Just one well-placed shot

[Red Owl]

Years ago I would start out maybe a little before daylight and hike into a favorite tree and sit on the ground with my back against the tree. For some reason it just seemed I was more a part of everything as opposed to sitting in a tree stand. You could not move around etc.- more like a true predator having to stay absolutely still. About 10 a.m. I would still hunt and while still hunting I would often discover new areas to hunt. The still hunting also revealed the movements of deer, etc. Toward afternoon I'd sit against another tree. I had all sorts of favorite trees, beech trees, black walnut, etc. As I said, I just felt more a part of it. Today there are so many hunters who have pals goading them on whether they did or did not get a deer that there is this pressure to get something and because of that, I don't go still hunting through the woods any more. I had a 30-30 Winchester model 94 with open sights. All I ever needed.
I agree, the commercialism has-for me- taken something out of it. One reason I really like muzzle loading.

 

[Sixgun_Symphony]

Sadly I do not have the money behind me nor the personal presence of my Gowdy.. not sure if your being serious or sarcastic.

I am serious. It is free to set up a YouTube account for posting videos online. Ask your friends and family if they want to run a camera. A cell phone will work for "day at the range" videos.

Here is one of mine.

 

[Nuthatch]

Your post made me smile. We Californians love our tech. Hunting, it seems, is no exception here. There are very few traditional bowhunters and even fewer taking sidelock muzzleloaders afield. Even the rifles have gone full-bore into the long range craze where people think that a buck standing broadside at 400 yards is giving you a shot opportunity and if you fail to drop it, it's because you didn't spend enough on your gear (not because you had no business taking that shot in the first place). As weird as CA is about weapons, it often seems more like an arms race in the field than a hunt.

I might be among the younger people in this crowd -- mid 40s. My step dad introduced me to hunting. While he was a terrible hunter in many respects, I appreciate how he instilled some values in me about hunting that I've chosen to pass to my kids as well. Among them was focusing one's efforts on woodsmanship & experience (time in the woods) rather than technology. He'd always say that the secret to deer hunting is being in the right place at the right time. That was annoying to hear as a kid because I wanted to MAKE it happen -- what was that right place & time? But now I see it as learning to just appreciate being out in the woods and allowing luck to come your way via time and patience, not forceful effort. It's about being a hunter -- always quiet, always looking, always listening, always ready. Having a plan and executing a plan to fruition makes me feel good about myself. But serendipity makes me feel good about life, the world around me and my place in it -- something far more meaningful. It shifts my mind away from pride toward gratitude and reverence.

We hunted with open sights. I never even had a working scope until I was an adult. I learned to shoot with a Red Ryder first and a lever-action 30-30 next. I got pretty good with both. I've let a handful of people who are a little younger than me shoot my percussion gun over the last few years. For whatever reason, not one has even hit the target at 50 yards. I've seen them ring steel at extended ranges with a scoped centerfire. But somehow they can't hit paper with an open-sighted rifle that consistently groups under 3" at that distance.

But there are some things that give me hope, too. We have our share of road-hunting slobs but we have a growing cadre of conservation-minded hunters as well. Traditional bowhunting is still a tiny niche but it's growing. I'm hoping that trend will extend into traditional weapons, like our much-loved sidelocks, and methods like still-hunting instead of sniping.

Great thoughts on this post. Thanks for starting and thanks all for sharing.

 

[Nazgul58]

6 years ago I set up a nice tree stand on our property. Our place is steep so getting it set up in the right place was a chore. Finally was ready for a good season!

About 2 days before it opened I did something to my right leg and could hardly move. I went behind the house about 50 yards up the hill and it was as far as I could make it. Sat under a tree. Killed one of the nicest does I have ever harvested that day. I have taken a deer every year but one in that exact same spot, sitting under the same tree. Did not shoot this year, passed on 4 deer as explained in an earlier post.

You are right, got to know the 2 squirrels that lived in the trees to my right, the pileated woodpecker was up the hill another 50 yards and the smaller birds that liked the evergreens to my left.

