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2011 Proves To Be A Tough Season For North American Muzzleloader Hunting
I've never claimed to be a "Trophy Hunter". I grew up hunting to put meat on the table, and I primarily continue to hunt today for that same reason or purpose. We enjoy eating wild game, it is a staple part of our diet...so when the hunting gets tough, I have absolutely no problem with filling my tag with something other than a "big buck" or "huge bull" when bag limitations allow such.
Still, when I head out on a 6 or 7 day deer hunt, I will devote the first three or four days to get onto a few big bucks, and do my best to pattern them. This is especially true whenever I get the opportunity to hunt my favorite piece of deer hunting land in the entire U.S. - the Arrowsmith Ranch along the Niobrara River of north-central Nebraska. This 18,000 acre deer hunting wonderland is covered from one end to the other by extremely prime whitetail habitat, and is often home to a few mule deer as well.
The hunting is anything but "easy". What generally makes a hunt on this ranch so memorable is the sheer number of deer found there...along with the number and quality of the bucks. The buck shown in the above photo was taken there in 2004, shooting a traditionally styled .50 caliber bullet rifle, fitted with one of the long 1855 style "Wm. Malcolm" telescopic rifle sights (from Leatherwood/Hi-Lux Optics). Thanks to the quality of the 1-turn-in-24 inches Green Mountain barrel, the old-style rig would keep three of the big 440-grain Parker Productions "Traditional Hunter" bore-sized lead bullets inside of 2 inches at 100 yards. This buck was taken at 160 yards shortly after noon on opening day of the general gun season. That was my shortest season ever there.
(Note: Scopes were not legal during the Nebraska muzzleloader season in 2004. However, thanks to the lobbying efforts of North American Muzzleloader Hunting in 2006 and 2007, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin and Georgia now allow the use of riflescopes during the muzzleloader deer seasons. In 2012, North American Muzzleloader Hunting will once again file a formal complaint of discrimination against the remaining 11 states which still violate the rights of hunters who cannot see open sights well enough to participate in those seasons.)
Still, when I head out on a 6 or 7 day deer hunt, I will devote the first three or four days to get onto a few big bucks, and do my best to pattern them. This is especially true whenever I get the opportunity to hunt my favorite piece of deer hunting land in the entire U.S. - the Arrowsmith Ranch along the Niobrara River of north-central Nebraska. This 18,000 acre deer hunting wonderland is covered from one end to the other by extremely prime whitetail habitat, and is often home to a few mule deer as well.
The hunting is anything but "easy". What generally makes a hunt on this ranch so memorable is the sheer number of deer found there...along with the number and quality of the bucks. The buck shown in the above photo was taken there in 2004, shooting a traditionally styled .50 caliber bullet rifle, fitted with one of the long 1855 style "Wm. Malcolm" telescopic rifle sights (from Leatherwood/Hi-Lux Optics). Thanks to the quality of the 1-turn-in-24 inches Green Mountain barrel, the old-style rig would keep three of the big 440-grain Parker Productions "Traditional Hunter" bore-sized lead bullets inside of 2 inches at 100 yards. This buck was taken at 160 yards shortly after noon on opening day of the general gun season. That was my shortest season ever there.
(Note: Scopes were not legal during the Nebraska muzzleloader season in 2004. However, thanks to the lobbying efforts of North American Muzzleloader Hunting in 2006 and 2007, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin and Georgia now allow the use of riflescopes during the muzzleloader deer seasons. In 2012, North American Muzzleloader Hunting will once again file a formal complaint of discrimination against the remaining 11 states which still violate the rights of hunters who cannot see open sights well enough to participate in those seasons.)
Warmer Than Usual Weather Hampers The 2011 Nebraska Muzzleloader Hunt...
Come mid December in northern Nebraska, typical night time lows are usually on the minus side of "0"...maybe warming up into the "teens" or lower "20s" by mid afternoon. I can remember a few hunts there when the thrermometer literally nose dived into the -20 to -30 degree range. One particular evening during a 2002 hunt stands out, when the wind chill hit -60 degrees - and ranch owner Brad Arrowsmith and I both managed to fill our muzzleloader tags that evening with nice 4x4 whitetail bucks. The photo at left shows Brad with his buck.
When the weather gets that cold, the deer generally move early in the evening, and in mass, to feed - and often continue to feed several hours after daybreak. That cold
evening when I eased back on the trigger, there were 70 to 80 deer in the field in front of my simple brush blind.
