The slowest 10 days of the year

I noticed the muzzleloader forum has been silent for a number of weeks and decided to try and revive it. I am sitting at the office watching the time crawl slowly by and wishing the muzzy opener was here. The 7-10 days prior to a hunting trip always seem to be the slowest of my life (except for the last 10 days of a deployment). ](*,)

For the past number of years I have always done archery for the general season deer hunt here in Utah. This year I decided to explore something new and put in for a muzzleloader tag for the Pine Valley unit that I grew up hunting. My brother and I were both fortunate to draw tags and have been preparing ever since.

After a lengthy debate, I finally decided to purchase the CVA Optima V2, and I have not regretted it. After a number of trips to the range, I have been impressed with accuracy of this rifle. I am getting 1" groups at 100 yds with 85 grains of BH209, 300 grain Hornady SST's, and a 1x Thompson Center Hawken Hunter scope.

My brother and I both have the duration of the hunt off of work, and we know the unit well. I hope to be able to share some field photos of a dandy buck before too long. Now all I need is a remote like Adam Sandler had in the movie "Click" to fast forward the next 10 days.

Best of luck to the rest of you muzzleloader hunters. I hope to see your bucks here as well.
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Springville Shooter
I'm with you waiting for the Muzzy season to start. I am also a first year muzzy guy and went with the TC Omega. I'm going to try to seal the deal on a 4 point that my buddies couldn't connect on during the archery.------SS
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derekp1999
Amen, headed to the range later this week to work out any last minute kinks.
Hoping for another great hunt with my grandpa, dad, uncle, brother, and one of my best friends. I haven't harvested since 2010... so this has to be the year, right?

I'm certain it will be.


I hope.
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SS...I've seen the pictures of the awesome groups you are getting with your Omega. I hope you do well. What unit will you be hunting?

Derek...I've enjoyed reading your stories from the past couple of years. I'm pulling for this to be your year!
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one hunting fool
new to the muzzleloader thing and took my 1 power scope CVA out this week and at 100 was shooting high about 4" above the top of the black (which you can't even see the black with the cross hairs) so I adjust my scope 6 inches and find look and realize I am out of powder but I bought a new one (not the same kind I was using 777 and now bought pyrodex) and shoot again this time I don't even hit the paper. shoot again thinking maybe I flinched and nothing. go to the board and see 2 holes 1 ft lower and way left on the corner. who knew that powder could burn so much different. same lead just different powder wet patch every time now I did adjust my scope but should not have adjusted that much moved the board to 50 and got back on within 6 shots took back to 100 and shot and hit 2" low of the bulls eye. with a 1 power scope I thought that was damn good so I think I am on
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Springville Shooter
I'll be up Currant Creek without a paddle.-----SS
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derekp1999
Ahhh, let the panicking begin! I went to Lee Kay range this afternoon & turns out they have torn down their pistol & muzzleloader range so my only option was 100 yards. Not a problem, right? BIG PROBLEM.
I covered the whole board with fresh white paper and started blasting away. One shot hit paper, then a second, then a third... a nice tight little group but I could see that I needed to make a slight tweak to my elevation and windage. I break out the screw driver and adjust the ol' iron sights. A few more rounds go downrange and nothing hits paper! I'd get one of every three to five shots to hit paper and they were all over the place. I put the sights back where they were originally & couldn't get anything on paper there either.
As I sit here and type I realize my error... I was adjusting the sights the wrong direction! That was an awful lot of $$$ thrown downrange for such a rookie mistake. Looks like I'll be looking around for a range that has some options for shorter distances to see how badly I screwed this up! Good thing I have a sense of humor and there's still a week to go.
](*,)
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I'm glad you have a sense of humor about it.

Several weeks ago I was out shooting my muzzleloader with my brother and we were making some final adjustments to our scopes. A couple of shots later we were both way off of the center of the target. We soon realized that we had somehow switched rifles (We have identical rifles/scopes) and made adjustments to the others' rifle. Needless to say, it took some extra time and bullets to get back shooting straight.
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I'm excited to hit the range tomorrow after my last class! I wasn't getting awesome groups with the 300 SST so I ended up switching to the 290 Barnes TMZ. I only shit them at 50 yards, but they all pretty much go in the same hole. I'm hoping they will continue to perform at 100 yards.

