I went ML hunting Monday afternoon - for the very first time. About 10 minutes before legal shooting time was up, I decided to leave. All of a sudden, I heard some brush "snap"... Then I heard it again.... About a minute later THE BUCK that's been hanging around my property, stepped out at 40 yards. He froze - for what seemed like 30 seconds. He was staring to my right - he's looking at my truck. I managed to get my ML up, and put the sights right in the middle of his chest - he was standing straight on (barely quartering, but not much). I squeezed the trigger and.... a doe behind the buck jumped straight up! She was standing behind him (like a shadow). I didn't know she was there! Then, the buck jumped and started to turn around...and fell to the ground. He jumped back up...and disappeared.
We only found one blood trail - it looked like they were running together (?). Two hours later (dark-thirty), we found the doe laying in the creek licking her wound - in the right rear leg. I dispatched her, and took her to the house. I felt terrible about wounding her, but like I said - I never knew she was there. She must have come up behind him just as I squeezed the trigger.
We looked for the buck until 9 PM, but no luck. The next morning me, my wife & a neighbor looked for the buck some more. We looked until about 11 AM, then my neighbor had to leave. My wife looked the rest of the day. I didn't get much sleep the night before, so I didn't last much longer than my neighbor. My brother came all the way down from KC today, to help us look again. Nothing, Nada, Zip - Zero.........
I shot what would have been my best buck ever - and then some. But I ended up with a doe that just happened to be coming up behind him (a nice one, actually). There's no way I could have shot the doe, without having shot through the buck first. We figured out the path of the bullet - through his chest, out his left lung & into her right rear leg. My first hunt with a ML'r .....and look what happens.
I don't know how to feel, now. This bruiser of a buck has been hanging around my property for about 2 weeks. My neighbor & I have been keeping track of him since we first saw him. My neighbor has been hunting him hard during bow season. The buck came as close to 15 yards from him, but not in his shooting lane.
My neighbor has kept me informed of all the times he's seen the buck - what a great neighbor! We've both decided to hunt this guy - at the same time. We've really been hunting hard.
I bought a new ML this year - I wanted to try something new. I didn't hunt the opening weekend, mainly because I wanted to practice more - before hunting with it. I haven't hunted with open sights, for quite some time.
I was hoping for a chance at the buck during ML season - and I got it. I just didn't expect for him to come walking out the first time out! Not only that, he stood perfectly still for me! I took my time, remembered to "breathe" and s-q-u-eee-z-ed the trigger.
When that doe jumped, I immediately thought "Oh My God - there was another deer behind the buck"! To me, shooting at a deer while another deer's behind it,is not an option. The doe must have come up while I was focusing on the bucks chest, or it was standing behind the buck - totally hidden. The buck had just come from some heavy brush into the clearing, while the doe was still standing in the brush behind him. That's the only reason I could figure out, since I didn't see her legs. This has never happened to me before.
What more could go wrong? Then I found out - only one blood trail.... How could I have shot 2 deer, and only have 1 blood trail?! There's no way I could have missed the buck, or I would have missed the doe, too. Go figure......
We searched for 2 1/2 days - nothing. I shot the buck, wounded a doe, found 1 blood trail, and found the doe - not the buck. Now that we didn't find the buck, I feel even worse. To top this off, it was my first time hunting with a muzzleloader. This is going to make one heck of a hunting memory - a very confusing one at that...
We only found one blood trail - it looked like they were running together (?). Two hours later (dark-thirty), we found the doe laying in the creek licking her wound - in the right rear leg. I dispatched her, and took her to the house. I felt terrible about wounding her, but like I said - I never knew she was there. She must have come up behind him just as I squeezed the trigger.
We looked for the buck until 9 PM, but no luck. The next morning me, my wife & a neighbor looked for the buck some more. We looked until about 11 AM, then my neighbor had to leave. My wife looked the rest of the day. I didn't get much sleep the night before, so I didn't last much longer than my neighbor. My brother came all the way down from KC today, to help us look again. Nothing, Nada, Zip - Zero.........
I shot what would have been my best buck ever - and then some. But I ended up with a doe that just happened to be coming up behind him (a nice one, actually). There's no way I could have shot the doe, without having shot through the buck first. We figured out the path of the bullet - through his chest, out his left lung & into her right rear leg. My first hunt with a ML'r .....and look what happens.
I don't know how to feel, now. This bruiser of a buck has been hanging around my property for about 2 weeks. My neighbor & I have been keeping track of him since we first saw him. My neighbor has been hunting him hard during bow season. The buck came as close to 15 yards from him, but not in his shooting lane.
My neighbor has kept me informed of all the times he's seen the buck - what a great neighbor! We've both decided to hunt this guy - at the same time. We've really been hunting hard.
I bought a new ML this year - I wanted to try something new. I didn't hunt the opening weekend, mainly because I wanted to practice more - before hunting with it. I haven't hunted with open sights, for quite some time.
I was hoping for a chance at the buck during ML season - and I got it. I just didn't expect for him to come walking out the first time out! Not only that, he stood perfectly still for me! I took my time, remembered to "breathe" and s-q-u-eee-z-ed the trigger.
When that doe jumped, I immediately thought "Oh My God - there was another deer behind the buck"! To me, shooting at a deer while another deer's behind it,is not an option. The doe must have come up while I was focusing on the bucks chest, or it was standing behind the buck - totally hidden. The buck had just come from some heavy brush into the clearing, while the doe was still standing in the brush behind him. That's the only reason I could figure out, since I didn't see her legs. This has never happened to me before.
What more could go wrong? Then I found out - only one blood trail.... How could I have shot 2 deer, and only have 1 blood trail?! There's no way I could have missed the buck, or I would have missed the doe, too. Go figure......
We searched for 2 1/2 days - nothing. I shot the buck, wounded a doe, found 1 blood trail, and found the doe - not the buck. Now that we didn't find the buck, I feel even worse. To top this off, it was my first time hunting with a muzzleloader. This is going to make one heck of a hunting memory - a very confusing one at that...
