I have now officially harvested my first south jersey deer this afternoon, but certainly not without a bit of challenge from the great piney gods.[hihi]
I arrived at my property in zone 16 (Jackson) after work and fairly late for an afternoon hunt (3:45pm). I stalked to my spot bordering a hay field and before I got to my tree I spotted several does already entering the field. Although, at least one of them spotted me and they took off back into the cover.
A little while later they begin to filter back into the field and a big doe presents me with a 90 yard broadside shot, well within the reach of my Knight muzzleloader. I pull the trigger on the newly cleaned firearm only to hear the dreaded snap of a 209 primer. I have never had a failure to fire with a muzzleloader besides a light hit on a primer, which was my fault by messing with the spring tension in the bolt.
The doe is spooked but remains in the area. I attempt to find another primer and try a fresh primer. Once I finally get a new primer in I notice a herd of 10 does that had ran within 60 yards of my groundblind. I pick the lead doe but before I can shoot she turns and runs leaving me with a shot at the secondary doe. I squeeze the trigger and this time ignition.
She runs hard and low, however runs right for the house of an known anti hunter in the neighborhood dieing a mere 15 yards on the other side of the fence. I drive around and arrive at the house noting the accents of witch craft and dozens of cats on the property, secretly wishing to have a concealed carry before approaching the door. (un)fortunaley the owners are no longer home. I drive back around and utilized my go-go gadget extendable arms to finally retrieve my first piney trophy. So now I feel worthy to join the ranks of all the other watermellon baiting, deer driving, toothless, cousin dating pineys.
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I arrived at my property in zone 16 (Jackson) after work and fairly late for an afternoon hunt (3:45pm). I stalked to my spot bordering a hay field and before I got to my tree I spotted several does already entering the field. Although, at least one of them spotted me and they took off back into the cover.
A little while later they begin to filter back into the field and a big doe presents me with a 90 yard broadside shot, well within the reach of my Knight muzzleloader. I pull the trigger on the newly cleaned firearm only to hear the dreaded snap of a 209 primer. I have never had a failure to fire with a muzzleloader besides a light hit on a primer, which was my fault by messing with the spring tension in the bolt.
The doe is spooked but remains in the area. I attempt to find another primer and try a fresh primer. Once I finally get a new primer in I notice a herd of 10 does that had ran within 60 yards of my groundblind. I pick the lead doe but before I can shoot she turns and runs leaving me with a shot at the secondary doe. I squeeze the trigger and this time ignition.
She runs hard and low, however runs right for the house of an known anti hunter in the neighborhood dieing a mere 15 yards on the other side of the fence. I drive around and arrive at the house noting the accents of witch craft and dozens of cats on the property, secretly wishing to have a concealed carry before approaching the door. (un)fortunaley the owners are no longer home. I drive back around and utilized my go-go gadget extendable arms to finally retrieve my first piney trophy. So now I feel worthy to join the ranks of all the other watermellon baiting, deer driving, toothless, cousin dating pineys.
