Early muzzleloader season
Oct 19, 2009 8:45:40 GMT -5
Post by jnrbronc on Oct 19, 2009 8:45:40 GMT -5
Iowa's early muzzleloader season opened last Saturday, Oct. 17. I did not want to buy an anysex license for it, but was able to buy two antlerless only landowner licenses. Since archery season opened October 1, I've been doing some bowhunting and though I haven't had a shot I wanted to take, I was able to determine the travel patterns of the deer (but since I've owned this property since '91, there were no huge surprises). The deer feed on our row crops during the night, then move to the timber across the road at first light. There are a couple of preferred places they like to cross, one being a small (3 acre) horse pasture. I had to bait our horses into another section of the pasture with some apples from the orchard. The apples in the orchard helps draw the deer through this little pasture as well.
It didn't take long for the deer to start moving across the pasture, coming out of a soybean field. A doe and a fawn jumped the fence into the pasture and disappeared into a valley. One of them turned around and came back up out of the valley, looking to jump the fence back into the bean field. I guessestimated the range as 80 yards, put the cross hairs on her and squeezed the trigger just as she turned away. The 250 grain XTP pushed by 42.5 grains of 4759 hit her in the right rear ham, traveled diagonal through her body, coming to rest under the skin on the far side (after making a hole in the off side?). I recovered the bullet and it weighs 231.7 grains and mics at 0.71 inch (pic below).
Unfortunately, it was the fawn instead of the doe, but it was a doe fawn so it will help thin the herd, my main reason for getting the tags.
I reload and it wasn't long before another doe and fawn appear in the soybean field. This one pauses on the edge of the field, guessestimated range of 150 yards. I put the cross hair on her chest, slowly pull the trigger. At the shot, the big doe spins around and heads back out into the standing beans. I waited a bit and walked down to where she stood at the shot. There was a fairly heavy deer trail through the field, she hadn't gone 60 yards, as the bullet took out the lower half of her heart. I plowed down some beans dragging her out.
So less than an hour into the season and I was tagged out. After skinning and quartering up the deer for a friend, I grabbed the bow for an evening hunt and filled another antlerless tag, making it a three deer day.
It didn't take long for the deer to start moving across the pasture, coming out of a soybean field. A doe and a fawn jumped the fence into the pasture and disappeared into a valley. One of them turned around and came back up out of the valley, looking to jump the fence back into the bean field. I guessestimated the range as 80 yards, put the cross hairs on her and squeezed the trigger just as she turned away. The 250 grain XTP pushed by 42.5 grains of 4759 hit her in the right rear ham, traveled diagonal through her body, coming to rest under the skin on the far side (after making a hole in the off side?). I recovered the bullet and it weighs 231.7 grains and mics at 0.71 inch (pic below).
Unfortunately, it was the fawn instead of the doe, but it was a doe fawn so it will help thin the herd, my main reason for getting the tags.
I reload and it wasn't long before another doe and fawn appear in the soybean field. This one pauses on the edge of the field, guessestimated range of 150 yards. I put the cross hair on her chest, slowly pull the trigger. At the shot, the big doe spins around and heads back out into the standing beans. I waited a bit and walked down to where she stood at the shot. There was a fairly heavy deer trail through the field, she hadn't gone 60 yards, as the bullet took out the lower half of her heart. I plowed down some beans dragging her out.
So less than an hour into the season and I was tagged out. After skinning and quartering up the deer for a friend, I grabbed the bow for an evening hunt and filled another antlerless tag, making it a three deer day.