Took a walk at Assunpink this morning with the flintlock muzzleloader, but I wasn't expecting to see much as most of my trips since the 6-day season have been primarily long, hard hunts with little or nothing to show for the intense effort. (It's amazing how that place becomes like a game animal ghost town after 5 months of intense hunting pressure.)
However, I knew there would be guys out driving and walking around the trails, so I figured maybe they would move something around. I certainly knew I wasn't gonna fill a tag by sitting on my couch.
After getting torn to shreds by thorns and briars all morning, I had only seen about 8 other hunters, 4 horses/riders, birds, squirrels and geese. I was about to head back home dejected; but, since it was such a nice sunny day, I decided to try to walk through one more extremely thick cover area where I knew there was still some standing corn nearby for deer as a food source.
I put the wind in my face, and I began to creep ever so slowly through the thick tangles of greenbriars, raspberries, and other thorny vegetation. Rather than walk at a steady pace, I still hunted painstakingly slow with long pauses after each step to try to move as silently as possible as the dry, frozen conditions were certainly not ideal for still hunting. I also tried to walk through the nastiest, ugliest places where I figured other guys and their dogs would have been less likely to have pressured.
As I was ducking under a particularly thick section of tangles, a thorn bush ripped my hat from my head and hung it in the air. I turned around to grab it back; and when I turned back around, I saw sunlight illuminate a tiny bit of movement about 75 yards ahead of me. At first, I thought it was a small bird, but I quickly noticed that it was actually the moving ear of a bedded doe. She had obviously seen or heard me; she was intently staring in my direction and focusing her ears my way.
Rather than lift the gun, I simply froze and began scanning the brush around her to see if she had any friends. Suddenly about 10 yards away from her, I made out the shape of another bedded deer. However, from where I was standing, I could not see its head as it was completely obstructed.
I didn't know what to do as the doe seemed to have me pegged; I couldn't see where the other unidentified deer was looking. As a last resort, I tried burping a grunt to see if would elicit a response. As soon as I grunted, the second deer raised and swung its head into view; although most of the rack was still not visible, I could see it was a buck with decent rack height.
I decided to try to sneak a 50 cal patched round ball through an opening in the brush that was about the size of a frisbee where I could see the buck's vitals; he was about 75-80 yards away. I leaned the barrel against a sapling, pulled the trigger, and thankfully, the old flinter barked with a cloud of smoke.
I couldn't see if I hit the deer because of the smoke, but before the smoke had cleared, I heard thrashing followed by a thudding collapse and that familiar gurgling groan that deer often make when they die. I knew he was down. When I walked up, the ball had hit him perfectly in the boiler room, and he didn't travel more than 5 yards in the thick cover.
When I inspected him further, I found that he had been shot in his front foot earlier this year, so I was glad to be able to harvest him rather than have him suffer. The shot had passed through his front foot above the knuckle; the lower portion of his foot was extremely swollen. He would have likely survived, but it had to be painful to walk on it.
He wasn't a monster buck, but he was a quality 5-pointer from public land; anyone who has ever hunted public land during the late season will tell you it is not an easy hunt. The weather is tough, the deer are spooky, and the cover has been tromped down. He is definitely a hard-earned trophy to me!
My final tally for the year was a 7-pointer in archery, a spike & 2 does with the shotgun, & this 5-pointer with the muzzleloader. All but one of the does were harvested on public land, so I am extremely proud of my success this year hunting what on what is definitely one of the most heavily-pressured pieces of property in the state.
It has been another fun-filled and successful season highlighted by a multitude of great outdoor experiences. I spent a lot of time in the woods this Fall/Winter, and I am thankful that hunting offers me the opportunity to rejuvenate my mind, body and spirit in such an important and meaningful way. I know that I am already eagerly looking forward to chasing turkeys & fish this spring.
- Gr8ful
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However, I knew there would be guys out driving and walking around the trails, so I figured maybe they would move something around. I certainly knew I wasn't gonna fill a tag by sitting on my couch.
After getting torn to shreds by thorns and briars all morning, I had only seen about 8 other hunters, 4 horses/riders, birds, squirrels and geese. I was about to head back home dejected; but, since it was such a nice sunny day, I decided to try to walk through one more extremely thick cover area where I knew there was still some standing corn nearby for deer as a food source.
I put the wind in my face, and I began to creep ever so slowly through the thick tangles of greenbriars, raspberries, and other thorny vegetation. Rather than walk at a steady pace, I still hunted painstakingly slow with long pauses after each step to try to move as silently as possible as the dry, frozen conditions were certainly not ideal for still hunting. I also tried to walk through the nastiest, ugliest places where I figured other guys and their dogs would have been less likely to have pressured.
As I was ducking under a particularly thick section of tangles, a thorn bush ripped my hat from my head and hung it in the air. I turned around to grab it back; and when I turned back around, I saw sunlight illuminate a tiny bit of movement about 75 yards ahead of me. At first, I thought it was a small bird, but I quickly noticed that it was actually the moving ear of a bedded doe. She had obviously seen or heard me; she was intently staring in my direction and focusing her ears my way.
Rather than lift the gun, I simply froze and began scanning the brush around her to see if she had any friends. Suddenly about 10 yards away from her, I made out the shape of another bedded deer. However, from where I was standing, I could not see its head as it was completely obstructed.
I didn't know what to do as the doe seemed to have me pegged; I couldn't see where the other unidentified deer was looking. As a last resort, I tried burping a grunt to see if would elicit a response. As soon as I grunted, the second deer raised and swung its head into view; although most of the rack was still not visible, I could see it was a buck with decent rack height.
I decided to try to sneak a 50 cal patched round ball through an opening in the brush that was about the size of a frisbee where I could see the buck's vitals; he was about 75-80 yards away. I leaned the barrel against a sapling, pulled the trigger, and thankfully, the old flinter barked with a cloud of smoke.
I couldn't see if I hit the deer because of the smoke, but before the smoke had cleared, I heard thrashing followed by a thudding collapse and that familiar gurgling groan that deer often make when they die. I knew he was down. When I walked up, the ball had hit him perfectly in the boiler room, and he didn't travel more than 5 yards in the thick cover.
When I inspected him further, I found that he had been shot in his front foot earlier this year, so I was glad to be able to harvest him rather than have him suffer. The shot had passed through his front foot above the knuckle; the lower portion of his foot was extremely swollen. He would have likely survived, but it had to be painful to walk on it.
He wasn't a monster buck, but he was a quality 5-pointer from public land; anyone who has ever hunted public land during the late season will tell you it is not an easy hunt. The weather is tough, the deer are spooky, and the cover has been tromped down. He is definitely a hard-earned trophy to me!
My final tally for the year was a 7-pointer in archery, a spike & 2 does with the shotgun, & this 5-pointer with the muzzleloader. All but one of the does were harvested on public land, so I am extremely proud of my success this year hunting what on what is definitely one of the most heavily-pressured pieces of property in the state.
It has been another fun-filled and successful season highlighted by a multitude of great outdoor experiences. I spent a lot of time in the woods this Fall/Winter, and I am thankful that hunting offers me the opportunity to rejuvenate my mind, body and spirit in such an important and meaningful way. I know that I am already eagerly looking forward to chasing turkeys & fish this spring.
- Gr8ful