Don

 

[Walaw717]

Your post made me smile. We Californians love our tech. Hunting, it seems, is no exception here. There are very few traditional bowhunters and even fewer taking sidelock muzzleloaders afield. Even the rifles have gone full-bore into the long-range craze where people think that a buck standing broadside at 400 yards is giving you a shot opportunity. If you fail to drop it, it's because you didn't spend enough on your gear (not because you had no business taking that shot in the first place). As weird as CA is about weapons, it often seems more like an arms race in the field than a hunt.

I might be among the younger people in this crowd -- mid-40s. My stepdad introduced me to hunting. While he was a terrible hunter in many respects, I appreciate how he instilled some values in me about hunting that I've chosen to pass to my kids as well. Among them was focusing one's efforts on woodsmanship & experience (time in the woods) rather than technology. He'd always say that the secret to deer hunting is being in the right place at the right time. That was annoying to hear as a kid because I wanted to MAKE it happen -- what was that right place & time? But now, I see it as learning to appreciate being out in the woods and allowing luck to come your way via time and patience, not forceful effort. It's about being a hunter -- always quiet, looking, listening, and always ready. Having a plan and executing a plan to fruition makes me feel good about myself. But serendipity makes me feel good about life, the world around me, and my place in it -- something far more meaningful. It shifts my mind away from pride toward gratitude and reverence.

We hunted with open sights. I never even had a working scope until I was an adult. I learned to shoot with a Red Ryder first and a lever-action 30-30 next. I got pretty good with both. I've let a handful of people who are a little younger than me shoot my percussion gun over the last few years. No one has even hit the target at 50 yards for whatever reason. I've seen them ring steel at extended ranges with a scoped centerfire. But somehow, they can't beat the paper with an open-sighted rifle that consistently groups under 3" at that distance.

But some things give me hope, too. We have our share of road-hunting slobs, but we have a growing cadre of conservation-minded hunters as well. Traditional bowhunting is still a tiny niche, but it's growing. I'm hoping that trend will extend into conventional weapons, like our much-loved sidelocks, and methods like still-hunting instead of sniping.

Great thoughts on this post. Thanks for starting, and thanks all for sharing.

Thanks for your post and for sharing your story and experience.

No offense, this is not about you, you seem a great young man, but I think California culture has ruined the country.

I mean the Hyper liberal, consumer-driven crowd who control marketing and the entertainment industry. They constantly call for diversity, yet they are the least tolerant and least diverse "in-group" in the country. I was an art historian and taught college before moving over to clinical counseling and can tell you no matter where art students are from in general ( there are exceptions), they are the most entitled students I ever had. The drama students were even worse - they were all about the "drama"; if it were not there, they would create it. They are what we now call the elite and techies who struggle to connect with the reality of cold feet in the natural world and control the media.

It sounds like you have managed to see California life for what it is and are making a healthy way for yourself. This was a great share, and thank you again for your openness.

 

[Walaw717]

6 years ago I set up a nice tree stand on our property. Our place is steep so getting it set up in the right place was a chore. Finally was ready for a good season!

About 2 days before it opened I did something to my right leg and could hardly move. I went behind the house about 50 yards up the hill and it was as far as I could make it. Sat under a tree. Killed one of the nicest does I have ever harvested that day. I have taken a deer every year but one in that exact same spot, sitting under the same tree. Did not shoot this year, passed on 4 deer as explained in an earlier post.

You are right, got to know the 2 squirrels that lived in the trees to my right, the pileated woodpecker was up the hill another 50 yards and the smaller birds that liked the evergreens to my left.

