It was the last day of the muzzle loader season, and so far I had only seen one nice buck with no opportunity for a shot. For the afternoon hunt I was on the west side of an oak ridge where the deer and turkeys had been feeding, and I was hoping just to see a deer. I had seen a doe earlier in the morning but so far no bucks. I hung my shooting bag on a limb, settled in and waited with anticipation. I was watching some blue jays feeding in the tops of the oaks when a twig snapped and I caught movement.... a deer heading my way. I could see antlers so I brought the gun up and cocked the hammer. The buck stopped by an oak tree presenting me with a nice broadside shot. I needed him to take another step as he stood intently looking down into the saddle of the ridge..and then he stepped ahead and was clear of the oak...
I pulled the set trigger and curled a finger around the front trigger and squeezed. Snap! The hammer fell but the cap didn't go off... I had a spent cap lodged in the hammer....The buck didn't move...I cleared the hammer and cocked it again....by now I was shaking and I kept telling myself...aim...squeeze the trigger...make it count...
The rifle thundered with a sharp report..the buck wheeled and ran back the way he had come.....I waited for a while and then went to see what had happened. I soon found obvious sign my shot had been good and called for help. When help arrived we began tracking....after determining the deer was still on the move..the decision was made to back off and recover the deer in the morning. It was a sleepless night but the right decision, we recovered the deer about 400 yards from where we had broken off.
I know this is a long story, this is the short version.... thank you to my brothers, my son, and my good friend Sam for helping me to recover this deer, the good Lord for the opportunity and my Dad for always looking over my shoulder, I still hear your words of advise...
