My First Deer, and It's a Whopper
10-18-2010, 10:56 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Iowa
Posts: 117
My First Deer, and It's a Whopper
[I already posted this in Whitetail Deer forum, so you might have already seen it there.]
October 16 was the first day of muzzleloader season. I had been hunting with a bow for a few weeks but the only deer I'd had a chance at shooting were some does and fawns, and a small buck. I let them pass because I had a lot of days left to hunt and was hoping one of the big boys would show up. We have 3 really nice bucks on the trail camera this year, that we saw last year too. Wendell, Norm, and Brownie. Wendell was my main man, I was really hoping to see him sometime this season. Wendell is a heavy 10 point, Brownie is named for his super tall brow tines, and Norm was named because his rack was "abnormal". Last year he had five brow tines coming out. He is a very old deer and his rack is starting to go downhill, because this year he only had 7 or 8 points that we could see on the camera. I knew if I saw Wendell or Brownie I would definitely shoot, but I didn't think I would shoot Norm right away. That idea definitely changed when I saw him in real life! They look so different in the pictures.
So after waiting for Tyson (my fiance) to get off work, we got the muzzleloaders loaded up and headed out to the blind. The blind is a wooden box about ten feet in the air, that we recently added on to to make it bigger. We got there at about 4:30 or so, and didn't have to wait too long before we could see two does and two fawns in a small patch of grass to the south of the blind. We watched them for a while but weren't too interested because I don't want to shoot anything that has a baby. They eventually made their way down to within 70 yards of the blind and starting feeding on corn, so we watched them a while longer. Eventually something spooked them and they took off to the south and over the hill. Maybe they heard us, because the wind was in a good direction where they couldn't have smelled us.
It started getting later, and all we were seeing was a red tailed hawk and two bald eagles flying overhead, and a flock of geese. I was starting to get pretty hungry, and was overjoyed when I found a bag of Dove chocolates in my pocket. Tyson whispered that we only had about 15 minutes left, so I enjoyed my chocolate as I waited for the season hours to close. It was getting chilly and I was pretty much ready to leave when Tyson said "I see a buck! It's Norm!" as he looked at the deer through the binoculars. He had been bedded down north of the blind the whole time. I looked up and saw this massive bodied deer, and I asked "Can I shoot him?". Tyson said "He's too far away, he's 150 yards." Our muzzleloaders have a range out to about 125 yards, so we hoped he would get closer. We only had minutes for him to make his way toward us. I quietly got out of my chair and onto my knees. I put my gun up on the railing to use it as a rest, and found Norm through the scope. I watched him as he would take a few steps, stop and look around a bit, and then continue on. As soon as I had the crosshair on him, I was trembling from head to toe from nerves. I waited what seemed like forever for Tyson to tell me he was in range. "115 yards. Do you have a good shot?" he asked. I did, but I was shaking so bad I didn't think I could take him. I could feel myself about to flinch each time I tried to pull the trigger. I told Tyson this and he kept reassuring me "You won't flinch, you'll do fine." and finally I pulled the gun tighter to my shoulder and forced the crosshair to be steady, holding it just behind his shoulder, aiming for the lungs. The deer was perfectly broadside and still, just looking around. He was in no hurry, he had a whole night ahead of him. I don't even remember squeezing the trigger, but suddenly there was a loud BOOM and I was surrounded by a cloud of white smoke, obscuring my sight of Norm. I looked up from the gun to see Norm running to the east. I turned to Tyson and said "Did I get him??". He said "You got him babe, he's down!", and by the time I looked back Norm had dropped out of sight in the tall grass. I literally had shot him the last minute I legally could.
We hurried down from the stand and walked the 250 or so yards back to the truck, and had to drive to the other side of the river to get to where we last saw Norm. We got out of the truck and put some headlamps on, because it was getting dark in a hurry. We walked through the tall grass, looking for blood or a deer. Twice a pheasant flew up next to me and scared me half to death. We made a couple of passes through the tall grass and I was starting to get worried that maybe I had made a bad shot or that we wouldn't be able to find him in the dark. Suddenly I saw some legs sticking out of the grass. I took a few more step and saw a giant, fat, white belly. "I found him!" I yelled to Tyson, "He's HUGE!". He was only laying about 20 yards from the truck, we must have walked right past him. As Tyson hurried over, I saw where my bullet had hit him, perfectly placed behind the shoulder and in the center vertically. I couldn't believe I had shot him so perfectly even though I was so nervous. He was a massive deer, probably 250lbs live weight. He had ten points on his head, but one was broken off, and he was a very unique deer. We knew we had a lot of work ahead of us now because we had to try to gut him by ourselves without Tyson's dad's help, AND get him in the truck. We left about 50lbs of guts behind as we drug him by the antlers through the corn stubble to the truck. Somehow we managed to get him up into the truck bed, and then it was time to get him hung up. I can't wait to eat fresh deer steak! I plan on mounting the head so I can always remember my first deer.