Don

Nice story Don, Nothing like a tree to ground you and connect you to the larger natural world. In the words of Henry Thoreau "Simplify, simplify, simplify." sounds like the Good Lord made you and it paid off in your peace at heart

 

[deerstalkert]

I had contemplated getting one of those gizmo's that you wear and record a video. much like a body cam.
then i thought about it some more and concluded that 5 minutes of watching a tiny brook burbling its way over a 10 foot drop.
another 5 minutes watching a pine squirrel twitching his way, branch by branch in my direction to determine what i am, 3-4 minutes of him screaming out a warning to all within ear range, might be boring to most others.

follow this with 5 minutes examining a 24 inch tree stump with Piliated woodpecker holes 8-10 inches in diameter spaced from ground to above the head. boring.
add 10 minutes of contemplation of the color of the deer beans on the trail in front of me, trying to determine when the deer had left them. Yawn! for the general Youtube population.

might get some interest when I round a moss covered massive boulder and catch the slimmest glimpse of a big cat smoothing its way into the deep brush on the other side. have to rewind the film to be sure I even saw it. most youtubers missed it, they stifle a yawn and wonder why the lens if fixed on a wall of vine maple.

if i edit the film to exclude all the above and include the scenes where a small black bear ambles to within 10 feet of where i sit studying a 12 inch conch of spectacular orange and yellow colors, then they may get a moment of thrill when little bear can't decide where he wants to be.

As he side steps back and forth with his front feet and moans, then starts slobbering, some viewers might experience a tingle of excitement.
probably not.
add the footage with the sound of rock falling just out of view and you may have some youtube nimrods leaning forward in anticipation.
can only hope.
you will have them dampening themselves when a whitetail buck with five tines per side pushes a doe into the frame.
they will be breathless when the barrel and sights of the Hawken appears and aligns just behind the front shoulder.
and when the smoke clears, they will hit the like button, subscribe and give high fives in the comments.
naw, i will keep those all in my inbox in my head. those scenes are sacred to me. shared only with the worthy.


ps. walked into the corner of the closet in the dark and gave myself a concussion so the rambles above may need to be excused.

 

[Willy]

Lots of good stuff here. I was raised in the ArTex hills in SW Arkansas and never owned a repeating gun until I was in my mid 20s. Then I got a double barrel shotgun. I've got some of the newer fangled lever guns in pistol calibers, but my muzzleloading double shotgun is pretty much all I need. I remember my Grandpa saying when hearing someone shoot out in the woods, "One shot, he got his supper, two shots maybe, three or more, they're just wasting powder". I've always believed in "Simpler is better" and do my best to keep with it.

 

[Walaw717]

I had contemplated getting one of those gizmo's that you wear and record a video. much like a body cam.
then i thought about it some more and concluded that 5 minutes of watching a tiny brook burbling its way over a 10 foot drop.
another 5 minutes watching a pine squirrel twitching his way, branch by branch in my direction to determine what i am, 3-4 minutes of him screaming out a warning to all within ear range, might be boring to most others.

follow this with 5 minutes examining a 24 inch tree stump with Piliated woodpecker holes 8-10 inches in diameter spaced from ground to above the head. boring.
add 10 minutes of contemplation of the color of the deer beans on the trail in front of me, trying to determine when the deer had left them. Yawn! for the general Youtube population.

might get some interest when I round a moss covered massive boulder and catch the slimmest glimpse of a big cat smoothing its way into the deep brush on the other side. have to rewind the film to be sure I even saw it. most youtubers missed it, they stifle a yawn and wonder why the lens if fixed on a wall of vine maple.

if i edit the film to exclude all the above and include the scenes where a small black bear ambles to within 10 feet of where i sit studying a 12 inch conch of spectacular orange and yellow colors, then they may get a moment of thrill when little bear can't decide where he wants to be.

As he side steps back and forth with his front feet and moans, then starts slobbering, some viewers might experience a tingle of excitement.
probably not.
add the footage with the sound of rock falling just out of view and you may have some youtube nimrods leaning forward in anticipation.
can only hope.
you will have them dampening themselves when a whitetail buck with five tines per side pushes a doe into the frame.
they will be breathless when the barrel and sights of the Hawken appears and aligns just behind the front shoulder.
and when the smoke clears, they will hit the like button, subscribe and give high fives in the comments.
naw, i will keep those all in my inbox in my head. those scenes are sacred to me. shared only with the worthy.


ps. walked into the corner of the closet in the dark and gave myself a concussion so the rambles above may need to be excused.

