Finally got it done this year with my in-line.

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MattRaymond

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Oct 28, 2015
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Hello All,

Well it’s been a heck of a year for me and I’m sure it’s been the same for all of you. I’m happy to report that I finally killed a deer today on the 2nd to last day of the Black Powder season in CT. Due to family health issues I was not able to get out during any of the earlier seasons, I generally hunt MA and CT. I had only been able to get out 3 other afternoons besides tonight and had not seen a deer all year. My buddy has had some monster bucks up on his property in MA, but we just couldn’t make it happen due to the bucks being nearly 100% nocturnal. Well I decided to hunt one of my spots down in CT today after work to change things up a bit. It was a comedy of general hunting errors for me today. I was running late at work and wasn’t able to get in the woods until after 2:30. It’s a small 27 acre wood lot that I hunt. Great Turkey spot, but a bit difficult for deer because of it’s size and proximity to private properties and land trust. Once I finally got in the woods the wind was blowing pretty good, but in the wrong direction. I usually sit out on the edge of a finger ridge about 1/2 way down the lip and watch a decent deer funnel. There is a section of the property that contains a great bedding area and I usually steer clear of that spot during the season and try to catch them coming or going. I was out of my usual options and due to it being my last day to hunt, I decided to make my way towards the bedding with the wind in my face. At least I had a good wind for it but it’s nearly impossible to sneak up on that spot undetected. Worked my way up to approximately 130 yards from the bedding area when I saw 5-7 white flags waving and bounding off out of the area heading away. They saw me but didn’t wind me so I decided to get right in and hunker down for awhile. The group split and a few went down wind to my right and a few went upwind to my left. I knew I had no chance at the downwind deer so I decided to push forward a bit I the hopes that the upwind group might circle around on there way to the others. That never happened and now I only had about an hour left of light to hunt. I decided to push on to the end of the ridge and set up for the last hour and see if I could catch any other deer working there way into the area, not from the original group that busted me. Well I sat for about 45 mins and nothing was moving so I made what I thought was gonna be my 2nd or 3rd mistake for the night and decided to loop around towards the top of the ridge on my way back to my truck and get out of the woods a little early. Well on my way up the ridge, I jumped a single doe at about 40 yards up the hillside and to my left. She bounded off from left to right and I tried to stop her and she paused for 1/2 a second at about 70 yards and was now a little downhill. She kept going a few more yards and I made that “meerp” noise to try and stop her... I was amazed that she stopped and when she did she was sorta quartered away around 80-90 yards downhill next to a tree. The next second was a blur, I already had my Traditions Vortek G4 Ultralight shouldered and had my scope set at 5x from before. I had the crosshairs on her for a split second and for some reason, aimed a little high. I took a snap shot and she dropped where she stood! I 1/2 expected to see her run off, that’s quite a long shot for me, especially off hand. I walked up to where she was and again, in my disbelief, expecting to see any empty patch of woods...but there she was...as still as could be. As I walked up on her I could see why, headshot! Not on purpose, but I guess my “slightly high” shot resulted in an instant kill. The bullet must have sailed just high of her vitals and she must’ve turned her head right into it’s path as she was quartered away and looking over her right shoulder towards me! I guess sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and that’s what happened to me today. I’m thrilled to have her. It’s the first deer I’ve taken with my in-line. I’m generally a flintlock guy, but I don’t think I would have taken the shot with a sidelock with open sights and the Vortek was certainly the right tool for job tonight! This deer breaks the 3 season slump I have been in and I’m happy to have some great venison in my freezer. I fooled around with a bunch of loads for the gun and the one I settled on was 90 grains of Blackhorn 209 under a Barnes 300 grain all copper ballistic tip hollow point with their Blue T-EZ sabot. Fairly easy to load, and hits like a ton of bricks. I was using random Remington primers because they fit well in my breach plug when I use the O-ring trick under them that I learned on this forum....zero blowback onto the breach face of the rifle...completely sealed. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story and I didn’t ramble on too long. With the head shot, field dressing her was a snap, no mess in the cavity, and a perfect heart to enjoy when I got back home. Thanks for listening...
 

