Well, I finally got a shot opportunity with the muzzleloader and took home a nice coastal blacktail buck. I had packed in about 7 miles, about half by mountain bike and half on foot, down to a remote canyon filled with poison oak. The heavy poison oak necessitates coveralls & gloves whenever I leave camp. Even with those, I still get some rashes. This was my third attempt to find a deer down there within shooting distance. The first two times I was carrying a recurve but the tag also allows for a muzzleloader. After that second trip, about 3 years ago, I bought a used .50 Woodsman and have been getting familiar with it. Life conspired to keep me away from that place for a few years. But I was finally able to make it down this year. With the fire danger, I felt comfortable in using a conical bullet (no patch) but carried a 1-lb aerosol fire extinguisher with me at all times just in case anything smoldered after the shot. Thankfully, there were no issues.
I had a nice doe standing broadside at about 50 yards on the hike in. But the season didn't open until the next morning -- typical.
The deer completely busted all my usual assumptions and predictions. They were extremely active at night and the dark hours. It was a full moon and daytime temps were around 70 deg up higher on the slope. So I could hear deer nearby, sometimes just 15 yards away, in the dark. But they all bedded up and were quiet by shooting light. One wandered through camp as I was making dinner after dark and I could hear them fussing around camp as I slept at night. But come shooting light, I could only find rear-ends as I accidentally busted them out of beds. Nothing stirred in the twilight hours. So I was a little disappointed as I was hiking out, thinking I'd have to come back the following weekend. My family wanted me home the next weekend and I'd have to resupply before coming back. But I walked out with my pack loaded with all my gear, trekking pole in one hand and rifle in the other, just in case.
About a mile into the hike out, I saw a flicker of something above a horizontal line about 80-yards up hill. This is steep, brushy country so 80 yards uphill is about a 70-deg angle and rarely clear. I watched to see if anything moved again & figured it was probably just a bird and a large branch -- coincidence of looking like a deer from that distance. So I looked around a bit more and then looked back one more time & saw the large branch was gone -- DEER! I knelt and steadied the rifle with my trekking pole & waited to see if I could identify the deer & get a shot. A doe stepped out and turned broadside. But then I picked up more movement off to the right a little ways. The doe turned & trotted off behind the brush and a buck followed behind. I turned my attention and sights to him and he stopped just long enough for me to get a shot off, sending him tumbling downhill toward me. He came to rest about 15 yards from where I stood. The shot had hit high and spined him so I quickly reloaded and sent a second shot into his vitals to end his pain. What lay before me was actually the oldest buck I have taken yet -- a nice 3x3 or even a passable 4x4 if you want to count the brow-tines as some folks do with blacktails. Thankfully, he weighed less than the forkies I've taken in the Sierras so the pack-out was a little more manageable.
Fire-wise, I checked around just after the shots, again before starting my hike out a couple hours later and a third time when I came back for my gear in the late afternoon. No smoldering, no charring -- no evidence of anything. I was relieved.
Thanks to all for your knowledge and help over these past couple years as I have been learning about how to use these smokepoles. Although the cleaning task is a bit of a chore, I think I enjoy shooting that .50 more than any other rifle. Hunting-wise, I appreciate the reduced blast and recoil compared with centerfire cartridges. On my ears, it felt like shooting quail loads out of my long-barreled shotgun -- easy without any protection for just a couple shots. My .308 leaves me a bit muffled for a few days if my hearing protection is loose and very muffled for a few days if I forget to put them on at all. Not so with the .50. I appreciate that a lot.
I had a nice doe standing broadside at about 50 yards on the hike in. But the season didn't open until the next morning -- typical.
The deer completely busted all my usual assumptions and predictions. They were extremely active at night and the dark hours. It was a full moon and daytime temps were around 70 deg up higher on the slope. So I could hear deer nearby, sometimes just 15 yards away, in the dark. But they all bedded up and were quiet by shooting light. One wandered through camp as I was making dinner after dark and I could hear them fussing around camp as I slept at night. But come shooting light, I could only find rear-ends as I accidentally busted them out of beds. Nothing stirred in the twilight hours. So I was a little disappointed as I was hiking out, thinking I'd have to come back the following weekend. My family wanted me home the next weekend and I'd have to resupply before coming back. But I walked out with my pack loaded with all my gear, trekking pole in one hand and rifle in the other, just in case.
About a mile into the hike out, I saw a flicker of something above a horizontal line about 80-yards up hill. This is steep, brushy country so 80 yards uphill is about a 70-deg angle and rarely clear. I watched to see if anything moved again & figured it was probably just a bird and a large branch -- coincidence of looking like a deer from that distance. So I looked around a bit more and then looked back one more time & saw the large branch was gone -- DEER! I knelt and steadied the rifle with my trekking pole & waited to see if I could identify the deer & get a shot. A doe stepped out and turned broadside. But then I picked up more movement off to the right a little ways. The doe turned & trotted off behind the brush and a buck followed behind. I turned my attention and sights to him and he stopped just long enough for me to get a shot off, sending him tumbling downhill toward me. He came to rest about 15 yards from where I stood. The shot had hit high and spined him so I quickly reloaded and sent a second shot into his vitals to end his pain. What lay before me was actually the oldest buck I have taken yet -- a nice 3x3 or even a passable 4x4 if you want to count the brow-tines as some folks do with blacktails. Thankfully, he weighed less than the forkies I've taken in the Sierras so the pack-out was a little more manageable.
Fire-wise, I checked around just after the shots, again before starting my hike out a couple hours later and a third time when I came back for my gear in the late afternoon. No smoldering, no charring -- no evidence of anything. I was relieved.
Thanks to all for your knowledge and help over these past couple years as I have been learning about how to use these smokepoles. Although the cleaning task is a bit of a chore, I think I enjoy shooting that .50 more than any other rifle. Hunting-wise, I appreciate the reduced blast and recoil compared with centerfire cartridges. On my ears, it felt like shooting quail loads out of my long-barreled shotgun -- easy without any protection for just a couple shots. My .308 leaves me a bit muffled for a few days if my hearing protection is loose and very muffled for a few days if I forget to put them on at all. Not so with the .50. I appreciate that a lot.
. Well done!
