finally did it!!!
 

cayugad and everyone else that helped me learn the ropes of shootin a rocklock, your gunna be glad to hear the news!

i made smoke this afternoon and a deer finally died death due to my roundball!!!

i was setup along a trail and deer were going high left and far right...no shooting...drivers kept comin and so did the deer...2 more came far right, but instead of following the other 4s tracks, they hung a right and climbed the bank..knew they were both yearling deer. they got on the trail i was standing on and bolted right at me...i already had the hammer back from when i was trying to get a shot at them a second earlier..gun on them...picked out the one i thought was the doe...hit the hair trigger and it frozen looking at me...put the front bead on the center of the white patch and KARACK! smoke cleared and it was down!

i will probably take some bashing over taking that shot...and after i did, i realized i was shooting a roundball not a 165gr ballistic tip moving at 2800fps from my 3006 and was thankful for the good results...also was a mere 10yds away and i had a solid rest...once the smoke cleared i realized what i was hunting with though...just glad it all worked out...and i was shocked to see the roundball didnt exit as far as i could tell. never found it..but didnt look hard and couldnt find an exit. entrance was very evident...maybe i will find the ball in the morning when i skin it..

turned out to be the button buck...wasnt too thrilled over that and try not to do that...but it happened...

did find my patch about a foot away from the deer...thought that was pretty neat...

mauser finally did it..his first flintlock deer!! going to have the hide tanned so i can keep it and tack it on the wall so i can keep the memory...been wanting a deer hide tanned for a while..kept saying "first flintlock kill" well...it happened!! also going to put a brass tack or button or something into the stock of my rifle...and will do that for each kill with it...i see some guys decorate their stocks with metal pieces...figured i will keep tally with them and decorate at the same time :D

pics will be on after i clean the rifle!! gotta clean the rifle and take a shower...:D before i killed the deer, i managed to get my truck stuck..had a buddy drive me to the next spot we were supposed to stand and wait on the drivers..so i had to get the deer out, get the truck unstuck and get the deer hung so i could make it to work...was only and hour late :D boss didnt mind i was doing him a favor in the first place...

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Good job Mauser!

I remember the first time i pulled the trigger on a buck with my first flintlock, I darn near passed out when the smoke cleared and saw that it was on its back with its legs straight up in the air lol.

Now ya see why i say inlines arnt any fun? :D:D

Looking forward to the pics!

RE: finally did it!!!
 

ive always loved hunting with the rocklock...just something about carrying it and my "camo man purse" as the guys often call it with a pan primer, vent pick and pan brush hanging from leather lace around my neck...you guys understand what im talking about...the first kill felt great...not going to start an inline debate, but i picked up the flintlock for the challenge and added excitement/thrill/feeling...really dont know if i will rifle hunt anymore...took my first bow buck this year and my first flintlock kill...been an awesome year...and both kills felt amazing..still like rifle hunting and have nothing against it...but it lost its spark with me for alot of my hunting...

you'll also be glad to hear we went back to where i shot at the one deer twice the other day and we couldnt find any sign at all and had more guys and combed the area and surrounding areas hard just to check...didnt think i hit her...didnt act hit...but always better to be safe...

sure was awesome to watch the cloud of smoke clear and see the deer laying there...i really have no idea where the other one went or what happened after i shot...i didnt even reload i was jumping like a little kid...believe it was my 12th deer(atleast 12)..you woulda thought it was my first...guess it was...first with the rocklock...







neck shots are pretty bloody...and dont ask how i couldnt see those buttons...i guess i didnt look hard enough..i just knew it wasnt an "antlered" buck which made it legal and fair game for my "antlerless" tag..


before anyone asks....TC 50cal hawken flinter...90gr of Schuetzen 3fg with a .015 patch and .490 hornady roundball primed with 4fg Goex.

curious about the exit...i will really be surprised if there isnt one...i guess the backbone could stopped it...but thats a pretty powerful load...my gun wont throw anything but roundballs...a 50cal entrance hole isnt anything to shake a stick at...but im concerned about penetration...maybe it did exit and i didnt notice the exit...i'll find out tomarrow morning...

thanx for all the help through the years guys....i owe it to you all....

hmmm that was the first deer ive ever shot without a scope thinking about it now...minus the bow kill of course..

RE: finally did it!!!
 

normally i wouldnt say much .. and kick me off this forum if you must but, i do know if anyone in our hunting party were to have shot this they would have been kicked in the crotch. other then that .. ill hold my tounge....