These are Norm from 2009, you can see all the crazy stuff he had going on.
These next two are trail cam pics from this year. We had pics of when he broke his tine, it hung upside down for about a week. We hoped it would cling on and be a drop tine, but it fell off.
And here is what you've all been waiting for...
Thanks Tyson for getting my into hunting and putting me on my first deer. I hope you realize you've created a monster.
One question I have for you muzzleloader experts though. This is the first time I've ever hunted with my muzzleloader. I was using a Traditions Vortek with a thumbhole stock. Two pellets of Pyrodex powder and a 250grain Hornady SST-ML "high speed, low drag with flextip" bullet. I got excellent results when practicing with these bullets at the range, very accurate and penetrated well. When I shot this deer, it entered behind the shoulder and exited behind the opposite shoulder. So it only hit lungs and ribs. However, if there wasn't a trickle of blood coming from the entrance and exit wounds, I never would have been able to find them. I had to really dig through his fur to find the hole, and it was very small. It didn't look like the bullet expanded at all. I thought this bullet was supposed to mushroom? It obviously still did a number on this deer, but wasn't what I expected I guess. Does it only expand if it hits harder bone such as shoulder blades? The shot was 115 yards, the deer only ran about 40-50 yards before he crashed. Looking at these pictures, you can't even see where the wound is. It's perplexing. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this as I'm a noob when it comes to hunting in general (second year hunting, first year actually connecting).
October 16 was the first day of muzzleloader season. I had been hunting with a bow for a few weeks but the only deer I'd had a chance at shooting were some does and fawns, and a small buck. I let them pass because I had a lot of days left to hunt and was hoping one of the big boys would show up. We have 3 really nice bucks on the trail camera this year, that we saw last year too. Wendell, Norm, and Brownie. Wendell was my main man, I was really hoping to see him sometime this season. Wendell is a heavy 10 point, Brownie is named for his super tall brow tines, and Norm was named because his rack was "abnormal". Last year he had five brow tines coming out. He is a very old deer and his rack is starting to go downhill, because this year he only had 7 or 8 points that we could see on the camera. I knew if I saw Wendell or Brownie I would definitely shoot, but I didn't think I would shoot Norm right away. That idea definitely changed when I saw him in real life! They look so different in the pictures.
So after waiting for Tyson (my fiance) to get off work, we got the muzzleloaders loaded up and headed out to the blind. The blind is a wooden box about ten feet in the air, that we recently added on to to make it bigger. We got there at about 4:30 or so, and didn't have to wait too long before we could see two does and two fawns in a small patch of grass to the south of the blind. We watched them for a while but weren't too interested because I don't want to shoot anything that has a baby. They eventually made their way down to within 70 yards of the blind and starting feeding on corn, so we watched them a while longer. Eventually something spooked them and they took off to the south and over the hill. Maybe they heard us, because the wind was in a good direction where they couldn't have smelled us.
It started getting later, and all we were seeing was a red tailed hawk and two bald eagles flying overhead, and a flock of geese. I was starting to get pretty hungry, and was overjoyed when I found a bag of Dove chocolates in my pocket. Tyson whispered that we only had about 15 minutes left, so I enjoyed my chocolate as I waited for the season hours to close. It was getting chilly and I was pretty much ready to leave when Tyson said "I see a buck! It's Norm!" as he looked at the deer through the binoculars. He had been bedded down north of the blind the whole time. I looked up and saw this massive bodied deer, and I asked "Can I shoot him?". Tyson said "He's too far away, he's 150 yards." Our muzzleloaders have a range out to about 125 yards, so we hoped he would get closer. We only had minutes for him to make his way toward us. I quietly got out of my chair and onto my knees. I put my gun up on the railing to use it as a rest, and found Norm through the scope. I watched him as he would take a few steps, stop and look around a bit, and then continue on. As soon as I had the crosshair on him, I was trembling from head to toe from nerves. I waited what seemed like forever for Tyson to tell me he was in range. "115 yards. Do you have a good shot?" he asked. I did, but I was shaking so bad I didn't think I could take him. I could feel myself about to flinch each time I tried to pull the trigger. I told Tyson this and he kept reassuring me "You won't flinch, you'll do fine." and finally I pulled the gun tighter to my shoulder and forced the crosshair to be steady, holding it just behind his shoulder, aiming for the lungs. The deer was perfectly broadside and still, just looking around. He was in no hurry, he had a whole night ahead of him. I don't even remember squeezing the trigger, but suddenly there was a loud BOOM and I was surrounded by a cloud of white smoke, obscuring my sight of Norm. I looked up from the gun to see Norm running to the east. I turned to Tyson and said "Did I get him??". He said "You got him babe, he's down!", and by the time I looked back Norm had dropped out of sight in the tall grass. I literally had shot him the last minute I legally could.
