A Perfect Broadside at 50 Yards and No Blood Trail

In short: Opening weekend of muzzleloader season at hunting camp in southeast Georgia, with Tina in her stand a mile and a half from mine and two big eights and a seven on camera. The first morning a good buck walked the lane at 75 yards and I lost him while I moved the camera. Day two he came back and I took a perfect broadside shot at 50 yards. I gave him time, went looking with the dog, and found no blood, no hair and no deer. We finished the weekend from a different stand with a lone doe and a spike.

Opening weekend at hunting camp

This one is the opening weekend of muzzleloader season, up at the hunt camp in southeast Georgia. Tina was my hunting partner for the weekend, and we headed out to our stands before light.

We hunt a mile and a half apart. Tina was down in her stand and I was in mine, and we had good bucks on the cameras: two big eights and a seven. I told y'all at the start how this one goes. You see me take a shot at 50 yards, and then you walk the woods with me and the dog looking for blood.

He walked the lane at 75 yards

The sun was about to come up and the wind was bad, 10 to 15 miles an hour out of the northeast. I was hoping it would lay down once the sun got up.

Then a buck walked the lane about 75 yards away. I had him in the scope, and then I remembered the camera. I put the gun down to move the camera, and by the time I did, he had walked off the lane. All I could do was hope he came back.

The afternoon sit and a picture at 7:37

That afternoon we went back to the same spot we hunted in the morning. I wanted another chance at that buck, and this time I would be ready with the camera before anything walked out.

A doe and a yearling came in and kept looking off to the right, so I put the camera down and watched. Those two had been coming in every afternoon and staying until dark. We saw does that afternoon and called it a good day.

Later, a camera turned up a picture of the buck at 7:37, down the lane where he could not be seen from the stand.

Day two and the shot at 50 yards

Day two, Tina slept in. The buck came back. He gave me a perfect broadside at 50 yards and I took the shot on a good eight point. The GoPro was running.

Right after the shot I thought it should be a dead deer. I gave him a little time before going down to check.

No blood, no hair, no deer

I went down with the dog. Two hours later there was nothing to show for it. No blood, no hair and no deer.

A perfect broadside at 50 yards, and nothing on the ground to follow. I think that is just one of those things that happens.

A different stand, a lone doe and a spike

That afternoon I sat a different stand. The cameras there had the same two big eights and the seven, and I showed y'all the scrapes and pawouts right under an oak tree. That is where those bucks show up.

A little doe yearling came in. She has been in there every morning and every night, and I have pictures of her. She must be on her own. She was nowhere near big enough to take, so I sat and watched her and enjoyed her. A squirrel ran off with a corn cob, and I hoped I was not sitting in his house.

A little spike showed up too, the way he does daily, morning and night. The golden hour came and went with no buck in it.

Gun season is next weekend

The weekend was over way too soon. We saw plenty of deer and we missed a good buck, but the main thing was the time deep in the woods. We broke camp and hit the road, and the next weekend was already calling us back.

That buck is still out there. Next weekend is opening gun season, with our club's opening eve Lowcountry Boil, good food, great friends and another chance at him.

Questions about this hunt

How far was the shot at the eight point?

Fifty yards. He was standing perfect broadside when I took the shot with the muzzleloader on day two of opening weekend.

Did you find the deer after the shot?

No. I gave him time, went down with the dog, and two hours later there was no blood, no hair and no deer. It is one of those things that happens.

Why did you not shoot the buck on the first morning?

He walked the lane about 75 yards out and I had him in the scope, but I remembered the camera. I put the gun down to move it, and he walked off the lane before I got back on him.

More hunting: The Blackwater Deer Hunting Guide and every hunting film.