Tomorrow morning will be my final scouting trip and I'm hoping to find a mature buck. Last trip yielded 5 bucks but they were all 2 points. I know a better one is out there, but it's awfully hard to be patient!
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Waspo...it was fun reading about your 2012 hunt. You got your two-point last year...how do you like your chances at seeing a bigger buck? As tempting as it is to take a smaller buck early in the hunt, you almost always have to pass on several to find a mature buck. Whatever you decide, it should be exciting. Let us know how your last scouting trip turns out.
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My muzzy hunt don't start till the day after thanksgiving so it's gonna be a long wait but good luck next week to you guys.
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"archerycrazy" wrote:Waspo...it was fun reading about your 2012 hunt. You got your two-point last year...how do you like your chances at seeing a bigger buck? As tempting as it is to take a smaller buck early in the hunt, you almost always have to pass on several to find a mature buck. Whatever you decide, it should be exciting. Let us know how your last scouting trip turns out.
 Sorry for such a long time to get back and post.... I ended up scouting the property I hunted last year and was surprised that I only turned up a few deer. The moon has been plenty bright out over the last few nights so that May have had something to do with it. I only saw two 2 point bucks. One was a nice looking buck with brow tines. I've never seen those on a smaller 2 point before. Anyways, I'm hoping for be able to find a bigger buck. I basically have until Saturday to tag out- after that gets a little busy with tests, family pictures, and a sister leaving on an LDS mission on Wednesday the 2nd. If all goes well, this will be my last hunting season for quite a while (medical school interviews are starting up for me in about a week), so I'll probably take whatever presents the best shot.

On a side note, I took my muzzy out one last time to check zero and see how it shot at 200 yards. I placed 4 out of 5 shots into a 10 inch pie plate and felt pretty good! I'm stoked for tomorrow morning!
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derekp1999
Well, it's over for my group... put a dent in the Ogden herd! I'll put together a little write up in the next couple days.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg522/derekp1999/2013%20Muzzleloader%20Deer/DSC07157.jpg" alt="" />
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a_bow_nut
Hahahahaha.

Wac em en stack em. :thumb
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Springville Shooter
I gotta say, that looks like a fun time and some good eats. How many shots to harvest all those?-----SS
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derekp1999
"Springville Shooter" wrote:How many shots to harvest all those?
 All 1 shot kills. We had 2 other bucks that were missed... one due to distance and a bigger buck due to a case of buck fever.
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My brother and I have hunted the last four days and have seen over 40 bucks. We helped a friend get a nice three point opening day (His first buck ever). We could have killed decent three points and forked horns every day of the hunt but we have held off hoping for a chance at one of the bigger bucks that keep giving us the slip. Thursday evening I spotted a group of about 10 bucks all 3 point or better, including two giants. We have come close the past two days but have not yet gotten a shot. Tonight I had one of the bigger bucks at 40 yards 5 minutes after legal shooting light...frustrating to say the least. We have a few more days to hunt next week, but will soon be getting to where filling the freezer is the top priority. We hope to keep seeing bucks like we have and not regretting letting so many walk.
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MuleyMadness
I tried on the Muzzy Friday night and Saturday 1/2 day. Probably only time I had to get out, was after a particular buck or his younger brother and couldn't find either one. Afraid the bigger boy may be dead, as other guys where after him also and I couldn't hunt the first 3 days. Passed on a spike and that's the only buck I saw. Unit 28
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I got my first muzzy buck this evening. Not one of the real monsters we were chasing, but I'm happy nonetheless. I saw this buck feed out into a clearing on Saturday evening and couldn't quite get a shot. I got there early this evening and found some good cover about 200 yards from where he fed out on Saturday. As soon as the sun dipped beyond the horizon he stepped out only a few feet from where he had done previously. I got him at 190 yards and the 300 grain Hornady SST did its job. I may write up a more detailed story later. Best of luck to those still hunting.
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