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Hello All,

Well it’s been a heck of a year for me and I’m sure it’s been the same for all of you. I’m happy to report that I finally killed a deer today on the 2nd to last day of the Black Powder season in CT. Due to family health issues I was not able to get out during any of the earlier seasons, I generally hunt MA and CT. I had only been able to get out 3 other afternoons besides tonight and had not seen a deer all year. My buddy has had some monster bucks up on his property in MA, but we just couldn’t make it happen due to the bucks being nearly 100% nocturnal. Well I decided to hunt one of my spots down in CT today after work to change things up a bit. It was a comedy of general hunting errors for me today. I was running late at work and wasn’t able to get in the woods until after 2:30. It’s a small 27 acre wood lot that I hunt. Great Turkey spot, but a bit difficult for deer because of it’s size and proximity to private properties and land trust. Once I finally got in the woods the wind was blowing pretty good, but in the wrong direction. I usually sit out on the edge of a finger ridge about 1/2 way down the lip and watch a decent deer funnel. There is a section of the property that contains a great bedding area and I usually steer clear of that spot during the season and try to catch them coming or going. I was out of my usual options and due to it being my last day to hunt, I decided to make my way towards the bedding with the wind in my face. At least I had a good wind for it but it’s nearly impossible to sneak up on that spot undetected. Worked my way up to approximately 130 yards from the bedding area when I saw 5-7 white flags waving and bounding off out of the area heading away. They saw me but didn’t wind me so I decided to get right in and hunker down for awhile. The group split and a few went down wind to my right and a few went upwind to my left. I knew I had no chance at the downwind deer so I decided to push forward a bit I the hopes that the upwind group might circle around on there way to the others. That never happened and now I only had about an hour left of light to hunt. I decided to push on to the end of the ridge and set up for the last hour and see if I could catch any other deer working there way into the area, not from the original group that busted me. Well I sat for about 45 mins and nothing was moving so I made what I thought was gonna be my 2nd or 3rd mistake for the night and decided to loop around towards the top of the ridge on my way back to my truck and get out of the woods a little early. Well on my way up the ridge, I jumped a single doe at about 40 yards up the hillside and to my left. She bounded off from left to right and I tried to stop her and she paused for 1/2 a second at about 70 yards and was now a little downhill. She kept going a few more yards and I made that “meerp” noise to try and stop her... I was amazed that she stopped and when she did she was sorta quartered away around 80-90 yards downhill next to a tree. The next second was a blur, I already had my Traditions Vortek G4 Ultralight shouldered and had my scope set at 5x from before. I had the crosshairs on her for a split second and for some reason, aimed a little high. I took a snap shot and she dropped where she stood! I 1/2 expected to see her run off, that’s quite a long shot for me, especially off hand. I walked up to where she was and again, in my disbelief, expecting to see any empty patch of woods...but there she was...as still as could be. As I walked up on her I could see why, headshot! Not on purpose, but I guess my “slightly high” shot resulted in an instant kill. The bullet must have sailed just high of her vitals and she must’ve turned her head right into it’s path as she was quartered away and looking over her right shoulder towards me! I guess sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and that’s what happened to me today. I’m thrilled to have her. It’s the first deer I’ve taken with my in-line. I’m generally a flintlock guy, but I don’t think I would have taken the shot with a sidelock with open sights and the Vortek was certainly the right tool for job tonight! This deer breaks the 3 season slump I have been in and I’m happy to have some great venison in my freezer. I fooled around with a bunch of loads for the gun and the one I settled on was 90 grains of Blackhorn 209 under a Barnes 300 grain all copper ballistic tip hollow point with their Blue T-EZ sabot. Fairly easy to load, and hits like a ton of bricks. I was using random Remington primers because they fit well in my breach plug when I use the O-ring trick under them that I learned on this forum....zero blowback onto the breach face of the rifle...completely sealed. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story and I didn’t ramble on too long. With the head shot, field dressing her was a snap, no mess in the cavity, and a perfect heart to enjoy when I got back home. Thanks for listening...
 
I love to read and every word was worth it. I'm sold on the Barnes 290gr Spit-Fire T-EZ flat base pill.
I weigh my 77gr of BH 209.
Keep the stories coming, sir. I'm a sucker for Heavenly Grace and Divine Intervention.
 
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That's a fine doe right there. Congrats on a perfect hunt. Perfect because it all came together in the end.
 
You had me laughing with you ‘second or third mistake of the day’ -haha! Sounds like my deer season!
Congratulations, and enjoy every morsel!
 

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