We hurried down from the stand and walked the 250 or so yards back to the truck, and had to drive to the other side of the river to get to where we last saw Norm. We got out of the truck and put some headlamps on, because it was getting dark in a hurry. We walked through the tall grass, looking for blood or a deer. Twice a pheasant flew up next to me and scared me half to death. We made a couple of passes through the tall grass and I was starting to get worried that maybe I had made a bad shot or that we wouldn't be able to find him in the dark. Suddenly I saw some legs sticking out of the grass. I took a few more step and saw a giant, fat, white belly. "I found him!" I yelled to Tyson, "He's HUGE!". He was only laying about 20 yards from the truck, we must have walked right past him. As Tyson hurried over, I saw where my bullet had hit him, perfectly placed behind the shoulder and in the center vertically. I couldn't believe I had shot him so perfectly even though I was so nervous. He was a massive deer, probably 250lbs live weight. He had ten points on his head, but one was broken off, and he was a very unique deer. We knew we had a lot of work ahead of us now because we had to try to gut him by ourselves without Tyson's dad's help, AND get him in the truck. We left about 50lbs of guts behind as we drug him by the antlers through the corn stubble to the truck. Somehow we managed to get him up into the truck bed, and then it was time to get him hung up. I can't wait to eat fresh deer steak! I plan on mounting the head so I can always remember my first deer.
These are Norm from 2009, you can see all the crazy stuff he had going on.
These next two are trail cam pics from this year. We had pics of when he broke his tine, it hung upside down for about a week. We hoped it would cling on and be a drop tine, but it fell off.
And here is what you've all been waiting for...
Thanks Tyson for getting my into hunting and putting me on my first deer. I hope you realize you've created a monster.
One question I have for you muzzleloader experts though. This is the first time I've ever hunted with my muzzleloader. I was using a Traditions Vortek with a thumbhole stock. Two pellets of Pyrodex powder and a 250grain Hornady SST-ML "high speed, low drag with flextip" bullet. I got excellent results when practicing with these bullets at the range, very accurate and penetrated well. When I shot this deer, it entered behind the shoulder and exited behind the opposite shoulder. So it only hit lungs and ribs. However, if there wasn't a trickle of blood coming from the entrance and exit wounds, I never would have been able to find them. I had to really dig through his fur to find the hole, and it was very small. It didn't look like the bullet expanded at all. I thought this bullet was supposed to mushroom? It obviously still did a number on this deer, but wasn't what I expected I guess. Does it only expand if it hits harder bone such as shoulder blades? The shot was 115 yards, the deer only ran about 40-50 yards before he crashed. Looking at these pictures, you can't even see where the wound is. It's perplexing. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this as I'm a noob when it comes to hunting in general (second year hunting, first year actually connecting).
Last edited by tsaxybabe; 10-18-2010 at 12:49 PM. Reason: added paragraphs per semisane's request :P
10-18-2010, 11:22 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,445
Nice job, and nice buck!
I have no experience with that bullet. It is not that unusual for bullets not to mushroom especially when you don't hit bone of any kind. The entrance will most always be about the same size as the bullet diameter. The exit hole is where you can judge expansion. Did the bullet even strike a rib?
I shoot FPBs and they have done a good job for me. Sometimes they expand and make a good size exit hole, sometimes not. I don't worry about it. I want to be assured of an exit hole. I feel expansion is generally overrated for large diameter bullets anyway. An exit hole often helps with tracking, if tracking is needed.
