It is very nice country indeed. Much prettier than pictured. He was a spikehorn. I'm holding him by his only horn. His other horn was broken at the base. I'm a little ashamed to have shot a spikehorn. At my age I should be above such antics, but I couldn't resist. I'd taken my son and his friends hunting, and had 9 kids plus my son and self posted over a few hundred acres. I took the fowler because I didn't plan on doing any shooting. I'd put a deer gun in the hands of each of his friends, and took the fowler just to have a gun in my hands. Most of the kids teased me for not taking my model 29. I'd hurt my back a few weeks ago, and common sense would indicate I'd be better off with a pistol, than a rifle.
Maybe I just wanted to show off Mikes gun, or maybe I just felt like making them feel like they were hunting with a real old timer. Anyway I took the fowler, loaded it with 70 grains of 2FG and, a 492 grain .690 round ball. We hit the woods an hour before sun up, and I placed each of the kids at various locations over the property, with strict orders not to move and keep a weather eye out for deer. I told each of the kids that there only job was to keep a buck from getting past them .
My son and I were the last two to take up a position, and I sat against a tree for 2 hours. I got a bad case of the shakes from the cold, and told my son I couldn't take it any longer. Because I'd hurt my back, I actually needed his help standing up.
Over the next half hour we picked up 2 more of his friends, neither of whom saw anything. We picked up the last kid 5 minutes before reaching the stream and she told us she heard all sorts of noise but didn't see anything.
I was in the lead because I was most familiar with the area as we approached the stream. The young buck started at a trot from cover, and as I brought the gun to full cock, he broke into a full blown run.
I remembered the gun had a tendency to shoot high with round balls, so I put the bead about a foot in front of his left knee while he ran, and squeezed. All I saw was smoke, but a collective "Yeah" rose from the kids behind me. My son spoke first, and told me I'd just bagged a spike horn on "the other side of the stream." I hadn't even considered the water, and the kids were still congratulating me when the difficulties of crossing the stream loomed large. There was a bridge a mile upstream,
but I wanted to cross over as quickly as possible to dress him out. With a bad back I didn't want to slip, but figured it would be better than walking a 2 mile detour. I had rubber boots on and managed to ford the stream, but the kids had to take the bridge. Maybe it was just as well, since it gave me time to dress him out without having to do it in front of a pack of kids.
Between arming and organizing everyone, I forgot to do the smart thing and bring some extra camera batteries. We were only to get two pictures before the camera died, and I would have liked a few photo's of the deer wake.
One nice thing about hunting with a pack of kids is that it made for an easy drag. After field dressing the deer I was so bunched up, I need help to get up again. The fun thing of course, is that it became instant folklore. Mr. Rackham, racked with pain, dropped a running deer with an old flintlock fowler.
While the kids had all seen my fowler previously, and a few had even shot clays with it, they all seemed to enjoy the fact that I'd gotten a deer with a bird gun. The gun doesn't have a rear sight since it's a bird gun, but at 35 yards I didn't think that was much of a handicap. Ignition was instant and if you're used to shooting a lot of live or clay birds, it's not that hard to do.
Despite being an old timer with a bad back, I'm restless. Always preferred bird hunting to deer hunting, because I never have the patience to just sit still. I also get chilly when the temperature dips below 80 and I need to move around. Mike's fowler fits me well, and seems very well suited for quick shooting.
So when all is said and done, it was an adventure. The deer made a better shot that he did a trophy, and we all had fun. We got 10 points of fun, and a lot of laughs from a one horned deer.
Work permitting I'll take the kids out again, and may even bring the fowler along. We've got a couple of doe permits, but I'd rather the kids fill those. Haven't seen a bear in months, but think it would perform well on bear if I could get in close enough. Well, if I get something interesting I'll post some pictures.
He'll get there. Amazing Marine and amazing family and I am just honored that they let a total stranger help them out. One of the best things I ever did with my life.
