Sorry to take so long to update this post. Been a busy week since I returned from the weekend hunt.
As the saying goes, "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times."
I missed the biggest rack buck I've ever seen on Saturday morning. I've killed many deer over the years and have 3 racks that most people would hunt a lifetime to get. However, when I saw that big buck Saturday morning, I shook like a leaf. (This is why I went to a muzzleloader instead of the .30-06. :winking: )
I took an iffy shot. (Looking back, I should have passed.) My son and I looked for an hour and saw no sign of a hit. We found exactly where he was standing when I shot and followed his flight path for several hundred yards. After the morning hunt, a family friend drove up and we were getting ready to go eat breakfast. He said he heard me shoot and saw the buck run across the field he was hunting, saw him cross the creek, and he was headed west at a high rate of speed through a cut corn field about a quarter mile away the last time he saw the deer.
So -- I don't think I hit the deer.
It's funny though. When I shot, I couldn't see the deer's reaction because of the smoke. Also, I was shaking like a leaf and had a heck of a time reloading. I should have just sat down a bit before I started reloading.
As soon as I reloaded, we got up to look for the deer. We had been looking for about 30 minutes when I stopped and thought, "Did I seat the ball on the powder?" I pulled out the ramrod and sure enough, I had just used the short starter and didn't seat the ball.
I also realized as I thought about the shot, that I didn't use the set trigger. The deer was alert to us and getting ready to run, so I hurried my shot.
Anyway, I learned a lot and saw more deer and more bucks this year than I ever have. We are going out again this weekend and I hope to get out there before dark today.
Best of luck,
Dadof8
