| DEER HUNTING REPORTS 2006 page 4 MUZZLELOADER SEASON |
| December 27, 2006 Ohio’s four-day Muzzleloader season opened on Wednesday, December 27th, and ran until Saturday the 30th. Piff and I again hunted the properties just south of Hillsboro the first and last day of the short season. Piff was still after a big buck and I was looking to fill my last tag with a doe. Piff hunted down wind of his stand and I hunted up the hill from him at the gate. Shortly after daybreak I noticed movement below me in the brushy hillside. Soon six antlerless deer slipped out of the thick cover. As they began to work their way out into the pasture I noticed that the fourth one in line was a nice-size doe. I leaned my Hawkens .50 cal. on one of the cross members on the gate and fixed the sights on the big doe. I waited for the doe to clear some brush between me and her when suddenly the lead deer winded me and snorted. They then all took off down the draw that leads towards Piff; some went to his right and some to his left. Piff didn’t take a shot because he was hunting for a buck. Around 9:00 I was getting ready to move on the other side of the gate to get out of the cold wind when I noticed a deer facing me about 250 yards away in the hayfield. Just then it turned sideways and I could tell it was a buck. Soon it took off running to my left and disappeared into a brushy draw. A few seconds later he came running up over the hill towards me and stopped at the fence only 50 yards from me. He was a young buck with a small 6-8 point rack. A few seconds later another smaller buck emerged from over the hill and followed the first buck up to the fence. As I was fumbling around for my camera they both jumped the fence and ran into the woodlot behind me. I waited around on the windy side of the gate for about another hour or so then I moved on the other side of the gate and sat against a pile of logs. It wasn’t long before I again noticed movement in the brush-covered hillside below me. This time it appeared as if there were deer flowing out of every nook and cranny in the thick cover, as if water flowing between a rock-covered stream. I lost count at 12 and knew that there were more. Soon some of the deer came closer to me and I was afraid that they would eventually see me. I cautiously eased my muzzleloader up on my shooting sticks and took aim at one of the bigger does and squeezed the trigger. When the smoke cleared I saw deer running everywhere in all directions! I couldn’t tell which deer I shot at! I waited a while, reloaded my snokepole, and walked down to the area where the doe was when I took the shot. I was hoping to find some kind of a sign of a hit, blood or hair, or best of all, a dead deer. Finding none of the above I began to search the wooded area for a blood trail. As I slowly eased around I saw about 6 or 8 deer jump the fence at the corner of the woods. I made my way over to the spot where they jumped the fence and looked around for blood. Not finding any I spent the next few hours covering and recovering every trail, brush pile and ditch, but I didn’t find any blood trail. I gave up the search around mid–afternoon. I somehow missed! Later on, at dark, I met up with Piff and he said that he had seen the 6 go by him early in the morning. He also saw about 5 or 6 come out of the woods after I shot. He told me a small buck was with them. We were both disappointed that we didn’t see any deer movement in the evening. We called it a day a made plans to get up early and drive back down on Saturday. December 30, 2006 Saturday morning we both hunted the same spots as before. At daybreak we heard turkeys yelping and clucking everywhere along the creek that borders the adjacent property. Around 8:15 four deer came across the hillside below me and in front of Piff. The lead deer suddenly locked up; it spotted Piff. Soon all four retreated and disappeared from my sight. A few minutes later I noticed movement on top of the brushy hillside below me where the deer came out on the previous hunt. I figured it was the same four that I saw a few minutes ago. I assumed that they might come out in the same area that the bunch did the other day so I propped up my muzzleloader on the gate and waited. It wasn’t long until I heard movement in the woods along the fence that ran to the gate. Soon two or three deer shot out into the open field in front of me, followed by another two or three, then another group. In no time there were about fourteen or more antlerless deer out in the field. Suddenly I heard a crash and saw a big buck jump the fence and begin to chase a couple of the does. He was a nice 8-10 pointer with a dark rack; definitely a shooter. By now the does were working their way nervously towards my left to the spot where the bucks from the previous hunt jumped the fence. I had to move my gun off of the gate and position it on my shooting sticks. When I attempted this a few of the deer saw me and stopped and stared. The others didn’t seem to notice. I slowly had to move my sticks to the left and I picked out one of the bigger does, took aim, and fired. Again when the smoke cleared from the blackpowder gun there were deer were running everywhere. They disappeared over the hill in the open field and a few seconds later I observed them jumping the fence onto the neighbor’s property. Did I miss again! I poured some more powder into my gun and rammed another bullet in and applied the cap. I waited for a few minutes and then set out to the spot where the deer was standing when I took the shot. When I got to the area I saw blood everywhere! I knew then that she couldn’t be far. There was a pool of blood every six feet or so, a trail that even Piff, who colorblind, could follow. I followed the blood trail over the hill and then spotted her. She was down, my first deer taken with a muzzleloader. I counted off 80 paces on the shot and she ran about 70 paces. Best off all; she lay dead only about 300 yards away from my vehicle. |
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| All in all I had a very good season, considering getting my rotator cuff operated on in August. I took a buck on Opening day of Gun Season and a doe on the last day of Muzzleloader Season. We both saw a lot of deer activity and some really big bucks on our November and December hunts. I hope by next season that my shoulder is in good enough shape to use my bow. I miss bow hunting! |
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