Muzzleloader Hunting Kentucky Bucks - A Late Season Story
By Brad Blaine
I made my way up the steep, rocky hillside, which if wasn't bad enough, was covered with fallen pines and new pine growth, making my ascent more difficult than I care to remember.  However, it was well worth it.  Immediately, I found lots of good rubs and scrapes of respectable size.  This was atop a north-south running ridgeline with a primary hunter acces route to the west and private property and greenfields to the east - an excellant travel cooridor for deer as the sign ahead indicated.  I walked atop the ridge heading south along an old logging road and never had I seen buck sign like I had.  I lost count of over 60 rubs in a 500 yard stretch and that's being conservative.  Add to this, half as many scrapes and it made for an ideal hunting spot and would definitely be where I would hunt the next morning if I could find a decent access route.  I excitedly headed out of the woods, tired and sweaty just as the rain started pouring down.

I unloaded all my gear and decided I'd stop by Ryan's house to see if he was home yet.  I would've called as I had a cell phone but I couldn't get any signal.  A lot of good that did!  My principal reason for buying one was in case there was an emergency when I hunted alone.  Heaven forbid I'd be hanging by my safety belt in a tree or worse, injured with nobody knowing where I was or when to expect me back!  Lots of good this marvel of modern technology would do me now with no signal!  However, his house was only about 7 miles down the road so I could easily stop by. 

I headed back in the Jeep when I came upon John Maynard, another member of the hunting forum whom I had spoken with.  After exchanging greetings and scouting reports, he said he had just come back from Ryan's and he wasn't home yet.  So, with about 30 minutes of daylight left, we decided to part ways and watch greenfields for deer coming out in the afternoon.  I drove a few roads and saw does but nothing with any headgear and decided that I had killed enough time that Ryan should be back home. 

I dropped in at Ryan's house and there was John again who was obviously waiting for someone to show up.  We talked and talked some more before finally, Ryan and the rest of the crew showed up.  We shared notes and greetings then got down to the business of our scouting reports.  One fellow, Texas Dave a computer graphics guy from - you guessed it - Corsicana, Texas, had printed up a very cool aerial photograph of the area which came in handy for our plans.  Having shared our scouting notes, we all laid out plans for who was hunting where and when.  There were about 5 guys who were staying on Ryan's place and hunting.  I found that kind of odd but was told that Ryan had the only right-of-way into the other landlocked parcel of R.F.Tarter Wildlife Management Area!  What a deal!  This guy had essentially inherited about 300 acres of state land that he alone controlled access to!  Typical government screwup but one that worked for him and us hunters who knew him.  Besides, the guys who were hunting this parcel weren't exactly able to run 5K marathons and were content on the 4-wheeler accessible property that Ryan offered to them!  When my turn came up to tell all, I shared my scouting findings and the story of the other hunter I bumped into and was asked if I had bumped into anyone else.  I said no and between all 8 of us hunters, nobody had encountered a single hunter, save myself.  Talk about no hunting pressure!  2400 acres with 3 hunters, hell the property my family owns sees more pressure than that!  It was at this point that everyone marveled at how much ground Texas Dave and myself had covered.  Between the two of us, we had covered nearly every ridge on the 2400 acres comprising R.F. Tarter, with lots of good possible stand sites found.  It was at this point we talked of accessing our hunting positions.  I spoke of the ridge tore up with buck sign that I wanted to hunt and John offered to drop me off.  I was quick to point out that though this was a quick and easy way in, I'd have to cross private property for about 200 yards.  Ryan said, "no problem, the guy that owns that private property babysits my daughter." And with that, my problem of stand approach was fixed with one phone call!  Man, I like having friends like these! 

After talking hunting for a good hour, everybody started getting their gear ready for the next day and settling in for bed.  I left pretty quickly to do the same and made my way back to the cabin I had rented.  A quick bite of snacks and I was off to bed.

5:30 AM the next morning, West Virginia time, the alarm clock went off.  I rose out of bed and fixed a snack for breakfast.  This trip, the food wasn't exactly top-of-the-line as I had decided against packing a grill and all the necessary cooking utensils, rather it was cheese, crackers, oranges, doughnuts, sandwich stuff and other finger foods.  A complete meal of necessity but not a warm one.  I then headed over to the showerhouse which was an adventure within itself.  The wind was going good at about 20 mph and add some rain just about 36 degrees and your trip to and from buildings is speeded up quite a bit!  Yet, once there I had all the hot water and warm space to myself.  A quick change into my camo and I was off to meet up with John, my "taxi" driver for the day.

I arrived at the main parking entrance where I had agreed to meet him.  My plan was to go through the private property we had gained permission from and hunt the ridge I had scouted and work my way back down to the parking lot.  Dave was good enough to loan me a 2-way radio in the event I got a deer down or needed help so I felt confident with the all-day hunt setup.  Not long afterwards John showed up and I hopped in his truck and off we went to the western edge of the property where I'd approach my hunting position.  We passed a few deer in the early morning rain but nothing like the evening before when the weather was a little bit better.

We arrived at a point where a woodlot extends to the road and this would be my access cooridor.  I hopped out and was on my way after thanking John in a matter of seconds.  Using the map in my head primarily, I headed out the top of the ridge spur to the junction I had arduously climbed from the opposite side the day before.  I was going to be hunting a spur junction which led from a greenfield to the ridge which in turn had another spur leading to another ridge sorta reminded me of a peace symbol in the layout.  I went maybe a couple hundred yards and looked in the pre-dawn light for the junction.  Having located it, I decided that I would deploy my pop-up blind just off the side of the old logging road I had scouted down the day before.  I no sooner took off the blind and leaned it up against a tree when 4 deer snorted and bounded off.  I could just barely make out their white asses as they headed down into the opposite valley and though disappointed I couldn't tell whether buck or doe I again was happy with my site selection which was site unseen minus two!