October muzzleloader season in northwest Oklahoma was tough this year with summer-like temperatures and being extremely dry. This "blind hog" found an acorn last year with the 178" monster that fell to my old Knight Disc rifle, but 2005 appeared to be a totally different ballgame. I bought a doe tag this year and had INTENDED to shoot her first thing then begin my buck hunt, but opening morning conditions were hot and the deer didn't move much. I only saw 2 does that were outside my "confort zone" for a shot. Saturday evening was exactly the same, but one old doe made a fatal mistake of hesitating when she crossed a 20 yard opening. My doe tag was filled. Saturday night a front blew in and the tempuratures dropped into the 30's. Sunday morning, there were deer EVERYWHERE. I spooked deer walking in and could see them moving all around me as the day broke. I saw several young, small bucks and probably 20 does in the first hour of the hunt, then he appeared. Like a ghost, he wasn't there, then he was. He was standing on his hind legs with his head in a tree. He was making a scrape and reared up to hook the branches. He then turned and walked straight towards my stand, BUT he was directly behind a large bush. I was trying to evaluate his rack to see if he was in fact a "shooter", but I really couldn't see enough to be sure. At 40 yards, he finally stepped out, and I decided to shoot. He was still walking across the lane and about to go behind another tree, when he finally stopped to look back at a doe that was sniffing his fresh scrape. That was enough time for me to find my target and shoot. I could see through the smoke that he ran behind the tree that he was headed for and stopped. He had not gone but about 15 yards started to sway. I knew he was finished when he stumbled sideways and collapsed. I watched him for a couple of minutes to make sure he wasn't getting back up and decided not to reload since there was no movement. I climbed down and made the 50 yard trek to my buck, and there was no ground shrinkage. He had 13 "scoreable" points but had a G-2 broken off at the beam, so he started out as a 14 point. His rack gross scored 135", but had the G-2 still been in place, he would have gone around 145". His check in weight was 155 pounds. This was my first season to use my Ultimate Firearms BP Xpress and the Hornady SST's, and both have worked well so far. I am already looking forward to next year.

Good Job! Congrat's!

excellent deer.. and a good story to boot. It don't get better then that. Way to fill the freezer and a nice tropy there.

Congrats am moving to OK soon hope I can be that lucky hunting
down there!

How do you like the Ultimate Firearms rifle. Thats the one on a Howa action and can shoot up to 250 grains of powder if im correct. How much did it set you back if you care to tell me?

AmericanPioneer
I will PM you with answers to your questions.

That sure is a coll buck. I like the little stickers!

Thats a nice buck congrats on him.