HuntingNet.com Forums - Success Today(photos)

I was finally able to get out today(Saturday) for my first full day of hunting since the archery opener on Sept. 2. This was the first Saturday of muzzleloader season so I had it along. First thing in the morning I set up along a fence line so I could see what was coming back from feeding in the crop land all night. I saw seven bucks head for the fence and cross it. They were heading for the coulee so I circled back and got into the coulee and was laying on a ridge watching down the coulee. I figured they would either come down the coulee towards me or cross it and head to the next one. Either way I would be able to see them and try to make a stalk. I saw two does come down the coulee towards me and then saw the bucks crossing further down. One of the bucks was one I had seen during the summer but was not able to get photos of. I had also saw him the previous Sunday(no hunting on Sunday) just before muzzleloader season started. I figured I would try and take him if I could. They crossed to the opposite side I was on and then paralled the coulee coming towards me. I figured they were going to go into one of two draws running into the coulee so when they went behind a rise I headed for the first draw. They never showed up there so I moved to the next. They weren't there either so I decided to head for the top and see where they were. When I reached the top I could not see them. There was one more longer draw running into the coulee a little furhter south so I figured they had to be there. I headed there and peekd my head over the edge and he was standing at the bottom looking towards the main coulee. He was about 70 yards away so I raised the muzzleloader and shot. He jumped in the air and I could tell I had hit him, he then ran about 10 yards and stopped. The other bucks headed for the main coulee. I reloaded and moved towards the edge of the draw again. He was still standing there so I shot him again. He ran about 50 yards and laid down. He got up once more and went maybe another 50-60 yards then laid down again. When he got up again he rolled to the bottom of the coulee and never moved. When he was rolling I was afraid he was going to break an antler, you could hear them hitting rocks as he fell. Luckily he never broke anything. I haven't score him yet but he will probably not score real well due to the extra points but he has a lot of character and that is more important than the score. He has seven points on his right side and six on the left plus brow tines. Here are some photos.

Cam's Hunting Page

Edited by - Saskman on 10/05/2002 23:24:56