And it was that lack of cold weather during my 2011 hunt on this ranch which really made the hunting tough. The coldest morning temperatures during a full week of hunting were right around +20 degrees, warming up into the mid 30s to mid 40s by early afternoon. Compounding the problem was a near 3/4 moon. In the evenings, the deer did not move out of the heavy cover and into the hayfields or green winter wheat fields until that last 30 or so minutes of daylight - and were on their way back to bed before the sun truly peeked up over the horizon. Some second rut activity was going on, and that often resulted in a buck chasing a hot doe at just about any time of the day. That's what kept me out there, cruising ranch back roads and hayfield roads... watching and glassing for buck action.
When the weather gets that cold, the deer generally move early in the evening, and in mass, to feed - and often continue to feed several hours after daybreak. That cold
evening when I eased back on the trigger, there were 70 to 80 deer in the field in front of my simple brush blind.
And it was that lack of cold weather during my 2011 hunt on this ranch which really made the hunting tough. The coldest morning temperatures during a full week of hunting were right around +20 degrees, warming up into the mid 30s to mid 40s by early afternoon. Compounding the problem was a near 3/4 moon. In the evenings, the deer did not move out of the heavy cover and into the hayfields or green winter wheat fields until that last 30 or so minutes of daylight - and were on their way back to bed before the sun truly peeked up over the horizon. Some second rut activity was going on, and that often resulted in a buck chasing a hot doe at just about any time of the day. That's what kept me out there, cruising ranch back roads and hayfield roads... watching and glassing for buck action.
Close...But No Buck!
On the second evening of my 2011 Nebraska hunt, I returned to a huge alfalfa hayfield where I took the buck at right during the 2008 muzzleloader season. And that's where I began to put together the feed pattern just described. I moved in and set up along the east side of the field. The deer normally moved in from the south side, and with a warm south wind blowing, I sat in a small group of cedars that would keep my scent out of the field, but still allow me to take a 100 to 150 yard shot.
I was in place by 2 a.m. - and the first deer did not show until about 4:15 A doe with two fawns jumped the fence and fed on the last stand of alfalfa for nearly 20 minutes before another deer showed. That one was a repectable upper 140 class 5x5. I knew there were larger deer...so fought the urge to take the shot. Ten minutes later a 4x4 of the same class fed into the field from the other side and was soon feeding
side-by-side with the first buck.
For the next 15 minutes, deer after deer joined those in the field. I was losing shooting light quickly. And in the last light of the overcast evening, a true giant of a 4x4 eased along the fence line, looking over the 60 to 70 deer already there. He entered the field within range of the .50 caliber Knight "Mountaineer", but was directly behind the two bucks already feeding, which were about 120 yards out. I could see his rack clearly through the scope as he walked ever closer to the other two bucks. The main beams came out 3 or 4 inches past the tip of each ear, was very massive and tall. I immediately guessed the buck would score into the lower 160s - very, very respectable for an 8-pointer.
The big whitetail had just about reached the other two, and I had already decided to take the shot the instant the bigger deer stepped clear. But that was not in the cards for me. Suddenly one of the big does that had fed out into the field began blowing and stomping. All heads were up, and like a flock of birds in flight, the instant that old doe and the half-dozen others near her spun around to head for cover...so did every deer in that field. In seconds, all had cleared the fence and were back into the security of the heavy cedar growth.
A few seconds later, three coyotes came trotting along, and I was tempted to take one of them out...but knew that could possibly ruin any chances for hunting there the next evening.
I was in place by 2 a.m. - and the first deer did not show until about 4:15 A doe with two fawns jumped the fence and fed on the last stand of alfalfa for nearly 20 minutes before another deer showed. That one was a repectable upper 140 class 5x5. I knew there were larger deer...so fought the urge to take the shot. Ten minutes later a 4x4 of the same class fed into the field from the other side and was soon feeding
side-by-side with the first buck.
For the next 15 minutes, deer after deer joined those in the field. I was losing shooting light quickly. And in the last light of the overcast evening, a true giant of a 4x4 eased along the fence line, looking over the 60 to 70 deer already there. He entered the field within range of the .50 caliber Knight "Mountaineer", but was directly behind the two bucks already feeding, which were about 120 yards out. I could see his rack clearly through the scope as he walked ever closer to the other two bucks. The main beams came out 3 or 4 inches past the tip of each ear, was very massive and tall. I immediately guessed the buck would score into the lower 160s - very, very respectable for an 8-pointer.
