'12 Muzzy White tail season opener...

[VaRedneck]

The day started off right at 41* and calm...after the wind from the day before...couldn't ask for better....except for the almost full and uncovered moon. Got my gear on...still working out kinks re these boots or those foot warmers....ect...ect.

I got to the stand quiet as could be...thought that this was a first..heh. 10min of just letting the surrounding ease to normal...I hear the unmistakeable sound of dog tags jingling on my back trail. I saw the black dog and was just getting ready to start cussing my Rott when i noticed the tail...hmph....not my dog.

That dog cut every trail...found every scent dripper on both side of the pasture then on his way out...found my ladder and I'm sure he pissed on it...then went on his way back the way he came...@#$%^&*. Only saving grace to all that?....the dipsht of a lousy neighbor I got arrived next door a few min later....I'm sure that dog run all over his hunt cause he left at 10am and didn't come back.

I had fawns, button bucks and lil does feeding all around and under me all day. Then a coupla spikes came out and had a bit of a go for 15min. I saw 2 mature does all day...both had bucks with'm or chasen'm. First had a 6pt playin shadow the second had a small 8 about a min behind her. The last came directly to the stand before cutting to the right and gone.

That was about it for the entire day...the lil ones came out and kept me companyfor the rest of the day...but nuthin bigger came out to check on them.

I know where the cold air from the West Virginia snows went this mornin.....that's right...right after sunrise I had a cold 10-20mph breeze blowin all day....talk about freezin the entire day...sucked...had to pss so bad when I got home I could almost taste it.

One thing today occured to me...wanted to run it by you guys....

A few years back...I had a bunch of does hangin around my place...and I saw a few good bucks...very few lil bucks. Now it seems I got a bunch of lil bucks around and very few does....wonder how many mature bucks I'll see this year?

[skeet]

Nun..er noon...er num....uh..hardly any! Leastways ya got to see um. I was elkie huntin Tursday and Friday..all I saw was 3 deer on Thursday..and 2 small mule deer does and a cow and calf moose on Friday....oh and a bighorn sheep on the bare slope above me about a thousand feet..and I was huntin at 9500. How in the heck can they walk around on that STEEP rock without fallin off??

[VaRedneck]

Dang...I'm at 900'....I dunno how you walk around at 9500'!

[skeet]

Originally Posted by VaRedneck

Dang...I'm at 900'....I dunno how you walk around at 9500'!

Well it ain't hard to walk around at 9500..specially if'n yer heading down. I did go walkin up to get up to 9500 or so.. Saturday mornin my knees were really complainin..ya know..cracking and creaking..But after a few hours they quit hurting..or so my wife the(heartless) nurse said..She said I quit moanin bout that time anyway LOL! Bein from the Eastern Shore of Md it took me a while to get used to the altitude. We live at 4200. Glad i quit smokin all them years ago

[VaRedneck]

I quit smokin in '98. You bet it makes a difference. I take meloxicam for my sore knees, and I can tell if I miss a day. I'm sure I could get used to the altitude...might take me a while...but I believe I could do it..eventually...heh. I figure if I ever get out that way I'll have a horse to do the walkin up hill.

Another thing that comes to mind about hunting...especially on hilly terrain...it never fails...if I shoot something they always seem to run as far down hill as fast as they can get there...till the blood runs out anyway. Then I gotta drag there carcasses back up...usually by myself.

That the way it happens out there?

[skeet]

I quit smokin in 95 after i quit the Fire Dept....er...retired I guess I should say. As far as pills. I take some stuff called Arthrotec for my arthritic everthing..and if i ferget..oh lawdy. You do get used to the altitude..takes about a week of livin in it to acclimate. But ya might have a few headaches up high longer. And yep..if ya shoot something up in the hills..it seems the bigger it is..the farther down it goes. An elk or a moose will fall into a canyon about 3000 ft lower than where ya need to get it.. I honestly crawled up a mountain..got to the top and sure nuff..long comes a nice mulie..not great mind ya..but a nice one. He actually acted like he wanted to get shot..I mean the altitude sickness musta got to him..I tole my self..If ya shoot that there deer..then go head and do yerself..cause you can only get half of him down the mountain at a time..and climbing back up fer the 2nd half woulda kilt me anyway..That's the way it usually is though..as far as horses...Mine has Polaris plastered all over his forehead..and it don't need..well maybe sometimes..a saddle. And it don't eat oats er grass er nothin..just gasoline. Been thinkin of gettin a snow machine...if it ever decides to snow fer serious. None yet and we NEED it

[VaRedneck]

I got in the stand early today...cold...mid 30's...maybe...heavy frost. A nice bodied buck 50yds away, cut my back trail at dawn....I could make an 8count...though still kinda dark. He wasn't concerned and stepped on out into the pasture...maybe 65yds. Browsed a bit then cruised leisurely down the hill away from me. He was a shooter...but I'm still looking for the big guy and hoped he was hangin back...nope. A half hr later that same buck come on outa the cedars about 100yds from where he went in. He then cruised right in front of my stand...25yds...he'd just showed signs of being aware of the "scoped" scruitiny when he spied a doe and fawn crossing the fence as well and beating feat away from him...heh....he had other things on his mind and forgot all about me. He was a 9ptr...small rack...but a big deer...maybe next year I thought and let him walk.

