Just got back from hunting the muzzle loader season in Oklahoma. First off, anyone who is interested in hunting Kansas hould really consider Oklahoma. You don't have to draw for a tag and they have some of the finest hunting in the midwest. This is my third year in a row and my second successful season.

I was there for 5 days, and took the White Tail pictured below on the 4th morning. My buddy I went with actually saw this deer the first morning from his stand but could not get a shot. He thought it was a 13 point deer but more on that later. I was hunting a mile or so south of him.

The first morning I watched two 2 1/2 year old 8 points fight. First time ever for me witnessing such an event. It was the pre-rut where we were hunting, but you sure as hell couldn't tell from these two bucks fighting. One buck was feeding when the other buck followed a doe into the food plot. They manned up on one another in a staring match and then clashed for over 5 minutes before the smaller buck who was getting whipped, side stepped the bigger buck and then came down hard on his shoulder and neck. The bigger buck ended up hobbling off with the smaller deer chasing off the doe.

When we got back to camp, my buddy told me about a 150 class animal he couldn't get a shot on. He said it had a sticker point off a G-2 and split brow tines. He was able to decipher all of this through binocs at 150 yards but by the time he got his black powder rifle up for a shot, the deer had disappeared in a ditch. Needless to say, he had his heart set on this deer.

The next morning I set up in some tamarac trees that led from a river bottom to a wheat field. I set up a tri-pod perfectly down wind from the deer returning to the river to bed from feeding all night. As I sat in my tripod freezing my butt off, and the sun had yet to come up, I heard what sounded like the gentle clacking of antlers about 50 yards upwind from my stand. I sat patiently for an hour past sunlight when the first buck stepped out. I watched as a massive 8 point buck with a 18-20 inch spread walked by. I considered taking him, when I heard a buck behind him raking some tamarac trees so I waited hoping fro something bigger. A 10 point came into view at 15 yards, but he was not as big as the 8, so I let him walk by too. Both would have been 130 class deer.

On the third morning I heard my buddy shoot as well as another hunter. The first shot rang out at 5 minutes past shooting light. I figured to myself, "where there goes that 13 pointer". So after the morning hunt I radioed my friend to find out that he had seen 5 nice bucks feeding in the wheat at dawn. He picked out the largest bodied animal and shot it, thinking it was the big buck he'd seent he first morning. It turned out to be a massive 8 point buck with antlers as thick as coke bottles. One of the deer's browtines had broken off. We green scored the deer at 125 gross, however, its score does not do the rack justice. It has a 20 inch spread and the sheer mass of the antlers was very impressive.

The other hunter in our camp shot a 10 point deer that green scored 137 but its rack was in my opinion less impressive than the 125 score. It made me reconsider my opinion of the B&C system of scoring antlers, especially White Tails.

Anyway, with my buddy and the other hunter out of the way, I concentrated my efforts on moving in on the 13 point split browtine buck my friend saw the first morning.

A cold front had moved in on Monday night the day before halloween. With the wind chill that morning the temperature was around 19 degrees in a steady high 25 mph wind.

I choose to sit in a box stand (more to keep the wind off of me) nestled in some tamarac trees that watched deer that passed from the wheat fields to the alfalfa. I had the view point of anything that walked in 4 drainage ditches that spread out amongst the fields.

I watched a small buck feed close to me for well over an hour. Then in the distance I saw what I thought to be a large 10 pointer heading in and out of the ditch system on its way back to the river bottom to bed. At 500 yards away, I decided that I would take this buck so I put down the binocs and got my black powder rifle ready.

The deer to my disappointment disappeared in the ditch and I lost him. Until he all of the sudden popped up out of the ditch 60 yards behind me. I got an angle and when he put his head down I fired. My shot hit him farther behind than I wanted as it clipped lungs but mainly hit the liver. He ran 10 yards and stood there wondering what hit him.

I loaded again for what seemed to be an hour, threw my rifle up again and at 80 yards made a perfect quartering away shot. Dropped him.

When I walked up to the buck he had triple browtines on his left antler and double on his right. He also had a sticker point coming of his left G-2. This was the buck my buddy had seen. I was astonished and exhilerated. I had no idea the ten point was a 14 point non-typical.
They green scored him at over 155 B&C. Below are the pictures.

SkyJacker,

That is a very nice buck!

What load did you use in your rifle?

How did you get connected with this OK hunt?

Please and thank you...jim

I shoot 245 grain 50 Cal power belts with 3 triple 7 powder pellets.

I'm in construction here in Georgia and a subcontractor friend of mine is a big deer hunter. He had met a rancher in Oklahoma through a guide that since burned his relationship with the guide.

Anyway, the rancher and my friend became good friends and this rancher invites 10 hunters a year to his property. two years ago someone canceled and he offered my friend the chance to bring someone. Of course he was going to take his best friend, who canceled at the last minute, so he then contacted me. Of course I jumped at the chance, got in good with the rancher, and now go every year.

I feel very fortunate.

What part of Oklahoma are you hunting in? I took my son opening weekend and I hunted this past weekend at my families place in Alfalfa county.

We were near Woodward, but I don't remember the county. when my head ships I'll look at the tag.