The big whitetail had just about reached the other two, and I had already decided to take the shot the instant the bigger deer stepped clear. But that was not in the cards for me. Suddenly one of the big does that had fed out into the field began blowing and stomping. All heads were up, and like a flock of birds in flight, the instant that old doe and the half-dozen others near her spun around to head for cover...so did every deer in that field. In seconds, all had cleared the fence and were back into the security of the heavy cedar growth.
A few seconds later, three coyotes came trotting along, and I was tempted to take one of them out...but knew that could possibly ruin any chances for hunting there the next evening.
Morning Hunts Were Short...But With A Lot Of Good Bucks...
The north end of this ranch is where the Niobrara River valley rises up to meet the prairies. I knew of a few large irrigated corn fields on the adjacent ranching/farming property, and also knew that the deer which tended to feed there primarily bedded in the brushy draws of the Arrowsmith Ranch. And that's where I headed before daylight the next morning - to see what moved back onto the ranch during the first light of day...and where that movement was concentrated.
It was still farily dark when I turned off the county gravel road into Brad's largest pasture, which is referred to as the "Paris Pasture" - named after the earlier ranch that operated there until the days of the "Dust Bowl". The near 4,000 acre pasture is about a 50/50 mixture of grassy knolls and ridges, interlaced with cedar filled draws, and even some sizeable Ponderosa pines. In the dim light, it was hard to follow the faint "two track" roadway without my headlights on. So, I eased along at 5 m.p.h., and by the time I reached where I knew the deer would be returning off the prairie, they were already there.
From about a half-mile away, I watched through my binoculars as 30 to 35 deer jumped the fence and made their way back into the stands of sumac to feed a little more before heading for their bedding areas. Then two huge bucks came charging down through the neighbor's adjacent hayfield as they chased a doe back into the Paris Pasture. They stopped on an open grassy ridgetop just long enough for me to get a good look - the smaller one looked as if it would go 160+...and the bigger of the two would go well into the 170s...maybe even larger. I knew where I needed to be the next morning...well before daylight. I didn't want to chance spooking the deer, so just sat and watched until all were back into the security of the heavy cover in the draws. Then I drove out to a couple of cedars along that ridge, and quickly sat up one of the small Summit "Predator" camo blinds - where I would hunt the next morning.
Through the day, I saw several other bucks chasing does...but nothing that would top 140. And that evening Brad and I returned to where I had seen the tall and heavy 8-pointer the previous evening. I settled back into the same spot, and he hunted 400 or 500 yards to the west of where I hunted. The deer showed up even later. Several small bucks and about two dozen does and fawns filtered into the field in front of me...and fed until dark. But none of the larger bucks showed. My hunting partner had seen a very good 140 class buck - but passed.
It was still farily dark when I turned off the county gravel road into Brad's largest pasture, which is referred to as the "Paris Pasture" - named after the earlier ranch that operated there until the days of the "Dust Bowl". The near 4,000 acre pasture is about a 50/50 mixture of grassy knolls and ridges, interlaced with cedar filled draws, and even some sizeable Ponderosa pines. In the dim light, it was hard to follow the faint "two track" roadway without my headlights on. So, I eased along at 5 m.p.h., and by the time I reached where I knew the deer would be returning off the prairie, they were already there.
From about a half-mile away, I watched through my binoculars as 30 to 35 deer jumped the fence and made their way back into the stands of sumac to feed a little more before heading for their bedding areas. Then two huge bucks came charging down through the neighbor's adjacent hayfield as they chased a doe back into the Paris Pasture. They stopped on an open grassy ridgetop just long enough for me to get a good look - the smaller one looked as if it would go 160+...and the bigger of the two would go well into the 170s...maybe even larger. I knew where I needed to be the next morning...well before daylight. I didn't want to chance spooking the deer, so just sat and watched until all were back into the security of the heavy cover in the draws. Then I drove out to a couple of cedars along that ridge, and quickly sat up one of the small Summit "Predator" camo blinds - where I would hunt the next morning.
