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I recently gained access locally to a 120 acre property that has all the hallmarks of prime puget sound blacktail deer habitat. I had never stepped foot on this land until yesterday. It just so happened a muzzleloader season opened up in this area right after Thanksgiving, so I loaded up a small pack and my cva single shot 45-70 I had converted to a muzzleloader. For this hunt I used 120gr of bh209 powder topped off with full bore 300gr parker be bullet sized to .4515".
I did not know what to expect when I arrived at the property at first light. I found a place to park and commenced to wander about with my nose into the wind. In the next few hours zig zagging the property amongst mixed evergreen and deciduous forest laden with fern and devils club, I found fresh deer crap and other sign including tracks and rubs, some of which indicated a larger buck. The rut has been over in this area for well over a month and the woods were really noisy with frozen alder and maple leaves, so I did not really expect to ambush a wiley gray ghost. This area is either sex for this season and I was actually prepared to take a doe if opportunity presented itself. After about 3 hours, the wind did a 180 and I had to take another tack. At this point I figured I'd slowly work my way back to my rig and continue exploring and marking ambush points and potential tree stand locations for the future. After a couple more hours I figured I was getting close to my rig but I kept moving slowly and stopping for 5 minutes at a time and scanning for deer parts. Low and behold 60yds ahead and to the right I see a deer bedded and staring right at me. I put my binos up and see he is a small spike. I carefully scanned the area around him for more deer but he was alone. I put the optics down and slowly raised my rifle and cocked the hammer. The only shot I had was from the brisket up straight on. I aimed right under his chin and let drive. I saw nothing except smoke and the deer was gone from sight as the smoke cleared. No deer ran off, so I was pretty sure I smoked him. I hastily reloaded and worked my way to his bed. He was laying there dead with a mortal neck wound. So in one shot I had two first's for me. My first spike deer of any kind and my first muzzleloader blacktail. I was oddly satisfied and very thankful for this animal. I have killed some very nice blacktail bucks with bow and modern rifle over the years, but this one was just as meaningful for me.
Now for the rest of the story. Just as I was finishing up field dressing this deer I looked up and caught movement to my right. Two deer were ghosting through the woods and I could see horn naked eye on the front one. I quickly grabbed my binos and got a glimpse of a very nice mature 3x4 and a doe. Am I miffed? Maybe slightly, but I am now even more excited for next year as I am hoping the property owner will let me hang some game cameras and possibly a tree stand to really tap the potential of this great property! The one pic is what I believe to be a spring board cut out in a large cedar stump from when this property was logged many years ago.

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Priceless! One of the best things about blackpowder hunting is that moment of suspense after the shot when all you can see is a grey cloud. Loved it. (Even if, considering the gun, the propellant may have been a substitute.)
 
Tonight was an offal supper. I salt brine soaked the ticker for 8hrs and cut into 1/2" rings. I put them on the green mountain grill with hickory pellets for 45 minutes and finished them off in a hot cast iron pan with sautéed onions and butter. Served with long cook basmati/jasmine rice. It doesn't get much better than this!
 
My most favorite school lunch that Mom packed for me in Winnemucca, Nevada was a sliced boiled deer-heart sandwich. Heavy on the mustard, and in her baked bread. With multiple offers, I rarely traded it away.

I tolerate no liver, gizzards, but I have been a benificiar;y of some well-crafted Menudo.
 
Nice day in the woods, I'd say.
The first meal I made with this years deer was heart and liver, fried up with onions. Delicious.


Yep, springboard notch on an old cedar stump. We still have a few on our place.
 
Congrats!! I don't think you should be miffed at all. A clean kill is worth 8 hoofs in the bush and that little spike is going to eat exquisitely!!

Venison liver with a light seasoned krusteaz dusting with sauteed onions and mushrooms... it doesn't get ANY better than that! Venison heart is certainly no slouch either.

For being the first time setting foot in that area I say very well done, Sir! Blacktail can be sneaky little buggers. Especially so in unfamiliar terrain.:s0155:
 
I was a little worried about the table quality of this deer before sampling several cuts.The property where he was harvested had all the new growth on the devils club and sword fern browsed back. I have now eaten heart, liver, tenderloin and backstrap from this critter and all were delicious! Evidently this diet does not detract from flavor.
 
Yeah, sure. You should've let the spike go and held out for the bigger buck like me. I had a 25-yard broadside shot at a doe and passed it up with almost a whole week left in bow season to arrow that bigger buck. Season ended yesterday and it's "tag soup" for me. :( (Full disclosure: My son arrowed a buck earlier so the freezer isn't empty. Otherwise, that doe might not have been so lucky. The way I was raised, I'm just not big on taking does.)

Congrats on the spike! Looks like some great eating.
 
Yeah a couple years ago during late bow I had a fat whitetail doe standing broadside at 35 yds. It was 10 minutes into the hunt on the first day, so I passed. I spent the next 5 days spotting and stalking deer but just couldn't seal the deal on a buck or even a doe the last couple days. It was still a blast but the older I get the less big antlers matter to me and the more I enjoy venison. That being said I am sure there will be more tag soup in my future holding out for a bigger buck! As my mentor told me once, "The only way to shoot a nice 4pt. is to not shoot a 3pt." 🥴
 
Yeah a couple years ago during late bow I had a fat whitetail doe standing broadside at 35 yds. It was 10 minutes into the hunt on the first day, so I passed. I spent the next 5 days spotting and stalking deer but just couldn't seal the deal on a buck or even a doe the last couple days. It was still a blast but the older I get the less big antlers matter to me and the more I enjoy venison. That being said I am sure there will be more tag soup in my future holding out for a bigger buck! As my mentor told me once, "The only way to shoot a nice 4pt. is to not shoot a 3pt." 🥴
The upside to passing on the doe was getting to hunt five more days. Saw a few good bucks in the snow, but no arrows launched. Still, it was good times.

