# Opening Day of Muzzleloading



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

I made the drive this morning to our 41 acres tract in Chatham County. Got n my box stand and waited. At 0802 2 big does and 2 fawns make their way in to eat. I watched them for 15 minutes. I decided to take on of the does. I shot the closest one to me. I shot her with 90 grains of Pyrodex Select and a 295 grain Powerbelt hollow point. I hit her high in the lungs. She ran 150 yards thru the thicket to the adjoining property. She died right across the line in the big timber. 

I am heading back at 1530 today to my other tract in Chatham County. Wish me luck!! Maybe this one will not run as far!!

Darin


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Another report!!*

Saturday evening my son Tanner went with me. He is 9. We got on my box stand and 15 minutes later a 5 points walks downt he road directly at us. Tanner has never shot a muzzleloader before. He has only killed 1 deer in his life. I ask him if he wanted to kill it. He said yes. He took aim and eased back on the trigger. He almost dropped the gun. The deer dropped in his tracks. He said it kicked him hard. I told him that it kicked the deer harder. He looked down the road and saw his first buck laying in the road dieing. We grabbed the deer and drug it back near the stand and climbed back in. 20 minutes later we have 5 doe and fawns feeding in the corn pile. We watched deer all evening and left 30 minutes before dark. 

I hunted on Monday and saw 9 doe and fawns that morning and 6 the evening. I was waiting on a buck but he never showed. Tuesday morning I decided to take another doe. At 0620 a deer feeds through and leaves. 5 minutes later another is feeding. I watch it until it I can see it clearly. Another comes in to feed. I take the biggest. She was a big doe. She ran 100 yards with little blood. I find her piled up in the thicket.

Tuesday evening I headed back to our 41 acre tract. Nothing showed up. 

Today I am back at work. Tanner is showing off the picture of his first buck at school.

I will hunt this Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Wish me luck!!

Darin


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Way to go darin*

Nice job. :beer::beer::beer::beer:


Sadly it looks like I'm not gonna get out as much this season. The land where we hunt is being eatin up by the Feds and developers. Every time ya turn around more and more land is being sold off. me and my buds are probably gonna do a one or twice a year trip kinda thing. Now the only hard thing is to decide where we want to go.


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## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

come to Maryland....
We have great public hunting land and great numbers of deer.

The bag limits are liberal


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## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

Ahhh great story Darin. Smokepole opens saturday here. I cant wait.


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## Wing_Nut (Jan 8, 2007)

Glad you got some meat - I hunted till 10:30 on Saturday and everything was really quiet. I am heading out today for an evening hunt. Will let you know how it goes.


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## Danny (Jan 3, 2005)

*Yo Darin,*

When does your gun season open?
Wish you were a bit closer ....

All those deer and you don't even eat'em ....


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## Danny (Jan 3, 2005)

*Oh .... and*

tell Tanner congrats for me.


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Gun Season*

Danny,

Gun season comes in tomorrow, November 10th. It is gonna be on come the morning. My 25-06 is sighted in and ready. I have yet to shoot the 30-06 that I had the trigger worked on.

Tanner is one happy little boy. Stink turned 4 yesterdays and is itching to go hunting. 

Danny when you get ready to go let me know. You can meet me at the Bojangles in Siler City one morning and we can depart from there. It is only like 8 miles from the Bojangles. Siler City is not too far from Raleigh.

Darin


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Eating Deer*

Danny,

I generally get 1 processed each year and eat on that. I generally fill up several families freezers during November and December. 

One family that lives near my mom and dad. They moved from Ohio years ago and eat very little beef. They eat the deer I give them.

I give a few away at work each year and my wife gives a deer or 2 to a girl she works with.

I generally have a list of people wanting deer each year before the season even comes in. 

If I fill everyone's freezer I can take them to Troy to a processing plant that donates them to the needy after processing. It is great for the community.

