First, let me say a big thank you to Tom (Tzone) for posting the pics for me. I still haven't figured out how to do that. Probably because I don't ever do anything interesting enough to take pictures of.
Second, let me say thank you to all for the kind comments!
Here is the story and some details. I will try to keep it short:
The zone I'm in is "Hunters Choice" this year. Meaning you can shoot a doe or a buck but then you're done. One deer limit. This is a good thing because the deer population is WAY down. More on that later.
I have been bowhunting every chance I get since the opener in September on some river bottom/farm land of my Uncle's without too much luck. Pretty much all I have seen within range is does and fawns and the one time I did have a shooter buck coming on a string toward me, a bigger buck appeared out of nowhere and chased him across the river and out of sight. SO, on the eve of the MN muzzleloader season, I decided to go buy a tag.
I planned on hunting the same land. Afterall, river bottom bordered by farmland is where the deer must be right? I got up saturday morning and just had a feeling that I should go sit in a rock pile just a couple hundred yards north of my house. I live on 6 acres that is bordered by 80 acres of CRP grass. On the east side of the CRP field is a cut cornfield. I sprayed down real good with DDW and went and sat on the rock pile a good 1/2 hour before first light and second guessed myself the whole time. Mainly due to the strong NW winds that were blowing my scent over the majority of the CRP field. First light came and I sat still in the grass with my back against the rocks. 1/2 hour went by and I didn't see anything so I decided to walk up and sit by the one big lone tree that borders the CRP and the cornfield. As I reached the tree, I spotted a deer feeding with its head down facing away from me in the corn field about 150 yards away. It was to SE of me and the wind was from the NW. I had a hunch it was a doe so I decided to sneak closer on the edge of the 2 fields basically to see how close I could get. As I was doing this, I happened to spot the silouette of a deer head and ears in the tall grass of the CRP field and I was pretty sure I seen antlers. I quickly ducked back in the CRP and hunkered down watching the doe who was looking back in my direction now. After what seemed like 10 minutes she put her head back down and started feeding again. This told me that her boyfriend must still be up ahead. I belly crawled through the tall grass and thistle until I got to where I figured I could get a shot if the deer was still there. I slowly raised up and peeked over the grass and sure enought there was a buck and two more does. To be honest I don't think I even aimed down the sight when I shot. The buck and does leaped forward and I hit the dirt, fumbling for my reloads, tools and primers. I finally got it reloaded and slowly stood up. HE WAS STILL THERE! This time I settled the sights on his front shoulder, took a deep breath and released the smoke. He lunged, spun a circle and disappeared. The does stood looking around for about 5 minutes before they wandered off into the sea of chest high grass. I reloaded again and crept up to where they were and found my buck laying 20 feet in from the edge of the cut cornfield. I let out a woop, said a prayer of thanks and called my wife to tell her to bring the truck. It was a GREAT morning that I will never forget!
Main frame 10 point with 5 kickers/stickers. 18" inside spread.
Shot at 60 yards with a CVA Optima .50 cal Muzzleloader. 295 gr. Powerbelt hollow point bullets. 100 grains of Triple 7 pellets.
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