Actually you might be surprised at how many views you would get for that entries flow.people like that stuff.

 

[Nuthatch]

Thanks for your post and for sharing your story and experience.

No offense, this is not about you, you seem a great young man, but I think California culture has ruined the country.

I mean the Hyper liberal, consumer-driven crowd who control marketing and the entertainment industry. They constantly call for diversity, yet they are the least tolerant and least diverse "in-group" in the country. I was an art historian and taught college before moving over to clinical counseling and can tell you no matter where art students are from in general ( there are exceptions), they are the most entitled students I ever had. The drama students were even worse - they were all about the "drama"; if it were not there, they would create it. They are what we now call the elite and techies who struggle to connect with the reality of cold feet in the natural world and control the media.

It sounds like you have managed to see California life for what it is and are making a healthy way for yourself. This was a great share, and thank you again for your openness.

I'm in the farm country. So no offense taken. In so many respects, we resemble those remarks.

Drama... Yea, it's all me-driven drama with the drama students. So much I could say here but I think you hit it right.

I have a lot of thoughts about the entitlement mentality that I see in our culture. I see it as a multi-generational issue. But this forum is a place where I enjoy NOT thinking about such things. There are good people doing good things too. I can't change the world for s&*% but I can certainly make a good life with good people and have some good ol' fun.

 

[Nuthatch]

I had contemplated getting one of those gizmo's that you wear and record a video. much like a body cam.
then i thought about it some more and concluded that 5 minutes of watching a tiny brook burbling its way over a 10 foot drop.
another 5 minutes watching a pine squirrel twitching his way, branch by branch in my direction to determine what i am, 3-4 minutes of him screaming out a warning to all within ear range, might be boring to most others.

follow this with 5 minutes examining a 24 inch tree stump with Piliated woodpecker holes 8-10 inches in diameter spaced from ground to above the head. boring.
add 10 minutes of contemplation of the color of the deer beans on the trail in front of me, trying to determine when the deer had left them. Yawn! for the general Youtube population.

might get some interest when I round a moss covered massive boulder and catch the slimmest glimpse of a big cat smoothing its way into the deep brush on the other side. have to rewind the film to be sure I even saw it. most youtubers missed it, they stifle a yawn and wonder why the lens if fixed on a wall of vine maple.

if i edit the film to exclude all the above and include the scenes where a small black bear ambles to within 10 feet of where i sit studying a 12 inch conch of spectacular orange and yellow colors, then they may get a moment of thrill when little bear can't decide where he wants to be.

As he side steps back and forth with his front feet and moans, then starts slobbering, some viewers might experience a tingle of excitement.
probably not.
add the footage with the sound of rock falling just out of view and you may have some youtube nimrods leaning forward in anticipation.
can only hope.
you will have them dampening themselves when a whitetail buck with five tines per side pushes a doe into the frame.
they will be breathless when the barrel and sights of the Hawken appears and aligns just behind the front shoulder.
and when the smoke clears, they will hit the like button, subscribe and give high fives in the comments.
naw, i will keep those all in my inbox in my head. those scenes are sacred to me. shared only with the worthy.


ps. walked into the corner of the closet in the dark and gave myself a concussion so the rambles above may need to be excused.

Priceless!

 

[Walaw717]

Priceless!

 

[deerstalkert]

i really miss old Hoyt!

 

[Sixgun_Symphony]

Have y'all been looking at the hunting videos posted on YouTube?

There are alot of deer and feral pig hunting videos with traditional ML guns, but I can only find a half dozen elk hunting videos with traditional ML rifles. I found one bison hunt with a Hawken rifle. I could not find a moose hunting video with a traditional ML gun. I could only find five black bear hunts with traditional ML firearms, none for the larger brown bear.

