Went out yesterday afternoon for the first time this season. Hunted on some mountain land owned by my uncle. He, his son , and two grandsons hunted there in the morning but not did see a single deer. While climbing to a stand I had hung in archery season, I did not see any tracks in the patches of snow still on the ground, so I wasn't feeling too optomistic. After only 20 minutes in the stand, 7 doe and a large spike buck came by at about 50 yds. I've been looking forward to this season for months, but I only have one tag. I decided I wasn't ready to quit hunting this soon so I passed on shooting.
When the deer were out of sight, I started having second thoughts. Deer can be pretty hard to find in this area during the late season and maybe I should have taken a shot. Before I could ponder this too long, I saw 3 more coming up the same trail as the previous bunch. No more pondering, this time I was shooting if I got the chance. When the largest one came in to an opening I whistled and she stopped broad side at 40 yds. I took a bead on her and squeezed the trigger.......Click......Took me by suprise. Have not had that happen while hunting for several years.
Not the first time, probably won't be the last. It's just part of hunting with a flintlock. Now I can try again tomorrow.