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Kicked for what? Shooting a button buck?


Congratulations Mauser06 on your deer! :D

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Congratulations!!!!
Too many people have the idea you must kill only huge antlered bucks to be proud of your accomplishment. I'd much rather kill one like yours for eating. Matter of fact, I've killed 2 button bucks already this year. One with the crossbow, and one with the muzzleloader. Both provided fine table fare, and it hasn't seemed to hurt the local population a bit. Those young deer have a high mortality rate the first winter and you might as well take a few out of the herdfor food.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

MI Redneck, if you would read the post, youd know im not 100% thrilled it was a button buck...but im not hurt by it. it was a legal animal for me to take...i took it...im happy..just so happened that it was a yearling male and i didnt notice. i try not to take them and learned how to ID them pretty good, but this was also a new way of taking a deer for me. i was excited, time was limited, and i didnt have a scope or binocs with me to look it over, not that i had time to. i identified it as a legal deer and decided to take it...

thanx for the congrats guys...im proud of my kill. those steaks are gunna melt in my mouth...and the hide and pictures are gunna look awesome in my room...me and the group had a blast yesterday...thats what matters.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Don't make excuses. You don't need to. Fair chase and a clean kill. Enough said. Enjoy and congradulations!!!

RE: finally did it!!!
 

nice deer and great shooting with a flinter

RE: finally did it!!!
 

If it's legal, it's edible.;)

Congrats on your first flinter deer.:D

I'm still waiting for mine and trust me, if it's legal, it's edible.;)

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Mauser way to go, Nice eating deer and one to be proud over with it being your first with the flinter. You will remember this deer more than any others thru your years of hunting. Those close up shots can be fun.

To many others put to much on what one chooses to shoot. They need to remember meat is meat weather it come from a young deer or an older one. I would of done the same as you and would of been whooping it up so every one could here me. Shooting a deer with a flinter is something that not every hunter does in there life time. once again congrats on a fine deer.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Mauser that is all veal cutlets
congrat:
you earn it I read a few of your post over the years on the PA forum

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Mr. Mauser as for telling me to read the post... I always read before i post.. that just makes sense and i 100% understand your story there( "knew they were both yearling deer" - Mauser ).... i dont agree with shooting yearlings in general.. thats my choice. And i put what would have happened around here in our group we hunt with. maybe we have it lucky and dont think about shooting these cause we see atLEAST3 deer a night while hunting i dont know. But as with all Forums... its just my opinion.. you dont have to like it.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Yearling's are good eating. When you hunt witha flintlock, its a lot harder and whatever you shoot, is a big reward for your hard efforts. His button buck is decent sized. I've seen much much smaller deer shot.

What you shoot at when you are hunting is your choice. I think Mauser did a good job and got a nice one.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Mauser- way to go. Ya got some good eatin.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Good job Mauser. I did the same thing during out antlerless season this year. I looked really hard thru my scope to make sure it was a doe. Still didn't see his little nubs. I wasn't real happy but he'll go to good use. Maybe we'll both have better luck next time. Congrats again on your deer.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

thanx guys...

still thrilled over the kill. woke up bright and early to skin him running on verrrry little sleep..then hunted all day (guided a younger hunter and set him up for our drives...didnt even carry the gun though i could have)...he was buck hunting..his pap said no does till the last day for him..i saw 2 buck but they snuck out before they made it to him..other than that we had piles of slickheads moving around...good day...got back to the farm and quartered him up and put him in the freezer till monday morning. dad like kilbasa and sausage made...going to make an hour trip to his favorite butcher just for dad..

that ole roundball did indeed exit. dead center of the neck shot and busted the backbone and spine clean...must have busted the main arteries too...it was a bloody shot.

i will never forget the sound of the flint smashing into the frizzen(i can hear it and my lock is fast..wierd i know..) and watching the smoke cloud clear to see him down infront of me.

also salted the hide to have it tanned today. everything but the head..some reason ive never seen a tanned deer hide with the head tanned that i liked. just looks wierd IMO...should be a good looking hide...small, but good looking none the less...

what a year...first bow kill and first flinter kill...and my name is "Mauser" :eek: poor ole Mauser of mine might not get touched for a long while...