There are many hundreds, maybe thousands, of hunting videos with scoped modern inline ML rifles and of course the Realtree and Mossyoak camouflage clothing.

I really encourage everyone here to produce their own big game hunting videos with traditional ML firearms and post on YouTube. We gotta show the average hunters out there that the traditional ML firearms will get the job done. It is really up to our fraternity of traditional ML firearms enthusiasts to produce our own hunting videos and upload onto YouTube so they can be shared on social media. Disney Studios is not going to produce another Davey Crockett series, we gotta do it ourselves.

That deer don't see red nor green colors, consider hunting in red plaid wool clothing to demonstrate that camouflage is only needed for turkey and waterfowl.

My friends and I are going to hunt elk with traditional Hawken rifles later this year. Most of us are using factory percussion Hawken rifles from Ithaca, T/C, and InvestArms. I will be filming it and uploading onto my YouTube acount. I will be hunting with my percussion rifle made by October Country.

 

[Sixgun_Symphony]

. . . I was an art historian and taught college . . .

I am very sure you got friends that do videography.

 

[oldwood]

WELL SAID , BY ALL

 

[deerstalkert]

i was set up for the late MZ Elk hunt here in December. late August came down with the Kung Fu Flu. spent until late September in hospital wondering where all the Oxygen had gone in the world. Hard for an old guy to breathe with blood clots in his lungs.
when i got out the only thing i could think about was getting back to where i could handle even the minimum of hunting. couldn't make it to the duck blinds. missed waterfowl and Pheasent season.
finally got off the O2 concentrator and thought i would get to do the late (Dec) Elk.
didn't even get that.
two days after the hunt was over I was sitting on my porch rubbing a flinters stock, and a spike bull with two cows walked up my drive way, stood broad side to me and then melted into the brush like smoke.
Just one well placed shot! that is all i could think of.
Just one well placed shot.
next season.

 

[Sixgun_Symphony]

i was set up for the late MZ Elk hunt here in December. late August came down with the Kung Fu Flu. spent until late September in hospital wondering where all the Oxygen had gone in the world. Hard for an old guy to breathe with blood clots in his lungs.
when i got out the only thing i could think about was getting back to where i could handle even the minimum of hunting. couldn't make it to the duck blinds. missed waterfowl and Pheasent season.
finally got off the O2 concentrator and thought i would get to do the late (Dec) Elk.
didn't even get that.
two days after the hunt was over I was sitting on my porch rubbing a flinters stock, and a spike bull with two cows walked up my drive way, stood broad side to me and then melted into the brush like smoke.
Just one well placed shot! that is all i could think of.
Just one well placed shot.
next season.

That illustrates why we gotta get more youth into traditional muzzleloading. We are all getting old, in two more decades the few of us still alive won't be in shape to hunt.

We gotta do something while we got time to get young people into our fraternity or the tradition fades away.

 

[deerstalkert]

That illustrates why we gotta get more youth into traditional muzzleloading. We are all getting old, in two more decades the few of us still alive won't be in shape to hunt.

We gotta do something while we got time to get young people into our fraternity or the tradition fades away.

you promise me 2 more decades and i will dedicate one of them to recruiting new shooters to the "One well-placed shot club"!
the other decade i will use to chase girls!



its the chase that counts!!!

 

[Walaw717]

That illustrates why we have to get more youth into traditional muzzleloading. We are all getting old; in two more decades, the few of us still alive won't be in shape to hunt.

We have to do something while we get young people into our fraternity or the tradition fades away.

To bring young people in would require the schools to teach history again. When I lived in SE NM, we had an excellent re-enactor who did pat garret, and he did what they called Chautauqua for the towns and schools. He usually gave an hour presentation for schools or a couple of evening hours for adults. It was well attended. Some of you Crockett's, Boones, Bridger's, Carson's, Coulter's, and Glass's need to think about going to the schools, etc., and doing accurate historical presentations. Get kids interested in the story, the characters, and the history.

"Chautauqua was adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America."

Hal Holbrook carried on this tradition by doing Mark Twain.