Through the day, I saw several other bucks chasing does...but nothing that would top 140. And that evening Brad and I returned to where I had seen the tall and heavy 8-pointer the previous evening. I settled back into the same spot, and he hunted 400 or 500 yards to the west of where I hunted. The deer showed up even later. Several small bucks and about two dozen does and fawns filtered into the field in front of me...and fed until dark. But none of the larger bucks showed. My hunting partner had seen a very good 140 class buck - but passed.
Putting Some Meat In The Freezer...
The Nebraska muzzleloader deer permit allows the harvest of a buck and a doe...or two does. (Actually it says "antlerless" rather than "doe".) On this hunt, I planned to take my first game with the machined brass Knight "Bloodline" bullet. However, until I shoot a few does with a new bullet, in order to assess the effectiveness of a new design, I always stick with a proven performer when hunting for a buck - especially bucks of the caliber I had been seeing on this hunt.
So, after pulling my pickup down into the head of a draw, out of sight, as I sat in the blind early the next morning, a good 30 minutes before enough light to see more than 200 yards, I was confident of the "Mountaineer" and the load stuffed into it. For the past three seasons, the 300-grain "Scorpion PT Gold" from Harvester Muzzleloading has been my bullet of choice. Several of the bucks I had taken with the bullet, propelled by 110-grains of Blackhorn 209, had been taken at ranges of 160 to right at 200 yards...and all had gone down within 30 yards of where they were hit. Two of the 200- to 240-pound whitetails had dropped on the spot. As had most all of the does harvested with this load - including one big adult doe at 244 yards.
As soon as it was light enough, I took a laser rangefinder reading on a corner post of the neighbor's fenceline, where I had watched those two great bucks, and more than a dozen other deer, cross the previous morning. The reading was 152 yards - and I knew the rifle and load could handle the job of putting either of those bucks on the ground at that distance. Unfortunately, on this morning the deer crossed through the adjacent cattle-filled hayfield...at about 350 yards. But, I got a better look at the boss buck...and I knew the deer would score at least into the lower 180s - with a tall and heavy 5x5 frame...and a couple of short sticker points.
I glassed a few other smaller bucks through the morning, then returned to the ranch house, enjoyed a good breakfast, then loaded up my wife Christy and two best friends, our dogs Bob and Tully, and took a drive along the hayfields stretching along the river to the east end of the ranch. It was time to fill my doe tag.
For that task, I had sighted in my Knight .50 "Long Range Hunter" with 110-grains of Blackhorn 209 and the saboted 250-grain Knight machined brass "Bloodline" bullet. The river bottoms of this ranch are filled with does, and it didn't take long to get one in the crosshairs of the Hi-Lux Optics TB-ML scope. The two-year-old doe was standing at about 120-yards, offering a slight quartering away shot. I held for where I felt the diaphragm separated the heart and lungs from the stomach and intestenal track, and touched off the shot.
The doe was dead before her legs went out beneath her. The bullet caught the deer exactly where I had been holding, and I was not at all surpised to find an exit hole along the rear edge of the opposite front shoulder. I was amazed at the internal damage done by the bullet - which does not actually "expand". Instead, the hollow point nose separates into six "break away" petals, which radiate out from the still intact base section. Everything in the path of those 9 to 10 grain brass petals was sliced and diced. One petal still reached the heart, which was about 8 inches ahead of where the bullet impacted, and made a 3-inch cut along one side.
(See The Test Report On The Knight "Bloodline" Bullet At - http://www.namlhunt.com/mlbullets2.html )
So, after pulling my pickup down into the head of a draw, out of sight, as I sat in the blind early the next morning, a good 30 minutes before enough light to see more than 200 yards, I was confident of the "Mountaineer" and the load stuffed into it. For the past three seasons, the 300-grain "Scorpion PT Gold" from Harvester Muzzleloading has been my bullet of choice. Several of the bucks I had taken with the bullet, propelled by 110-grains of Blackhorn 209, had been taken at ranges of 160 to right at 200 yards...and all had gone down within 30 yards of where they were hit. Two of the 200- to 240-pound whitetails had dropped on the spot. As had most all of the does harvested with this load - including one big adult doe at 244 yards.
As soon as it was light enough, I took a laser rangefinder reading on a corner post of the neighbor's fenceline, where I had watched those two great bucks, and more than a dozen other deer, cross the previous morning. The reading was 152 yards - and I knew the rifle and load could handle the job of putting either of those bucks on the ground at that distance. Unfortunately, on this morning the deer crossed through the adjacent cattle-filled hayfield...at about 350 yards. But, I got a better look at the boss buck...and I knew the deer would score at least into the lower 180s - with a tall and heavy 5x5 frame...and a couple of short sticker points.
