Well lets try this again with the Readers Digest version. The refuge hunt is a week long hunt. There is one in october and one in november each year. I have hunted there the past 5 years. You get antlerless tags and then after 4 or 5 years you finally get a buck tag. This was my first year to get a coveted buck tag. I figured with the upland game hunters starting earlier that the bigger bucks would go nocturnal and arrive back at the ponds or swamp area around sunrise, so I set up a tripod stand way back near the water. Well unfortunately the deer that I was after didn't come from the Ag fields early enough and a road hunter got him. ( I am not a fan of road hunters). Needless to say I figured I had to scout for a new buck. I hunted all day for a couple of days scouting new areas. There were so many pheasant hunters that I decided to hunt the one area that was deer hunting only. It seems everyone else had the same idea as when daylight broke on saturday morning I saw orange hats on all sides of me. It wasn't much after legal light that shots begin to ring out. I saw a decent buck limp across the field and managed to make it past everyone and get into the trees. I think he was wounded in the front right leg. Does were scattering everywhere. I saw a group of does and a nice big 6x6 buck. Shots ring out and they come running. He was shot at twice I believe but not hit. (
I came to the conclusion that most people hunting with a muzzleloader don't practice enough). Anyway him and the does were looking every which way not knowing what direction to go.. finally he came across and headed west. He was 87 yards away and I was up in a tree watching. I kicked myself for not taking a shot but I had a hunter west of me and the shot would have been from a bad position with no rest. He made it into the swamp.I waited for everyone to leave then I also climbed down and went to eat. I hunted the rest of the day and scouted. As the deer were coming out in the evening someone drove in and spooked them all back. So much for that. I had been using my GPR the past 4 years and it was my refuge gun but after the days of walking and now sitting in a tree I decided to switch guns. I went with the mountaineer and for the first time the GPR was not making the trip. Monday at 5 am I walked back to my cottonwood tree and waited for daylight. Right after legal light I spotted the 6x6 alone in the field. He came across in front of me but I didnt want to take a long shot so I watched him for a while. I saw him go and freshen 2 scrapes . He was working the last scrape about 150 yards from me when I saw someone drive in and the deer scattered. But it gave me a plan because there was a different tree only about 40 yards from his scrapes. I figured I would set up there for the last day of the season. 3 more bucks came in but got spooked off. I climbed down after everything had cleared the area and went to help a fellow hunter.
I decided that since the next day was the last day so I wouldn't wait on the 6x6 but would take the first buck to come in. I couldn't sleep well that night thinking about that 6x6. Finally at 1;30 I got up, took a bath and packed my stuff and headed out about 2;30. I got to the parking area a little after 3. Sat in the truck til 5:15 then walked to the tree. It seemed forever til daylight. A few does wandered in . Finally about 7;10 or so I see 3 does running toward the swamp and a buck chasing them. They were somewhere around a 100 to 150 yards away. They were angling right toward me. Since they were running I didnt have time to check the range or how many tines he had. I decided to try for him since it was the last day. They stopped just before the fence. When he stopped I pulled the trigger and the Mountaineer roared. When the smoke cleared all I saw were white tails running into the thickets and swamp. I decided not to wait but immediately check. No blood. I figured I would start walking the area I saw them go in. it is a bad area to lose a deer in. I walked and walked. No sign. I called the wife to bring some of the kids to help me look. As I was looking Ikept thinking negative things like it is impossible to find a deer in this stuff or maybe I didnt hit him. Well the wife said she had to milk the cow and goats then she would be over. I walked and walked and walked some more getting more discouraged. Then I decided to start following different trails that lead out of the area I saw them running into. After getting stuck in the boggy muck and even having my one boot fill up with water when I stumbled I was almost ready to give up. I followed one of the trails that led east. I kept following it and low and behold there he was about 3 feet from me in the tall grass. I called the search team and they were just pulling into the refuge. I put my orange vest on him to make it easier to find him and walked to the truck to meet them. We took the cart and it was still a job to get him out. I decided I will never shoot another deer near the thickets or swamp again. It took me over 2 hours to find him and by the time we got him to the truck it had been 4 hours since I shot him. I got him home and skinned and quartered him.2 of the kids de-boned him and ground and made 25 pounds of jerky and cut the rest for steaks. Needless to say I didn't think much about pictures at the time. I took a couple with the phone camera and when the wife showed up she took one of me and him. Those are the photos I posted .I was informed that I needed a photo of him, me, the gun, and the tag in the same photo. I don't have that, so if our points don't count I apologize to team 1 for that. Sorry.
