Posted by Clabert on October 31, 2000 at 14:55:04:
The next morning we were up at 5am. We each grabbed a breakfast bar
and a cup of coffee and off we went. This time I had a folding chair
as I walked past the box and down the road to the edge of the opening.
I stomped out a spot just a few yards off the road and in a group of
very small pines. I pulled some brush up around my hiding place and
there I sat and waited. Around 8 o`clock a doe walked out and after 30
minute or so had gotten within 10 yards of before spotting me. She was
gone in a flash. I didn`t see any thing else that morning. Back at
camp, I told them what I had seen. They asked why I didn`t take her
and I said I waiting for something bigger. I was reminded that not
many people had seen deer and I should take what I can get. That
reminder set up the chain of events that would take place that
evening.
Tim and I took a short break and that`s when he told me of his plan.
We would leave at noon with a tree climbing stand and find a place
inside the clearing. We found what we wanted and Tim attached the
climber and started up with an axe, clearing small branches along the
way. After reaching a height of around 15 feet, he started back down,
while showing me how to use the climber. Then I climbed in and gave it
a try. No problem. We headed back to camp so the woods could settle
down for a few hours. We discussed the fact that I should take the
first legal game I saw so I would have meat to bring home and my trip
wouldn`t be waisted. It was also then that I realized that with the
awkward way that the climber works and the limited space on it, that I
should leave my trusted powderhorn and shooting bag behind. I borrowed
a couple plastic speedloading tubes, placed in the measured powder
charge and capped them off. I put them and my priming horn in my shirt
pocket. Around my neck hung a loading block with two more patched
round balls. I was ready to go.
I was in the tree stand by 3:30 that afternoon. I was dressed in camo from head to toe. I had no idea what to expect that day, but I didn`t have long to wait before things started happening. Around 4:30 I heard a snap to my left. I looked and out stepped a doe and a yearling. I eased back the hammer and waited for a clear shot. The doe was walking straight towards me and I couldn`t move. Then she stepped behind the only tree between the two of us and that gave me the chance to raise my musket. That`s when she stopped and started feeding. I leaned back a little and took the shot. KA-BOOM!! The smoke cleared and there she lay. A clean kill. I tried to reload as fast as I could but had trouble controling my shaking hands. Loaded again, I placed the musket across my lap and just sat there. I couldn`t leave till dark, so I thought I`ld just stay there and wait for the big guy to step out. If he didn`t, I~ld go back to camp with my doe.
About twenty minutes later, I heard another "snap" behind me. I had to turn a bit farther to my left and there was another nice doe. I already had one so this time, I didn`t move so slowly. I pulled back the hammer a second time and swung the barrel around. She never saw me. KA-BOOM!!! The smoke cleared and another deer lay dead. I reloaded again with less trouble this time. I keeped looking at those two deer. You couldn`t wipe the smile off my face. No one was seeing anything and I had two on the ground. That`s when a young, 4 point buck stepped out. He was not a legal deer so I just watched him for about 30 minutes as he ate and walked around my tree. When he threw his head up and looked into the woods, I would look in the same direction. He was letting me know that there were more deer around. But only two more does came out and began to eat across the clearing from, even going back up the road I had come down. They would step behind the brush pile I had hidden in that morning. Then step back out. The young buck kept walking behind me till he vanished into the woods to my right.
About 10 minutes later and just before dark, I thought one of the does had come back down the road. But she looked bigger. Then I saw antlers, but only 4 points. I thought, that little guy walked all the way around the woods to get back with those does. So I got my field glasses and took a better look. Not 4 points but 6 did I see. A legal buck. I dropped the glasses and lifted the musket. I knew he was about 100 yards away so I used my arm against the tree for a rest. I aimed. Started applying pressure to the trigger and KA-BOOM!! I expected to have to track this guy but when the smoke cleared, there he was. He didn`t take a single step. He was down. I yelled out load. I had just taken three deer in less then two hours, from the same tree stand. I didn`t have another ball, so I climbed down and went for the 4 wheeler. I loaded the two does and went out to the road to wait for Tim. He came by a few minutes later and I told him the story. He said, "Let`s go get that buck". We drove back and loaded him on his 4 wheeler and headed for camp.
I hunted the next two hunts for I still had one tag left, but everything in the woods was safe from me. I just wanted to watch the animals after that. I had more meat then I needed and I had planned to give most of it to my best friend and his family. His 17 year old son was in a car accident a week ago and he is still in ICU. They will need all the extra food they can get. And it looks like we have more then enough. I just couldn`t believe it. I had three round balls and I took three deer. The maker of life is good.