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Excellent deer, congratulations. I was3 years before I got my first deer with a FL, not easy for sure. A lot of fun hunting with that gun. I have the same gun, and I love the double trigger, makes shooting it easy. Chap Gleason

RE: finally did it!!!
 

congrats mauser - so what if it was a yearling. Its your first FL ML deer. And good eating. Heck next year he would have just had a bit mor meaton his bones and maybe a a decent rack - but you can't eat horns.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Congratulations Mauser!

I fail to understand how some guy's have no problem killing an adult doe with two fawns in her (which means your shooting 3 deer) thenslam someone for shooting a yearling.....

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Good Job

RE: finally did it!!!
 

for one if i was slamming someone it would be alot more harsh then that.... i was just saying what was on my mind .. im allowed to do that .. were in america...
next i want to see you prove an adult doe thats shot always has fawns in her???????

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Michigan Redneck,

Based on the last study the PA Game commission did based on hundred's of dead doe picked up on PA road's AFTER the hunting season's ended approximately 95% of the adult doe were pregnant either with one fawn, two, and sometimes even 3! You can see if you hunt PA Game Land's how quickly it would be to decimate a heard of deer if your shooting a lot of adult doe. They can make a fast rebound though if the pressure is taken off for several years.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Congrats Mauser! Still trying for my first with a ML. No luck this season yet.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Congrats Mauser, I shot my first deer ever many years ago with my slug gun. It happened to be a button buck. I was so proud of that deer. There has been many since. This year was my first with a muzzleloader......a button buck. Two weeks later I scored my second muzzleloader deer, a nice 145+lb doe. I agree there is nothing like watching the smoke clear and the deer laying right where you shot it. I'm 48 now and now realize what I'll been missing never hunting with a muzzleloader until now. I will take a button buck, thats good eatin!

RE: finally did it!!!
 

congrats on the deer. look at it this ways it was a legal deer to take who cares what it was it was legal!!!!! here in Iowa they have a anterless only season in late Jan. its the only time we can use a rifle in the southern counties. we only shoot yearling anterless deer because we don't want to accidentally shoot a shed ed buck. be sides they are allot better eating then an old smelly buck :D. the reason they have the season is to control the deer population. cant control the population by shooting bucks. any ways two years ago i shot a descent 9 pointer and donated it to the hush program here in Iowa. i prefer to eat the yearling's. the older does and bucks go to the hush program.

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Congrats mauser! I got my first with the flinter 3 years ago...a shed antler buck. I was so thrilled with him. Since then I've managed to take a deer with my flinter every year...except for this one....still got a few days left though.

Congrats and good luck in the future....BP and sparks are addicting!

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Mauser
No need to defend yourself against any kind of attack for shooting a button buck. What you did was perfectly legal, and appears you set a goal for yourself of any antlerless deer for your 1st muzzleloader kill. I personally won't gun hunt with anything other than my Optima, and I hope you get as much joy out of your hunts with your flintlock as as I have my gun-------a huge congrats to you

MI88

RE: finally did it!!!
 

thanx alot guys i appriciate it..

just got done fleshing the hide some...got 2 good sized boar coons last night and decided since im already having the deer hide tanned, a coon hide will look good hanging too...i couldnt decide what coonhide i wanted tanned so im going to have them both done...why not for 15$ a piece..so i was fleshing for a while lol. 2x4 and the back of a big kitchen knife...far from professional, but good enough to get the hides salted till a professional can take over!

michigander, i guess i am defending myself, but i know theres guys out there like that...i dont let it get to me, but i dont know...guess its human nature to try to defend yourself when being called out...i really dont care...legal deer, awesome hunt, quick death, tasty meat, beautiful hide, awesome pics....yep, im proud of it and wont forget it...

RE: finally did it!!!
 

Hey I'm glad you got your deer, especially w/ a flinter. I have never shot one. I have been shooting BP for yrs but never got to try a flinter.
For me I always take does in the late season because the bucks are therefor only one reason , an Estres Doe, soI always wait causeI like hunting and being in the woods. WhenI was just starting outItook acouplebuttons but I'm more experienced now and I have more knowledge. I don't really need more than 1-2 deer a yr so I trophy hunt more and that isn't a crime any more than it is to shoot a button buck. Legal deer, take if you like..
Congrats, Steve

RE: finally did it!!!
 

MI Redneck

You are correct, you do not need to defend your initial response, but it was loaded with passive aggression. You probably would have been better off with a bite mark on your tongue.Your delivery was not ideal.

Mauser

Well done...great year with bow and flintlock...