The last night of my WI Muzzleloader Hunt

There’s just something special about late season hunting with a muzzleloader. Throughout the bow season, I’m pretty intense (my wife calls it obsessed) on killing a specific buck. As the gun season approaches the pressure increases hoping to put a good one on the ground. However, with a muzzleloader in my hand, I’m very relaxed and feel no pressure whatsoever. I consider it just a bonus to be out there, soaking in all the surroundings and really don’t take it all that serious. It’s kind of my time of the year to reflect on the entire hunting season and ponder some deep thoughts about what I can do to be a better person.

Two of the bucks on the hit list were already killed during the WI gun season. The only one left that we knew of was a 13 pointer with split brows and 19 inches inside. His tine length was not the best but he was decent. However, the last time we seen him was two nights before the gun opener and who knows where he is now. Needless to say, my expectations were very low and that was certainly OK with me.

I was focusing on a cut corn field and there were a lot of stalks on the ground that the combine missed. Thursday night I had a great hunt and ended up seeing 19 deer with 7 bucks in the field. Unfortunately the biggest buck that night came out 250 yards away right before dark and I couldn’t tell how big he was. The next day I snuck in around noon and hung a stand where most of the deer came out the previous night. However, the bucks did not show up that night and I only seen 3 does in the field. Just when you think you have it figured out!
Snow fell overnight and that got my blood pumping. I hunted a different property in the morning and seen 3 does and a little buck. It was just great being out there in the fluffy snow all bundled up in my stand. I sat until 11am and enjoyed every minute of it!

On Sat night – my last night that I can hunt, I headed out again to the cut corn field. I was amazed to see all the tracks in the snow where deer were feeding during the night. The wind was calm and it was beautiful out. As the light began to fade, 5 does entered the field exactly where the bucks came out. I thought about shooting the biggest one, but it was only 4pm and still pretty early. They slowly fed out of range and I started to regret my decision. I then started to think about all of the bucks that I had seen throughout the year, the ones I passed up and the oh-so close encounters. I thought about what I learned and what I would do different next year. As I was reminiscing, suddenly I caught a glimpse of a deer behind me about 70 yards out and next to a downfall. I grabbed the binoculars and when I pulled up, the deer bedded down. It was a buck but I couldn’t tell how big he was.

Over the next 15 minutes, I examined him and could tell he was a mainframe 10 with a broken G3 and a right split brow. I couldn’t see his left brow and I was unsure if he was the 13 pointer or not. I watched him for over a half hour and it was getting close to quitting time. I finally put the crosshairs on his right shoulder and slowly pulled the trigger. After the smoke cleared, the buck jumped up, ran about 30 yards and fell over.

I got down and walked up to him and then realized it wasn’t the 13 pointer and a buck that none of us had ever seen before. He was a 3 year old with good mass and I was happy to have shot my first muzzleloader buck in his bed. As I made my way back to the truck, I realized how special it was to hunt in the late season with lots of fresh snow. Being out there in the cold, all by yourself is such a wonderful feeling of solitude and serenity. I couldn’t have imagined a better ending to the hunting season.