Enjoyed a couple more days afield with my .54 cal. Hawken kit gun. After some enjoyable hunts I still had a deer tag so decided to try for some deer I'd studied for a while that were nearly impossible to get close to. They would come in evenings to some alfalfa fields and bed during the day on a slope about a mile south of the fields. problem was not all deer would do this at the same time so often I would bump into a stray doe somewhere along the stalk and once one deer ran every deer for 1/2 mile would be alerted. Tried it several times over last 10 years, no success. This year there was some cattle in the fields and the rancher would check them every day...mid-day. The deer would
All move south and stay till evening then start down. between the feeding and bedding area was an old RR grade no longer active, but provided a few feet of relief to hide behind IF all the deer were on the same side. By 2pm I was in position with about 25 deer anywhere from 3/4 mile to 400yds away, bedded, about 4pm they were up and feeding toward me. Then for no good reason, the best 5 bucks in the bunch split off and started my wayI could move freely on "MY" side of the berm so repositioned trying to find which trail they may be on and get me on the downwind side. There was a lot of tall grass this year and deer were barely visible at times. Finally 2 popped out on my side of the berm at about 65yds....before I had a shot it was 85yds walking. I held low where vitals were screened by heavy grass....maybe as much a 15-20yds of heavy grass(?) touched of 90gr. and a PRB and nothing happened...they just stood looking around. The ball was deflected or failed to reach its mark (bad judgement on me). I couldn't believe they didn't spook. I slid down off the berm and reloaded. Deer at 150, I had to move parallel to get a closer shot. Still in the tall grass, I shot again, holding a touch higher due to grass, at about 85yds and hit, but couldn't tell where. Wind was blowing about 15mph. Buck went over the berm and out of sight, I loaded one of 2 remaining pre-measured charges. I popped over the berm and spooked the buck from about 100yds. He was moving pretty good, but stopped again at 175....running out of light, I tried a shot knowing where gun was sighted at 150 and missed, downwind by nearly 2 feet, but saw where the shot went. Deer ran, I reloaded the last of my powder charges, broke my ramrod in the process... and went after him...again. I found the deer standing at 250yds across open prairie (no tall grass here) I crawled to within 170yds, light really fading now, aimed at the light background to get see my sights then moved onto the target and held a lot of windage, right over his rump allowing full body length for wind...shot...and he dropped! Found the first hit (second shot) had hit the neck just ahead of the shoulder, but high, just missing the spine and stopped under the hide. Last shot had drifted left and struck him in the shoulder blade and exited behind offside shoulder. I dressed him in the dark, dragged him 300yds to a fence where I could find him again and set out for the truck about 1.5 miles away.
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