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Identity Theft

CurtisWalker

Well-Known Member
I had been playing cat and mouse with a buck since I first saw him during 1st shotgun season. However I elected to save my second anysex tag for the LM season even though I didn't own a muzzleloader or even shot one before. I figured the deer wouldn't go far as long as no one really bumped him. So nearly every night since the first gun season I watched this buck and two other shooters enter the field well within shooting hours. First season passed along with most of second season. The day before late muzzle opens I go to scout and see a truck out in the field dragging a buck. My heart sunk but I knew the guy also had permission and that his kids hunted with him. I walked down to see what deer it was and to help them load it. I was surprised to only see a 3.5 yo 8pt and not the 170" 10pt that was in the field every single night. Well LM opened and I figured I would just let the place rest and just hunt from the observation stand a few nights. A few days go by and I had yet to see the buck more than one more time and he wouldn't even enter the bottom field before dark. The warm weather took over and I prayed for more cold weather.

After a few more hunts without seeing the deer and only having the afternoon of the 8th to hunt before starting a new job and working second shift I decided to just go all in and sit down close to the area the deer had been feeding. I set the alarm on vibrate so I wouldn't be checking my phone every five minutes wondering how long I had til my season was over. The daylight faded and faded and I finally saw my first deer. It had to be around 5:20 at the time and end of legal shooting time was at 5:29. All of a sudden I had deer pile into the field and I see two nice bucks coming down the hill one was quite a bit smaller but they had the exact same frame and I knew the bigger one from watching him all shotgun seasons. Well they made their way into 150 yards pretty quickly and I had to keep sorting deer using the scope on the muzzleloader because I didn't bring the binos. I found the two bucks again and they were both facing away. The light was fading and I knew the alarm was going to go off any second. So here I am stuck with the bucks facing away and trying to figure out which is which with the 15 or so does walking back and forth in front of them. I finally get a shot as the buck takes one step and quarters away. I settle the crosshairs and slowly squeeze the trigger and as I'm pulling I feel the vibrating phone and the recoil of the muzzleloader. I had no idea if I had hit the deer or not and by the time the smoke cleared there were whitetails running every where. I waited awhile and went and looked for blood and couldn't find any by this time I'm doubting myself and then the flashlight dies. I decide to walk back home and return the next morning since it would be plenty cold if I had hit him. Well the next morning I went out first thing and I get about to where I was sitting when I shot him and I could see a dead deer. I had literally walked 7 ft from him after the flash light had died and didn't even see him. I was a little disappointed though because as I walked up I realized I had shot the young buck in all mix up. However he is my first ever gun deer and I couldn't be more happy to wrap my tag around him.

Sorry for the poor pics. He was a bit stiff and didn't have much time .
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