I glassed a few other smaller bucks through the morning, then returned to the ranch house, enjoyed a good breakfast, then loaded up my wife Christy and two best friends, our dogs Bob and Tully, and took a drive along the hayfields stretching along the river to the east end of the ranch. It was time to fill my doe tag.
For that task, I had sighted in my Knight .50 "Long Range Hunter" with 110-grains of Blackhorn 209 and the saboted 250-grain Knight machined brass "Bloodline" bullet. The river bottoms of this ranch are filled with does, and it didn't take long to get one in the crosshairs of the Hi-Lux Optics TB-ML scope. The two-year-old doe was standing at about 120-yards, offering a slight quartering away shot. I held for where I felt the diaphragm separated the heart and lungs from the stomach and intestenal track, and touched off the shot.
The doe was dead before her legs went out beneath her. The bullet caught the deer exactly where I had been holding, and I was not at all surpised to find an exit hole along the rear edge of the opposite front shoulder. I was amazed at the internal damage done by the bullet - which does not actually "expand". Instead, the hollow point nose separates into six "break away" petals, which radiate out from the still intact base section. Everything in the path of those 9 to 10 grain brass petals was sliced and diced. One petal still reached the heart, which was about 8 inches ahead of where the bullet impacted, and made a 3-inch cut along one side.
(See The Test Report On The Knight "Bloodline" Bullet At - http://www.namlhunt.com/mlbullets2.html )
Heading For A Favorite Spot For The Evening Hunt...
For my evening stand, I headed for a favorite overlook that covered a long and narrow draw leading down to one of the river bottom hayfields favored by the deer on this ranch. During a cold and snowy 2007 hunt, which was made during my move west to Montana, I managed to take the long tined 4x4 shown in the photo at left. This was actually the first deer I ever took with the 300-grain version of the "Scorpion PT Gold" - propelled by 120 grains of Blackhorn 209. The load shoots great out of my .50 "Long Range Hunter", and shot placement at 186 yards was dead center of the chest cavity. The buck walked 12 yards after the bullet passed through, then toppled over.
Brad Arrowsmith also took his dandy 2002 buck, shown in an above photo, out of this draw as well.
While I did see another great buck that evening, the deer just stood on an open ridge 400 yards above for more than 40 minutes - watching the stream of does follow the draw down to feed...and within 75 yards of where I sat and watched. I guessed the buck would score well into the mid or upper 160s. And he's still there for next year.
Brad Arrowsmith also took his dandy 2002 buck, shown in an above photo, out of this draw as well.
While I did see another great buck that evening, the deer just stood on an open ridge 400 yards above for more than 40 minutes - watching the stream of does follow the draw down to feed...and within 75 yards of where I sat and watched. I guessed the buck would score well into the mid or upper 160s. And he's still there for next year.
The Next Morning "Was The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times..."
Like a few lines out of a classic Charles Dickens novel, my hunt the following morning went from extremely elevated jubilation...to extreme disappointment...within a couple of heartbeats...several times!
After watching that exceptional 180-class whitetail bring that doe back into the Paris Pasture the previous morning, well outside of my shootable range, I nearly moved the blind. But I had also seen two great bucks, one being the 180" buck, within a hundred yards of where the blind was situated - so I had left it right where it was. And on this last morning of my 2011 Nebraska muzzleloader hunt, I was to find that it was right where it needed to be.
In the very first light of day, I was astonished to look up on the slightly higher ground of the adjacent ranch to spot what at first looked like a band of pronghorns working the skyline. (I had seen a few there years before.) But a check through my old Zeiss binoculars revealed they were all whitetails...all 25 or 30 of them...including the high horned buck I had dreamed about all night. They were still more than 300 yards away...but working somewhat in my direction.
Suddenly, a good 170-class buck came racing over the skyline, turned and ran just below that herd of whitetails. The bigger buck immediately took chase - and the two were headed down along the fenceline, toward the corner post I had used to take my laser rangefinder reading the previous morning. I followed them with the crosshairs of the scope, and when they reached the bottom and jumped the fence, my crosshairs were right on the 180-class buck. But, I could not take the shot.
