Last day of early Muzzleloader for either sex, doe only this week. Shot with T.C. sidelock .45 roundball over 70 grains of Pyrodex RS. Shot at 20 feet off the ground while still hunting. First kill with the new to me .45. Dressed #172.





Caught him on trail cam last week for the first time in the food plot:

Classic! Great job and nice buck.

Thanks!

Congrats!

Pyrodex?
Sidelock?
.45 cal?
Roundball?

NOT POSSIBLE!!!!





















Congratulations. Nice buck

Very nice! Congrats!




Was he really 20 feet off the ground?

Nice one to eat and cull out of the gene pool at the same time!!!

I shot a number of game with the 45 and round balls and finally just didn't like the way it worked and moved up to maxi type conicals and LOVED the way those worked.

But I'm hoping to try a 19 ga round ball in 2 weeks.... I suspect it'll work, just have to keep teh smoothbore shot up close and pray it doesn't misfire like it does now and then...

I like the "claw" on the ends of the antlers.

Way to go! That's a great way to bloody a new smoke pole.

outstanding!

The only way that gets any better if you were wearing buckskin

Congrats!


ddj

Congrats on a fine buck and a fun way to hunt. Well done and thanks for sharing.

I love hunting with my T/C Hawken and patched round balls. Any buck taken at close range while still hunting is a worthy trophy but doubly so with an open sighted sidelock and patched balls. Congratulations !

Beauty. Love those crab claws.

4

Sweet!

Seiously...Not every deer is a cull that needs to "removed from the gene pool" Not everybody hunts the feeders and high fences.

Rost, no disrespect but we don't hunt ranches around here. 1 buck tag and some doe tags if you like. Not much to cull like in Texas. Now, talk to the local game managers about culling foreign exchange students...

but culling is all the rage! gives you some level of esteem above the average hunter, almost like you can talk down to them with your superior knowledge and disdain for inferior animals by your standards.

definitely a nice buck! congrats to the OP on taking a fine animal, with a beautiful piece! I too have taken deer with a round ball and patch, it still works! (shoulda been a .50 though )

Nice.

One of these days I'm going to get one with a side hammer.

Great job!

Too Cool! love everything about this post, especially the crab claws.

Thanks everyone. With all the tresspassing and hunting pressure around here getting any buck over 2 can be a pretty good challenge. I posted a pick of the "Dream" buck in Deer hunting section under "next on the hit list". We get Toads like that one in the area about once every 3-4 years. They are super tough to get under a stand during daylight hours. I have a lot of does in the food plot and have left it completely alone to get the one shot at him.

well I didn't mean to start another flame... but that deer wouldn't ever make a really nice one, so why let him breed.

As to high fences, never been on one but once as a guide... never hunted one. As to feeders, yeah we use em, I use em at home as an ability to not let the deer suffer during stress times. But I rarely if ever hunt a feeder. I hunt travel areas where I can catch them moving from bedding to feeding sources. And still shoot every cull I legally can to help the herd.

I still don't understand whats the deal against culling. As I"ve said if you ran a cattle operation or any livestock operation you certainly wouldnt' keep or let the runts breed. Just doesn't make sense.

And honestly, if our county was a one buck county, I"d still shoot the first cull I saw assuming I hadn't shot a better deer first. Its just the common sense thing to do. How many tags I get etc... doesn't matter. And actually where I hunt I have one buck tag, no doe tags, a spike tag. I rarely if ever shoot spikes unless they are older deer than 18 months.
BTW time wise, I haven't shot a non cull buck in about 4 years at home, and on a lease, I shot one in 2003, and in 2010. I dont' have to kill a buck every year, no big deal, but then we have does to fill the freezer on a friends place that we are allowed to thin the does late in season so that helps. Just can't shoot em at home.

I digress though, maybe I should become PC and just say to everyone, damn nice deer, great job and keep my mouth shut otherwise. Guess we shouldn't toss out opinions any more. Seems thats the way this country is headed anyway with the current administration to boot.

One mans cull is another mans trophy. It simply is not kosher to bad mouth another mans wife and kids, his bird dog, or his deer.

disregard my earlier comments please then. and to the OP accept my apologies. I'll refrain from calling a spade a spade in the future.

Well done!

Is 172 lbs dressed a good healthy weight in your part of the country? Just curious.

For a three year old, it is about average. He had two to three inches of fat layered under his back. Top weights for a healthy six year old is @ 225-260 dressed. Pretty heavy for Mid Atlantic deer. Not as big as the midwest or north of the border deer, but still a lot to haul uphill!!

Well....I recommend shootin' 'em at the top, and dragging them downhill.

No, no, don't thank me.

Thanks for the info. I'd guess that most of the places I've hunted in Canada, healthy 3-year-olds might average 185 to 190 lbs, not as big a difference as I'd expected.

Try hunting somewhere other than Texass for a start.

I'll recommend the Adirondacks.

Get back to us on what's a cull, what's not, and when and why to shoot something there, after a few seasons.