My Wonderful Muzzleloader Deer Hunt

Only a month ago I had decided to forego the early muzzleloader deer hunt, which happens during a week in mid-October, because I still have issues following open-heart surgery several months ago. But as the weather shifted to first frosts, and the deer were getting restless, so was I. I also kept in mind that a decade ago I had successfully hunted deer alone, while on crutches, following knee replacement surgery.

So with only a few days left in the season, I bought a tag and did a quick exercise to get reacquainted with the ancient rifle. Mine is a replica of a model made in 1810, and was a popular one with the Mountain Men. It encourages you to make the first shot count because reloading takes a long time.

Most deer movement occurs around sunrise and sunset, and if you hunt alone or with a friend or two, you can go do something else with the rest of the day and not miss much action (the big “drives” with a dozen guys “pushing” are different, and we don’t do that, and discourage it in our corner of the kingdom).

My Friday and Saturday had a couple of windows of opportunity and I did go “on stand,” but the few deer that showed up were too far away and moving too fast. But Sunday near sunset, the very last day of the season, was different. Just watching the deer, I saw they were more alert, scanned more widely, were more restless, held their heads higher, and didn’t stop to graze or browse as much. It was opening day of their breeding season, and “everybody” knew it. It was going to be a memorable afternoon.

And so it was. My first client eased gracefully through distant bushes and as it got closer I maneuvered myself and gun barrel to be aligned to where it would reappear. Finally it emerged into the open area around our stand, drifting slowly past at about 40 yards, well within my ability. Unfortunately, it carried a 4-point rack and I carried a doe tag, and he drifted off never knowing.

A bit later, three does came through, widely spaced. This gets tricky because there are six eyes looking. As they approached they kept drifting further to one side, passing me calmly at about 75 yards, too far for an old guy with somewhat poor eyesight and an ancient rifle. Perhaps they just noticed an odd shape up in the trees and decided to give it a wider berth.

Rubs on larger trees like this are usually the sign of a larger buck, in this case probably my 8-pointer. Small pocketknife for scale.

A bit later, the star of the show appeared. From the stand I can look down a trail about 300 yards into an open field, and this trail passes within 35 yards of my stand. Down in the field I saw a very large deer, quite dark in color, who slowly sauntered up the trail towards me. As he got closer, I changed the verb to swaggered. Still closer revealed a serious 8-point buck, massive neck, ready to do battle, which probably explains why the 4-pointer kept moving and “everybody” else was so alert. Approaching, he curved off the trail and was only a couple of feet away from passing directly underneath me. I could have wacked him with an anvil, had one been available, plus a buck tag.

And so the hunt went, with a bright moon rising, which I think encouraged their movements. The season officially ended a half hour after sunset, so I removed the percussion cap so the rifle couldn’t be fired, and stayed treed awhile to continue to watch the deer, now turning into shadows slipping in and out among the trees.

What a wonderful evening!!!

You don’t have to be a hunter or own property to experience whitetail action during their breeding season. It usually begins around here in mid-October, reaches a peak about November 6, and quickly declines. Bur Oak Land Trust has several properties with good deer habitat and you just need to stand or sit some place where you have a good view of a deer trail and can conceal yourself. At this time of year, the invasive Asian honeysuckle bushes still have their leaves and you can cut one or two off near the base and drag them to the spot where you want concealment. I used this method successfully while hunting on crutches, being too awkward to climb a stand ladder.

PS: Be sure to wear orange while in the woods during any open season, whether or not deer hunting is permitted there.