Directly behind the two bucks, which were now standing broadside facing each other just 5 yards apart, stood about 200 of the neighboring rancher's registered black angus breeder cows. I kept the crosshairs on the buck, hoping the two would come across the grassy bench where the blind was situated, and give me a shot. But...they didn't. Instead, the two bucks of any hunter's dreams turned and went right down the fenceline...with all of those cows directly behind them. And a few minutes later, all the other deer followed their exact path.
My heart sunk. Then, I looked up, and running right along that same crestline was a doe...and right behind her were six bucks. And when she angled down toward that same corner, I suddenly had hopes of getting a shot after all. I quickly assessed the racks. The smallest looked to be a mid 150s deer...the largest a mid 160s deer. They did make it to the corner, but the doe turned and ran right back up the fenceline, and the bucks followed...with all those cows right behind the deer. When the bucks crossed an upper fenceline and disappered over the crest, my heart sunk a second time.
In less than 10 minutes, I'd had eight great bucks all well within easy range of the rifle and load - and could not take a shot in fear of hitting a cow. I stayed in the blind for another two hours, and passed on a young 130-class 5x5 whitetail that sauntered past at about 80 yards. Just about every morning, I had glassed three 2-year old mulie bucks a mile or so from the ranch house.. I intended to finish out the day looking for a good meat buck - and a plump 3x3 mule deer buck seemed a logical choice, since they rarely stayed on the ranch.
I spotted the bucks on my drive back to the ranch house. The deer were only about 300 yards from the county road, and a convenient draw allowed me to slip to what I guessed 150 yards. I crawled up to a dead cedar, got into the sitting position and steadied the rifle on a solid branch. One buck offered a great slightly quartering shot, almost the exact same shot I had made on the doe. I held back about 8 inches from the rear of the shoulder line, center of the deer, and slowly applied pressure on the trigger of the "Mountaineer". The rifle barked and the 170-pound buck dropped on the spot. When I rolled the deer over for field dressing, I could feel the well expanded 300-grain "Scorpion PT Gold" just under the skin...right at the rear edge of the opposite front shoulder. My "meat buck" can be seen in the photo above right.
During the 5 1/2 days I hunted, I could have easily taken any one of 4 or 5 bucks that would have scored 140 to almost 150 points. My goal had been to take a buck that would score at least mid to high 160s, or better, and during the days I hunted I easily saw 5 or 6 such bucks. But never got a shot. In the end, I went home with some great eating. And I'm not the least disappointed. It had been one great hunt, with plenty of great deer to keep it interesting and exciting.
This hunt was the last of my 2011 deer hunting. I had taken a 5x5 whitetail in Montana during the last week of the general deer & elk season, using the "Mountaineer" and the same load used to down my mulie meat buck. (That article can be read at http://www.namlhunt.com/mlhunt.html ) With three deer for the freezer, we'll be good until the 2012 fall seasons roll around. Now, I'm already planning my hunts for next fall and early winter. If any of you reading this have a great hunting spot you'd like to share, I'm always looking for new country to hunt. Drop me a line at the following e-mail address. - Toby Bridges, North American Muzzleloader Hunting
toby@namlhunt.com
________________________________________________________________________________________
After watching that exceptional 180-class whitetail bring that doe back into the Paris Pasture the previous morning, well outside of my shootable range, I nearly moved the blind. But I had also seen two great bucks, one being the 180" buck, within a hundred yards of where the blind was situated - so I had left it right where it was. And on this last morning of my 2011 Nebraska muzzleloader hunt, I was to find that it was right where it needed to be.
In the very first light of day, I was astonished to look up on the slightly higher ground of the adjacent ranch to spot what at first looked like a band of pronghorns working the skyline. (I had seen a few there years before.) But a check through my old Zeiss binoculars revealed they were all whitetails...all 25 or 30 of them...including the high horned buck I had dreamed about all night. They were still more than 300 yards away...but working somewhat in my direction.
Suddenly, a good 170-class buck came racing over the skyline, turned and ran just below that herd of whitetails. The bigger buck immediately took chase - and the two were headed down along the fenceline, toward the corner post I had used to take my laser rangefinder reading the previous morning. I followed them with the crosshairs of the scope, and when they reached the bottom and jumped the fence, my crosshairs were right on the 180-class buck. But, I could not take the shot.
