hill and saw some movement. I new it was a buck right away but I was too low on the hill to have a shot. I proceeded to sneak up to the top where I could see the whole body of a nice 4 pointer. He never heard me coming. I got within 40 yards of him but he never gave me a clean shot. Eventually he strolled away but I felt content knowing that he walked away un spooked and un injured. At that point I popped a squat right on top of the knoll. Soon enough I saw another flash in the brush except this time it was a 6 pointer. Man was "my heart a pumping". As he quartered passed me I passed up two neck shots in an effort to get a look at his vitals only to loose him in the thick brush for about 10 minutes.
All week prior to the season opener I had been shooting at cardboard cutouts in the shape of a deer neck in preparation for such a shot however for some reason I felt I should wait until he gave me a look at his vitals. Well thankfully he finally came out came out from behind the brush and gave me another clean look at his neck. This time I took aim and fired. No hesitation in the least. In fact it felt like the gun raised and fired itself without my help. He dropped before the smoke cleared. It was the type of kill you hope for.
Just as I stuck the knife under his skin to gut him out a real Local Vermont Old Timer came through the wood behind me and said “Nice Deer, I heard that cannon blow and I knew it was no regular gun”. Needless to say it was fun having the local boy there to appreciate my kill with me.
In fact everything that day was going my way. Even the drag out was mostly down hill which I enjoyed nearly as much as the hunt. By the way my center fire guys didn't even see a deer that day let alone take one. I pretty much shut them up for at least this season anyway.
Next it’s Vt. Muzzle season then it’s on to PA the day after x-mas for the Flintlock only season. Anyone interested in joining me for an Eastern PA hunt?
I have been hunting exclusively with my smoke pole for the past 8 years and although I had never taken a deer, it has always been more about the hunt than the kill.
In fact I have taken quite a ribbing from my center fire buddies over the past 8 years for passing up deer because they were out beyond 50 yards, or in one case, for forgetting to put a charge in my barrel as I blasted 9 caps at a beautiful 8 pointer without any ignition. Regardless of how you measure success I have always enjoyed myself and have never put much emphasis on the actual kill.
As for this season, once again I grabbed my 50 Cal Hawken yet things were to be different as I had what turned out to be the best hunt of my life.
Thanks to my Moccasins, I was able to walk into the woods fairly quietly spotting 2 does. As they passed I continued up the hill and saw some movement. I new it was a buck right away but I was too low on the hill to have a shot. I proceeded to sneak up to the top where I could see the whole body of a nice 4 pointer. He never heard me coming. I got within 40 yards of him but he never gave me a clean shot. Eventually he strolled away but I felt content knowing that he walked away un spooked and un injured. At that point I popped a squat right on top of the knoll. Soon enough I saw another flash in the brush except this time it was a 6 pointer. Man was "my heart a pumping". As he quartered passed me I passed up two neck shots in an effort to get a look at his vitals only to loose him in the thick brush for about 10 minutes.
All week prior to the season opener I had been shooting at cardboard cutouts in the shape of a deer neck in preparation for such a shot however for some reason I felt I should wait until he gave me a look at his vitals. Well thankfully he finally came out came out from behind the brush and gave me another clean look at his neck. This time I took aim and fired. No hesitation in the least. In fact it felt like the gun raised and fired itself without my help. He dropped before the smoke cleared. It was the type of kill you hope for.
Just as I stuck the knife under his skin to gut him out a real Local Vermont Old Timer came through the wood behind me and said “Nice Deer, I heard that cannon blow and I knew it was no regular gun”. Needless to say it was fun having the local boy there to appreciate my kill with me.
In fact everything that day was going my way. Even the drag out was mostly down hill which I enjoyed nearly as much as the hunt. By the way my center fire guys didn't even see a deer that day let alone take one. I pretty much shut them up for at least this season anyway.
Next it’s Vt. Muzzle season then it’s on to PA the day after x-mas for the Flintlock only season. Anyone interested in joining me for an Eastern PA hunt?
