Illinois 2010 Muzzleload Report #3

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Illinois Muzzleload Hunt

Dec. 2nd thru 5th , 2010

Saturday December 4th
Temp: Max Temperature 31 °F, Min Temperature 25 °F
Wind: 7 mph (NNE) gust to 23
Snow: 2.60”
Overcast to partly cloudy
Pressure: 30.10

I let a big one get by me today without a shot! That don't happen very often and this one sure hurt my heart. Here's how it went down;

It was overcast and unusually calm when I parked the truck in the ditch at the big corn field. The weather was not to good otherwise, freezing rain until mid morning and then light snow the rest of the day, off and on.

My plan was to wait for enough light to glass the corn field and still hunt my way to the kill zone stand. However, there were no deer feeding on the corn this morning. I made my way to the top end of the field to the overlook where I could see down into the west end of the CRP, no deer.

I looped back into the field so as not to be skylined and quietly picked my way to the N.E. corner. I glassed the CRP for any sign of a deer. In the dim light and mist I spotted a horizontal line in the grass thru the tangle of trees that grew along the edge of the field. Naturally, the deer just had to be behind the thickest section of trees along the whole stretch. With the aid of my Monarch glasses I could see a second deer facing the first and them a third stepped into view. Just as the third deer came into view I heard the unmistakable sounds of antlers clicking together…..they were all bucks and the third deer I could see looked to be the half rack, we call him, as his left side is missing just below the brow. He was timid about getting into the fray and I suspected the other two bucks were larger than him but I still could not make out what kind of bone they were sporting.

Finally, the buck that was closest to me broke off and started walking off down the CRP to the N.E. like he was leaving. My rifle was leaning against an 8” oak tree that I was bracing off to steady my glasses. Thinking the deer was about 150 yds out, when he came into a break in the trees I bleated at him with an immediate follow up even louder. That was a mistake. With no wind he immediately pin pointed the direction of the sound and looked my way.

When he lifted his head and his rack swung around I realized he was a shooter with big heavy beams that stretched out 2” beyond his ears on each side. I had been deceived by his profile and somewhat short tines. I immediately went into action….dropped the glasses, grabbed the rifle, flipped the covers off (don’t ask me why I had not already done that) cocked the hammer and came to rest on the side of the tree, all in one fluid motion.

The first thing I saw in the scope was the Nikon reticle resting right on the bucks shoulder. Just then my mind said, settle down and tighten up, you rush this and your gona miss! Well, that was just the second the buck needed to make up his mind to get the hell outa dodge and I never got to drop the hammer. It was hard not to be disappointed in the missed opportunity at such an animal but I just had to have another second and a half. Had I rushed it and missed or crippled the buck I really would have been upset with myself. Often times for me the difference in hero and zero is pushing the envelope as far as I can...stretching daylight as much as I dare, shooting as quick as humanly possible, trying off the wall plans that most would not consider when it seems all possibilities are lost. One of my strongest hunting traits has always been my conversion rate on the opportunities I receive. If you have hunted very long you know how hard it is to get an opportunity at a big buck. When it happens you need to be able to capitalize on it. This opportunity was just one that couldn't be converted.

After it was all over I ranged the spot at 112yds. The fog, dim light and down hill fooled me just a little but it was still no shot to be rushed. The other two bucks had cleared the field when the big deer spooked. They must have run off behind the screen of trees as I never saw them leave and did not really get to identify the second deer. Oh well! Maybe we’ll meet again one day.

After all the excitement was over I decided not to climb there and instead I’d do some still hunting and hit all the known bedding spots. I jumped 2 does bedded at the sanctuary stand and another at the loggers corner up above. There was another deer feeding in the hornets nest field. I moved off the side of the ridge and down into the draw and jumped another 5 does in front of Steve’s stand.

That pretty much wrapped it up for the mornings hunt.

Here's Rick's big 7pt passing by "Steve's stand"....look at that neck!

The dbl. g2 buck....he's a shooter all day long!

Rick hunted the barn stand this morning and saw 1 small buck and 5 does.

The PM Hunt: 32 deg.

I hunted the kill zone stand again. Once again I saw another shooter about 800yds to the north on the neighbor's hill side. He had 5 other deer with him including one small buck. Sure wish I could get over there! In years past I have seen deer cross the creek back and fourth from over there but the neighbor's crop was flooded this year and deer have not been coming off the hill to feed in the hill. It is unbelievable how different the circumstances can be on 400 acres from year to year. It seems that every year is a new and different set of circumstances to unravel.

One nice 8pt showed up in the east end of the CRP along with another small buck. A doe showed up a little after that. The tight 8 appeared again and entered the field from the creek. I was watching him in the glasses when a yearling came walking right thru my view at about 75 yds.

I ended up climbing down just before dark to put a sneak on a deer I had not identified when a buck came into the corn field from the golden oaks but he did not look like a shooter.

Just as the last light slipped away I spotted a deer that was a possible shooter but I could just not be sure so I passed on a shot at him.

Rick hunted the well stand this afternoon. He eventually spotted the big 7pt he has been seeing, moving along a trail on the opposite hillside. He stopped for a brief moment but Rick could not see his head until he started moving again. The distance was about 120 yds and when the deer came to a small opening Rick took a shot. He looked for sign of a hit but in the dim light he did not find anything, even though there was snow on the ground.

Big heavy beamed buck!

The next morning, after our hunt we hiked in to have a look in the daylight. We moved up the hill to the trail the deer was on and Rick said, he should have been about right here. I looked down and said your right! Your standing in a pile of hair! There was about a 2 foot long streak of hair on the ground but no blood. The hair was mostly white and I believe it was chest hair from behind the shoulders. We moved down the trail and finally found one spot of blood after 50-75 yds. After that there was no more sign to be seen. We walked out all the trails high and low and pretty much scoured the whole area. No deer. Hopefully, it was a superficial hit. The buck has an unusually up turned beam tip that will probably be seen in his rack next year if he and we, are lucky.

 

Here's some more trail camera pic's from this trip:

 

He's hard to make out but the deer in the back ground on the right is a monster! 

  The buck above was kind of neat. I saw him several times. I saw him come out on the big corn field pushing a doe one day. About that time a low end shooter I was watching was coming up the side of the field towards me and this cull buck with his doe. The 8pt walked up and stole the doe with out a fight. He and the doe went off into the woods and the cull buck left out the other direction.
 
Larry S.