This was not a difficult shot, only 114 yards, but shows that it is better to be lucky than as good as I have ever been. I have hunted whitetails for 22 years and have harvested dozens of animals, but few wall hangers. This year was good to me. Just before I saw this deer, I had looked over my left shoulder and saw a magnificent sight. The morning was filled with a heavy fog and the sun came up over a river to my East, which was a total purple color. I gathered my camera and I tried to capture this magical scene, I discovered the batteries were desd, so I was frantically trying to find batteries in my pack, when by chance I looked over my right shoulder to see this deer walk into sight.

I immediately realized it was a shooter. I dropped the camera and tried to get my ML through the window without making noise. Wow, I was shaking. The deer's rack was tall, but not wide, but the best I have had an opportuntiny for in my hunting career.

At first I just wanted to shoot him, but made myself calm down and focus, which is the responsible thing to do. I zeroed in and shot, and he bucked his hind legs straight back. When I saw him buck, I knew he was hit good.

I waited 20 minutes and then collected my stuff and climbed down. At the shot point, there was zero blood or hair. I was disappointed. I mentally recalled his direction and searched for 2 hours. Back and forth. Crossed a creek and searched the other ridge for a 1/2 mile. It was getting hot and I was wearing wool under clothes, so I decided to go back to my stuff, where I found my deer, 40 yards from where I shot him, but 90 degrees from his direction of departure. He ran and made a J hook turn.





The Savage rifle is an amazing muzzleloader. I am shooting a load with a 250 gr Horandy SST, in a black sabot, over 45 gr of N110 @ 2465 fps and it's accuracy is as good as most of my centerfire rifles. I am confident out to 300 yards with this rifle.

That is a beautiful buck to be very proud of...

Thanks for sharing your story it has definitely inspired me...

Wasn't he worth all those years of waiting...

He is your Special Trophy and I bet you'll never forget him and how he came into view and within range....

Merry Christmas you are blessed with a Beautiful Trophy Buck...

Aloha,

Ro

Good looking whitetail! truly a wonderful deer. Congrats!

Mighty Joe

Good shooting and a great buck.

Well done.

Nice buck! Good job on finding him! I have had trouble finding deer in heavy cover after shooting them with a muzzloader. It can be hard to see which way they go for the smoke.

Mighty Joe, Congrats on one heck of a buck!

I bet he'll make a fine mount.

You just gotta love these rifles. I can't wait until next week when the one week MLer season opens in a cropland area I hunt. Right in the middle of the rut there, so it should be a interesting week(always is).

Have a Good One and Congrats again,

Reloader

Mighty joe congratulations on your buck, that is one to be proud of. I am also using the savage 10ml with a 250g hornady 45 caliber bullet using the MMp sabots, I am shooting 43g of N110. I am curious are you estimating your velocity with that load or did you get that reading from a chrograph. I have only made 1 trip to the shooting range with my gun and I couldent get my chroy to work that day.

quote:

only made 1 trip to the shooting range with my gun and I couldent get my chroy to work

Thanks for the kind comments. The velocity noted was a measured average through an Oehler 35P chronograph. Each barrel of course is slightly different, so mileage will vary.

Geeeze thats a beautiful buck! Great trophy and nice ML'er also, good to see they both came together that morning. Congrats....

Dave

Nice Buck.Congrats!!!!

Nice deer! Congrats!

quote:

I am confident out to 300 yards with this rifle.

The number one reason muzzleloader restrictions are full on bullshit!

Thanks Joe, I am looking forward to shooting my 10ml over the chrony, after Im finished with removing the factory pillars and Installing a set that are properly contored to the reciver. I took my gun off the stock to reinstall the forward sling stud because I removed it for bench testing and, The first deer I shot at with the gun was clean miss at 45 yards. I was shooting at a doe and had the crosshairs resting on her eye.I was as suprised as she was to see the bullet impact in a tree just behind her. 30 minutes later I was shooting a paper target and The gun was shooting 12" high. The next evening I let a friend shoot a doe with it at 178 yards and it was a perfect shot. I am planning on Installing a 3rd piller 1" in front of the rear piller so when I lossen the screw to remove the bolt the action will not shift and cause a POI change.

Nice Buck and with a Savage .Congrats

Really nice buck! That dude's got some heavy horns. Congrats

I finally got this deer scored at 153, and his live weight was 225 lbs, which is pretty good for Oklahoma. I ended up with almost 100 lbs of processed meat. He was tough to drag uphill. Broke some drag straps (over shoulder) trying to get him close to the vehicle.

What is the paper on the side of the stock? Ron

I put all the ballistic info into a program called Point Blank and it calculated my drop and windage at various distances based on my zero. I printed it out and taped it to the buttstock, so I can range an animal and then know where to hold based on the distance and approximate wind speed.

http://randywakeman.com/10ML-II%20Exterior%20Ballistics.htm

PB is as good as any-- still pays to confirm it.

Beautiful deer!

Nice buck! 114 is beyond my comfort zone with a ML. I don't get all the fancy stuff to increase range in my State. Sure must be nice because I would have had to pass on a buck like that.