Directly behind the two bucks, which were now standing broadside facing each other just 5 yards apart, stood about 200 of the neighboring rancher's registered black angus breeder cows. I kept the crosshairs on the buck, hoping the two would come across the grassy bench where the blind was situated, and give me a shot. But...they didn't. Instead, the two bucks of any hunter's dreams turned and went right down the fenceline...with all of those cows directly behind them. And a few minutes later, all the other deer followed their exact path.
My heart sunk. Then, I looked up, and running right along that same crestline was a doe...and right behind her were six bucks. And when she angled down toward that same corner, I suddenly had hopes of getting a shot after all. I quickly assessed the racks. The smallest looked to be a mid 150s deer...the largest a mid 160s deer. They did make it to the corner, but the doe turned and ran right back up the fenceline, and the bucks followed...with all those cows right behind the deer. When the bucks crossed an upper fenceline and disappered over the crest, my heart sunk a second time.
In less than 10 minutes, I'd had eight great bucks all well within easy range of the rifle and load - and could not take a shot in fear of hitting a cow. I stayed in the blind for another two hours, and passed on a young 130-class 5x5 whitetail that sauntered past at about 80 yards. Just about every morning, I had glassed three 2-year old mulie bucks a mile or so from the ranch house.. I intended to finish out the day looking for a good meat buck - and a plump 3x3 mule deer buck seemed a logical choice, since they rarely stayed on the ranch.
I spotted the bucks on my drive back to the ranch house. The deer were only about 300 yards from the county road, and a convenient draw allowed me to slip to what I guessed 150 yards. I crawled up to a dead cedar, got into the sitting position and steadied the rifle on a solid branch. One buck offered a great slightly quartering shot, almost the exact same shot I had made on the doe. I held back about 8 inches from the rear of the shoulder line, center of the deer, and slowly applied pressure on the trigger of the "Mountaineer". The rifle barked and the 170-pound buck dropped on the spot. When I rolled the deer over for field dressing, I could feel the well expanded 300-grain "Scorpion PT Gold" just under the skin...right at the rear edge of the opposite front shoulder. My "meat buck" can be seen in the photo above right.
During the 5 1/2 days I hunted, I could have easily taken any one of 4 or 5 bucks that would have scored 140 to almost 150 points. My goal had been to take a buck that would score at least mid to high 160s, or better, and during the days I hunted I easily saw 5 or 6 such bucks. But never got a shot. In the end, I went home with some great eating. And I'm not the least disappointed. It had been one great hunt, with plenty of great deer to keep it interesting and exciting.
This hunt was the last of my 2011 deer hunting. I had taken a 5x5 whitetail in Montana during the last week of the general deer & elk season, using the "Mountaineer" and the same load used to down my mulie meat buck. (That article can be read at http://www.namlhunt.com/mlhunt.html ) With three deer for the freezer, we'll be good until the 2012 fall seasons roll around. Now, I'm already planning my hunts for next fall and early winter. If any of you reading this have a great hunting spot you'd like to share, I'm always looking for new country to hunt. Drop me a line at the following e-mail address. - Toby Bridges, North American Muzzleloader Hunting
toby@namlhunt.com
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Guided Hunts On The Arrowsmith Ranch
Brad Arrowsmith offers guided hunts for a very limited number of hunters every year, preventing the over harvest of quality mature bucks. During the 9-day general firearms season in November, during the rut, he generally offers two hunts - a first 4-day hunt and a 5-day hunt. Typically, the first hunt sees 3 or 4 clients, and the second hunt another 3 or 4. While he has not promoted guided hunts during the December month-long muzzleloader deer season, on occasion Brad has booked a muzzleloader hunter or two. The 5x5 whitetail and mule deer bucks shown in this photo were taken during the 2010 general firearms season.
These are free ranging wild deer, and while these ARE NOT Guaranteed Kill hunts, during most seasons 100% of Brad Arrowsmith's hunters get their buck!
Anyone wishing to inquire about the hunts on this 18,000 acre ranch should contact him at the following e-mail address - bradarrowsmith@hotmail.com
Published 12-20-11
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These are free ranging wild deer, and while these ARE NOT Guaranteed Kill hunts, during most seasons 100% of Brad Arrowsmith's hunters get their buck!
Anyone wishing to inquire about the hunts on this 18,000 acre ranch should contact him at the following e-mail address - bradarrowsmith@hotmail.com
Published 12-20-11
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