I have no experience with that bullet. It is not that unusual for bullets not to mushroom especially when you don't hit bone of any kind. The entrance will most always be about the same size as the bullet diameter. The exit hole is where you can judge expansion. Did the bullet even strike a rib?
I shoot FPBs and they have done a good job for me. Sometimes they expand and make a good size exit hole, sometimes not. I don't worry about it. I want to be assured of an exit hole. I feel expansion is generally overrated for large diameter bullets anyway. An exit hole often helps with tracking, if tracking is needed.
10-18-2010, 11:53 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Posts: 3,732
Well, that is quite a tale. It is always nice to be excited when doing such things . Good shooting too, with shaking hands etc. Myself, i missed a much closer shot than yours this year, and it was probably because i hurried; good you took the time to make the kill.
My first muzzle loader kills were with the sst. After seeing how they performed on 5 deer, i quit using them. There are better bullets available than the sst, but it did do the job for you. If you are looking to try a different bullet the next time, give some consideration to the Deep Curl/Gold Dot by Speer. What one does is purchase them bullet, and then purchase the sabot separately. The Deep Curl bullet is also less money than the sst by a little.
That Norm is a nice lookin' gent.
My first muzzle loader kills were with the sst. After seeing how they performed on 5 deer, i quit using them. There are better bullets available than the sst, but it did do the job for you. If you are looking to try a different bullet the next time, give some consideration to the Deep Curl/Gold Dot by Speer. What one does is purchase them bullet, and then purchase the sabot separately. The Deep Curl bullet is also less money than the sst by a little.
That Norm is a nice lookin' gent.
10-18-2010, 11:58 AM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
Congratulations tsaxybabe! What a great first deer. It's going to be hard to beat that.
Personally, even though you recovered the deer and he didn't travel far, I would not stick with a bullet that performed like that. There are lots of good bullets out there that always expand. You will (or may already have) seen performance reports on several of them on this forum.
I really enjoyed your report and the quality pictures
, but damn gal - give us some paragraph breaks 
.
Personally, even though you recovered the deer and he didn't travel far, I would not stick with a bullet that performed like that. There are lots of good bullets out there that always expand. You will (or may already have) seen performance reports on several of them on this forum.
I really enjoyed your report and the quality pictures
, but damn gal - give us some paragraph breaks .
Last edited by Semisane; 10-18-2010 at 12:17 PM.
10-18-2010, 12:43 PM
#5
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
An excellent buck!!! And a great story and the pictures are wonderful. I think your smile says it all. Congratulations!! You are hooked. Not only to deer hunting but muzzle loading as well.
As for the bullet... I have read similar horror stories similar to what your asking. Excellent accuracy, but little to no wound channel. If it were me and I had them results, during the off season I would be looking at different bullets. I would look at Barnes, Nosler, and Lehigh. Also I have been shooting some Speer Deep Curl 300 grain bullets. I have not harvested anything with them, but they are very accurate and give the impression that they would open and expand. I want to run a few tests on them later on.
Again, great story! Great Pictures, and a great buck. Way to go there.
As for the bullet... I have read similar horror stories similar to what your asking. Excellent accuracy, but little to no wound channel. If it were me and I had them results, during the off season I would be looking at different bullets. I would look at Barnes, Nosler, and Lehigh. Also I have been shooting some Speer Deep Curl 300 grain bullets. I have not harvested anything with them, but they are very accurate and give the impression that they would open and expand. I want to run a few tests on them later on.
Again, great story! Great Pictures, and a great buck. Way to go there.
10-18-2010, 02:10 PM
#9
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location:
Posts: 492
I agree with all of the above. For a first timer, you sure told the story like a vet. You definitely have writing skills to match your shooting skills.
I'm not real positive, but I think that bullet has been designed to work better with the "magnum" loads that so many have been pushing for the past few years. I would also look for a different bullet that is designed to expand better at the speeds obtained by average loads. You will still probably not have a large entrance wound as you will often get with a centerfire rifle, but you will have more expansion, a larger wound channel and exit hole, thus a better blood trail.
Thanks for the story and pictures.
Congrats!
I'm not real positive, but I think that bullet has been designed to work better with the "magnum" loads that so many have been pushing for the past few years. I would also look for a different bullet that is designed to expand better at the speeds obtained by average loads. You will still probably not have a large entrance wound as you will often get with a centerfire rifle, but you will have more expansion, a larger wound channel and exit hole, thus a better blood trail.
Thanks for the story and pictures.
Congrats!
