I thought I would tell of the buck I killed a few weeks ago with my recently completed smooth rifle. I guess the story actually started a couple years ago though when I got the desire to try something new and try my hand hunting with a smooth bore. I placed an order from Chambers and began the long wait for the parts to arrive. The parts showed up in January, the same month we began breaking ground on our house so into the closet it went until a time came that I could devote more time to the build. Over the next year and a half progress was slow. I would work on it a few hours on the kitchen table till my wife finally told me the mess and sharp tools were not a good combination for her and small child so I finally was faced with the fact I needed a shop. In June I was finally able to get my shop and bench complete and couldn't wait for my first project, a smooth rifle.
. Many nights passed working late hours on the project, sometimes with some help with my best helper but by September I had it complete and ready for the range.
. Finding a load it liked proved to be a bit harder than I thought though. I have quiet a bit of experience shooting flintlock rifles but no as much with smooth bores. I tried every thing I could think of and finally found that if I stoked her up with a heavy load, and a fairly tight patched round ball with lots of lube over an overloaded card I could keep three shots in the kill zone out to about 60 yards. The first weekend of season came and I hit the woods hard. The 62 was actually much lighter than I thought and carrying was a pure pleasure. The weather was quiet warm and I was able to dress light, allowing me to stay out all day and cover a lot of territory. Over the next few days I I saw several deer and passed a couple opportunities that were just a little questionable on my ability with my new gun. As the week went on I was also getting ready for a camping trip hunt that a couple friends and I had planned on for later in the week, and I knew that if something didn't come together soon, that my chances might have to wait for the second Arkansas muzzleloading season. On the evening of the 21 I had hunted all day and usually stay at my stand till dark. On this evening though something urged my to leave a few min early and slowly hunt back to the field where I had parked my truck. As I emerged from the woods right at dusk I looked up to see the a buck standing in the wood roughly 40 yards from me. It was getting dark and my sights were getting hard to see but I had been shooting it so much lately that it came to my shoulder instantly and I really didn't have to see that well to know that I had good picture and squeezed the shot off. I felt confident in the shot I took but in the fading light and the tremendous flash on the pan and muzzle of heavily charged 62 I could find no trace of the deer afterward. In the next few moments before dark I looked for blood or traces of a hit but could not find any. On this night though I had the weather on my side and I knew that the temp was dropping and he would keep till morning. Before I left, I broke a branch off and left it pointing down at the last place I saw him. I spent most of the night not sleeping well wondering if I would find him the next morning and if my shot placement had been as good as I thought. The next morning was cold and I got to the woods at daylight. All my worries were soon gone though because after a short search I found him laying about 150 yards from where I had shot him. The big ball had flown true and struck him on the right side passing through both lungs.
I feel very fortunate to have gotten to experience such a wonderful hunt , and look forward th the chance that I will hopefully soon get to venture into the woods carring my smooth rifle.
Thank you for listening
Allen
Thank you for listening
Allen