An hr later my son-i-law let the dogs out....and walked the fck back into the house...my Rott had his nose in the air and was edging for the fence and my s-i-l barely called him twice and said "fck it...I'm cold"...and went back in the house. That was all my Rott needed...he was off...headed right down my back trail...well sht the other two thought...where you goin?...and then they came as well. I couldn't believe it...couldn't fckn believe it. They ran everywhere. BlackDog cut that bucks trail and raced for the far side...pit in tow...heard them run down the far tree line then on into the thick sht at the west end of the field.came out at the salt lick and back to my stand...he's got a nose...but never did look up and recognise what he saw looking down at him. They hemmed and hawwed for the next 20 min...still nuthin from the house...gradually and rather disapointedly...BlackDog headed back to the house....alone...w/o a deer in tow. They ran around the house for another hour or so barking at everything and nuthin...till he let them back in the house.

After all that excitement...I didn't see nuthin for the next 8hrs.

Long about 4 a button buck came out...kept me company then stationed himself at the far corner of the pasture and bedded down. I paid attention to his ears every chance I got but no go...nuthin else moving. Just as I was about to call it early...3 lil ones...one with a busted front leg...come out of the cedars. At about the same time another comes out onto my back trail....gitten on to dark time....scope is having a hard time...then another buck crossed my back trail. An 8ptr...another big deer with a small rack. He strutted around a bit then spied the 3 down the hill and headed that way. At full dark I took the opportunity to get on down and back w/o spooking anything else.

No meat in the freezer...but it's not like I havn't had the chance.

Rifle season opens tommorrow...may just call it time to start filling the freezer.

....edited because of a change of heart....

[VaRedneck]

--------here's my season ender------

I got busted as soon as I got past the big Ash tree in the yard. Could tell one had some size...that's about it..they went blowin into the woods to the north and gone. I did a hard left and walked my old trail almost to my old stand location. Moon set hadn't happened...not a cloud in the sky so I was lit up till I could get into the shadows of the tree line to the south. Light breeze blowin so any noise I made would be lost behind me. Half way to my old place i cut straight down hill in the wide open. Breeze still helping so I made no pretenses just got to where I wanted to be...the far tree line. Once there i stopped and listened. Didn't hear nuthin from the two that busted me...maybe by taking the long way around they lost me over the rise of the hill.

I did the rattle thing on the way into the stand. I don't like how just 2 antlers sound....tinkly...doesn't sound serious. Anyway once there I got into the stand I buckled up and just froze...no motion...nada...didn't even hit my coffee. Somethin was movin in the dark...maybe 40-50yds off...moving slow...two...maybe three. Just as dawn thought about brightening things up a bit...all noise stopped...figured they decided to hit the trail away from me. Few leaves on it so they wouldn't make much noise at all.

The forcast was dead on the money...upper 20's but the breeze had the wind chill down to almost 19....and I had snot runnin down my face since the get go. About 30min after sunrise I couldn't stand it anymore and sniffed...yeah...hard enough that something jumped the fence 65yds at my 4 o'clock and beat feet into the pines...great.

That cold breeze hit me in the face till about 1pm when all of a sudden...it just stopped...instantly it felt 20 degrees warmer. A little while late I had a button buck or maybe a spike with a busted antler approach my 6 o'clock. He got to within 20 at my 3 o'clock and got reall antsy...figured he winded me...he stopped dead...milled around then beat feet back the way he came. It woulda been real hard to swing that far to the right and down before he was in high gear.

I'm glad I held off. 30min later I had 4-5 does 85yds to my right movin from the north...nervous like...woundered if it could be me that far away. Then I saw horn...I stood up to clear some branches and brought the ml to bear. Real thick there...more moving...there...he's what's got them all riled up.

110yds...7pt dressed at 160lbs. It was the last day of MuzzleLoader season here.....I'm glad I stuck it out.

[skeet]

Good fer you my friend. Nothin beats a last day deer. and a nice one at that. Like the looks of the muzzy too. I like T hole stocks.. I have an encore with a T hole. What make is it??

[VaRedneck]

It's a CVA .50 Kodiac Pro Magnum.

11 years ago I visited NoDak and while there I stopped into the East Grand Forks Cabela's....just looking around. I saw a laminate thunmbhole ML and fell in lust. Didn't know the make as most of the clerks were busy...and I wasn't buying...especially at something like $700. Anyway...a few years later the itch to get out more brought that ML to mind and since the Mrs was wondering what I'd like for father's day...well. She found it in a Cabela's sales event circular sent to us in the mail a week before...naturally I showed her what had been on my mind...heh.

She got it on sale with scope, and full beginners kit for something like $440.

We even went to the new Ganders Mt store that'd opened near us...told them about what we'd seen on-line and wondered if they could match...save some time shipping ect. Nope..couldn't even come close to the price. And they wouldn't come down on their TC's at all.

I'm happy with it. I'm not sure if the scope can handle a full 150gr load or if it's just my lousy shooting. Eh...295gr powerbelt with 90gr of pyrodex works fine for now. Would like to try Blackhorn's 209...maybe this summer.

[Jack]

Nice deer!