Darin


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## Danny (Jan 3, 2005)

*Darin*

Left you a voice mail .... call me


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

Congrats to you and Tanner for the deer Darin, I know Tanner's on top of the world over that 5 point!


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## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

Sat mornin smoke pole report: SKUNK


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*November 12th Report*

I took Danny (luvs2fish) yesterday. We both scored. He will have to post the report.

Darin


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## Danny (Jan 3, 2005)

*Yesterday's morning's hunt*

We got in the woods and to our respective stands with plenty of dark left. Heard Darin shoot about 7:05, called him and he said he got a 4-point. About 7:30 another 4-point walked into my firebreak and went straight away from me for the Tink's doe-in-heat I had put on a small pine. He paused and headed for the corn pile - again straight away from me. He fed with his a$$ to me for a couple minutes and finally turned slightly giving me the quartering away shot.

Darin called and brought the truck and we loaded mine and went to get his. (Mine was a little bigger. When we stopped to get his deer he shot a mistake (buttonhead) which he regretted.
Funny how distance plays tricks on ya.

Out of the woods by 8:00 with 3 loaded.

A good quick hunt - the way I like it. I've had my share of sitting in a stand all day long without seeing a thing.

Thanks Darin - it was a good day.

Oh, and that air compressor trick was cool.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Nice job*

Congrats. :beer::beer:


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

Great job Danny and Darin. Sucks about the button buck but we've all done that at least once......Haha several times for me. I haven't had much time to post up reports lately, I'll do a quick one.
Last Wednesday I was perched in my climber overlooking a stand of hardwoods bordered by road and thickets on two sides and ~15 year old loblolly pines on the third. Dad was sitting in a recently placed ladderstand overlooking a prime stretch of logging road culminating in a clearing, in which deer had been going through 160lbs of ear corn every three days or so. Around 8:30 I heard the report of his muzzleloader, causing me to go on alert as I knew I was overlooking a prime escape route from the corn pile. Fifteen minutes later, having not seen nor heard a deer I called Dad on the radio. He was still worked up, as he told me about the "high racked, big necked deer" he had grunted up. 
Soon a couple of small deer worked their way through the edge of the open I was patrolling, giving me little glances here and there. Both appeared to be does. An hour after shooting the radio buzzed, and Dad reported finding a little red blood, nothing else. Thirty minutes later he said he'd found his deer, which succumbed to a heart shot, around 100 yards from the initial impact. "Its a spike, about 120lbs," he told me......"It needed killing, I can load it up myself." 
I figured he was lying, and he was. Once I got to the truck I saw a huge 7pt, 18" outside, with 11" G2s. The buck wound up weighing a little over 200lbs on the hoof, probably the biggest deer any of us has ever killed as far as body weight. Dad had grunted him up to the edge of the road, then dropped his grunt call, causing it to clang on the ladderstand. The buck walked out to investigate, and BOOM! Haha I wish my luck worked that way. Incidentally I had a huge doe stroll by me at 50 yards Friday. I raised my muzzleloader, aimed carefully a little high on her shoulder, squeezed, and she kept walking as if nothing had happened. I guess my scope was off.....
I grunted one up Saturday evening but he wouldn't come on out until after dark. Aside from that, nothing else to report here. Leaving now to hunt a little, hopefully I'll have another good buck and/or some fat nannies to tell ya'll about towards the end of the week.


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## Danny (Jan 3, 2005)

*Thanks Will*

Here's hoping you'll get one like your Dad's.
:beer:


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*Congrats to your Pop!!!*

Sounds like a deer I have been looking for to no avail!!!!

Darin


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## ASK4Fish (May 4, 2005)

*try a different bullet...*

thompson center "shockwaves" are the most accurate bullet out there...and the price aint bad either...get some 250 grains in .50 cal. 90-110 grains of powder...and its over...no walking/running from that one...btw...i was looking into starting using pyrodex instead of regular powder, is it less corrosive and cleaner burning or is the main attraction just that its pre packed?


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