There's another saying: "Don't pass up on the first day what you would be happy with on the last day." It's all so HARD to reconcile!
 
I don't enjoy hunt camp with people that have to kill things. Those seem to be the people that are always complaining either they shoot something day one and then complain the whole time of how they should've waited or they don't shoot anything and they complain the whole time about not shooting anything. Personally I enjoy everything all the way up to getting the animal that's when all the crap work starts And I'm just fine with seeing them but not bagging them. The more time you spend around them the more you learn about their behaviors how they work how they think and interact the more chance you have something special in the future.
 
I don't enjoy hunt camp with people that have to kill things. Those seem to be the people that are always complaining either they shoot something day one and then complain the whole time of how they should've waited or they don't shoot anything and they complain the whole time about not shooting anything. Personally I enjoy everything all the way up to getting the animal that's when all the crap work starts And I'm just fine with seeing them but not bagging them. The more time you spend around them the more you learn about their behaviors how they work how they think and interact the more chance you have something special in the future.
I think the older I get the more I think that way. Although, I do still enjoy the work involved in packing out an elk. Gives me a sense of accomplishment and a good feeling knowing I can still do it. Do I get more enjoyment out of watching my son pack his share? Oh heck yeah. 😄

A couple of years ago I was rifle hunting for deer when a huge black bear lumbered out into a meadow about 150 yards away. With my .300 Weatherby Magnum and 3X12 Leupold scope, that is a chip shot. It would have been by far the biggest bear I've ever killed. I already had plenty of bear meat in the freezer from the Spring bear I got earlier that year. I put my pack on the ground, placed my rifle across it, then watched him for about 5 minutes digging around various rotten stumps and logs. There were shot opportunities galore. It was getting toward dark and starting to snow a little bit, but he really was only about 500 yards from the nearest road as the crow flies. I let him walk. Did I have any regrets? Not at the time. But every now and then I get to wondering just how big he really was... I can live with that though.
 
I don't enjoy hunt camp with people that have to kill things. Those seem to be the people that are always complaining either they shoot something day one and then complain the whole time of how they should've waited or they don't shoot anything and they complain the whole time about not shooting anything. Personally I enjoy everything all the way up to getting the animal that's when all the crap work starts And I'm just fine with seeing them but not bagging them. The more time you spend around them the more you learn about their behaviors how they work how they think and interact the more chance you have something special in the future.
I've eaten "tag soup" more years than not. I've also had some of the best wildlife stories while sitting in a tree just watching. I've never been as close to living, breathing elk and deer in my life, among other things. If killing was the only reason for hunting, I would have quit ages ago.
 
Someone, a while back defined I believe 5 stages in a hunter's "development" or "evolution" (and it was noted that not every hunter progresses through these stages). It does a fair job of approximating my travels.

1: Shooter. (Begins at adolescence). The hunter wants to shoot at just about everything, never turns down an opportunity to do so.

2: Limiting out. Shooting, while still important takes a back seat to the quantity of kills.

3. Trophy. As skills develop, the hunter engages in a "trophy hunting " attitude. Scores and numbers are everything. Refers to a sighting of a game animal in numbers: "I knew he'd go 350 or better", etc. Even the shot is scored: "Yep, took that one at 487 yards, not as good as last year's 550."

4. Method. The hunter explores new methods of hunting (archery, muzzleloading, etc.), with the goal being learning the method well enough to succeed in the field.

5. Sportsman. Emphasis becomes time in the field, especially when shared with others. A kill is not the goal, only a plus to the experience, and an opportunity may be declined in order to further/prolong that experience.

Even at my age, I know some contemporaries stuck at one or two of the levels. They stare blankly when I describe enthusiastically a hunt that resulted in no kill, and they wonder at my disinterest in horn scores and shot ranges. My enjoyment of taking a person of lesser ability/experience into the field is unmatched by any thrill previously experienced, especially when I can share their success.

I do "regress" on occasion: most normally in the Sage Rat fields, or when after Coyotes. I'm a bloodthirsty 12 year-old again.
 
My enjoyment of taking a person of lesser ability/experience into the field is unmatched by any thrill previously experienced, especially when I can share their success.
I think this statement could actually be step #6 in the "evolution".

Your steps fit me pretty much to a tee. I would probably modify #3 a little bit because I couldn't care less about B&C or P&Y scores. I would prefer an older animal with twisted up gnarly horns over a younger animal with the "perfect" configuration. The concept of a "net" score, actually reducing the score for extra unmatched points, boggles the mind. And a guy should brag about a close shot rather than a long one.

Step 4. I took up bowhunting when I turned 40. A somewhat hypocritical move on my part since I was always critical of "those bubblegum bowhunters".

I've passed up some good opportunities at bull elk in the past several years in an attempt to get my son his first elk with a bow. A couple of them were slam dunks. We'll keep trying. ;) We did manage to get him his first buck with a bow in November.
 
The upside to passing on the doe was getting to hunt five more days. Saw a few good bucks in the snow, but no arrows launched. Still, it was good times.

There's another saying: "Don't pass up on the first day what you would be happy with on the last day." It's all so HARD to reconcile!
A few years ago I passed up a mature 5x5 bull on opening day, knowing there was a 6x6 in the area. On the last day I shot a spike. I don't regret the decision one bit.
 

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