I'm mainly a bowhunter, but am always looking for ways to stretch my hunting season. I've always wanted to havest a deer with a summer cape, and was finally able to. I decided to shoot a doe to help the buck/doe ratio. Deer was harvested on the 1st week of September '05(Opening Weekend).. It's my 1st M/L Deer. The Deer had 1/2 of the body in short (3/8") hair, and the other 1/2 with long (1 1/2") hair. Was able to get 67 lbs of meat from the big old doe. I am using a CVA Optima Pro, which shoots like a dream!

Congratulations.. that's a real nice looking doe. Nice looking Optima Pro. What kind of load did you shoot to take her, powder charge, and how far was she away? Also it appears she did not run far enough, but did she drop in her tracks?

again, way to go.

Thanks. She was about 60 yards away. I made a double-lunger shot, but suprisingly, she still ran about 100 yards before going down. I used 100 grains of Triple 777, and I believe a 230 grain Powerbelt Aero-tip(If I remember right). It was my first morning out, and I actually passed on 2 big doe's (both had really young twin fawns). Then I saw another group of 7-8 doe's, in which I took this one from.

Deer never cease to amaze me. I've double lunged them rascal and had them run further then you could ever dream an animal could. Then other times I had then drop where they stood. Those 245 grain Aero Tip Powerbelts shoot excellent out of my CVA Staghorn. The deer just never gave me the chance to test a powerbelt on them yet..

Again, congratulations. I bet she was/is some fine eating.

The funny thing is that that shot felt great, when I pulled the trigger. But all I saw was smoke. Then a second or 2 later I saw her running through the brush, unable to clearly see any wounds. I felt as if I missed her. That's until I saw the blood trail for the 1st time! Using a smokepole was deffinately an experience, and a good one at that.

Good Job, KS! Congrat's.

Nice doe, I shot my first ML deer also this year and I do remember the smoke and wondering if I hit her even at 5 yds as she moved in on me quickly. Shot placement is critical with only one shot. That seems to be an early season since you have no coat on I assume it was in the 60s. Our official seson in MO starts the weekend after Thanksgiving and goes for two weekends in December and by then its in the 10s and the deer have dark coats. I was chosen for an early Nov managed doe hunt and my doe still was not real dark like in mid December here. Here's the link on mine. It sure is a blast to take one down with a pole. Good Luck on your future opportunities in ML. http://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1838&highlight=