Well guys… here is my final chapter to my hunting season for 2004.
This last weekend was the final T-Zone doe season for anyone below the Highway #8 border linein Wisconsin. My brother-in-law lives about just about 15 miles from that line. I had called my nephew the day after Thanksgiving and said I would be coming up this weekend and just like clock work my nephew Jake called me Wednesday night to see if I was still coming. 
I said I would be there Friday night! 
I told Jake that night that I was gonna stop at Gregerson’s in Baldwin and see about getting a muzzleloader. I had been going out the week before muzzleloader hunting with a friend’s gun and really enjoyed it. Never got a deer, but still had a BLAST 
with it!
So Friday on my way up I stopped at Gregerson’s and talked to a Jeremy at the gun department. I asked MANY, MANY questions 
and he had MANY, MANY answers! I believe they know what they are doing there! I had been doing alot of reading before hand and had some ideas on what I wanted and after some great feedback from Jeremy I was heading back up north with a new Knight Revolution! 
Once I arrived at Jake’s I had to to some prehunting preperations with the new muzzleloader. It was’t fun, but it had to be done. I debated about taking it out the next morning and just going with my friend’s muzzleloader, but I recalled the commercial about how their muzzleloaders were dead on right out of the box. 
I was about to test that theory.
The next morning Jake and I went out to the same woods he got his first deer Thanksgiving morning. 
where we found the most deer activity in this woods was way back along the creek, and cedar tree thicket. It’s a long walk back on the logging road, but easy walking. Jake has grown a liking to the stand in the tree down by the creek that him and his grandpa built. I decided to stay up about a 150 yards long the cedar tree edge. I believe that when Jake walked down to his stand he may have spooked some deer, because after only sitting about 20 minutes I noticed some movement out in front of me. After further investigating with my binoculars I seen one deer, then another, then another. Think there was about 8 or 9 deer about 100 yards away. They looked to be all does too. I kept my eye on one perticular doe. She was closest to me and I could see that see wasn’t a yearling either. All the deer were moving about the wood’s floor feeding and playing as they went. The doe I had my sites on was now around 75 yards away. She was straight out in front of me and about to move further away soon. I decided it was now or never. The doe turned towards the other deer giving me a quartering away shot. i was sitting against a tree and with the frozen snow unable to get turned around to use the tree as a brace. I decided to use my back as a brace. I put the green bead right on the side of the doe and squeezed the trigger. The muzzleloader bellowed it’s reply. All I could see was SMOKE! 
I was able to see off to the side and see deer scattering everywhere! 
I was able to notice one of the does was limping as she ran off to my left. I waited a couple minutes before heading to the area of the doe. I kept a couple of reference points to where the deer was. Anyone that has hunted big woods knows everything looks the same once you get up and move!
At first all I could find was OLD TRACKS. Then as I walk further out I found fresh tracks in the snow. Then I found a small amount of hair. I did not find one drop of blood though. I decided to just follow her new tracks from her escape. I had followed the tracks only about 40 yards when I came to a mound and there on the back side was my doe! I was tickled pink! (Can guys say that??? ) Not only was this my first deer with a muzzleloader it was the first shot out of my new gun! after I field dressed the deer I did a quick search of the deer and found my sabot entered the doe right in front of the right rear leg, but I was unable to find an exit hole. That would probably explain the lack of blood. I did notice a hole in the heart, explaining the quick kill.
Now I had told Jake before that I would drive the creek section down to him around 10:30… it was now 11:00. OOPPSS!! When I got to him the first thing he asked me was “Did you shot at a deer?” I just told Jake I shot the muzzleloader once to see if it was on. Jake told me that he thought for sure I shot at a deer. Boy, I sure can be a tease, HUH! After talking for a minute or two, Jake unloaded his rifle and handed it down to me, but before he climbed down I asked him how ambitious he was. Jake the asked me “Why???” I then told him… “Because it’s gonna be a LONG haul back to the truck dragging that doe I shot!” The kid literally went nutz! He started hootin and howlerin! Jake then said to me… “I knew you didn’t just fire your gun at a tree! You don’t do those things, because it scares everything away!” Now I’m laughing my butt off, because he knows me already after one season of hunting.! Jake then climbed down out of the tree and gave me a high five! Then said..” Come on I want to see it!” On our way over to where the deer was Jake told me that it didn’t matter if we got or even seen another deer this weekend. He told me it meant just as much to him for me to get a deer as it would have been for him…… Guys at the age of 12 this kid is showing some real signs of maturity! It took us about an hour and a half to get the deer back to the truck and take pictures, but it was some REAL QUALITY TIME for both of us! 
Once again I have rattled off way to long about this story, but I hope it was worth your time as it was enjoyable to me to write about this year’s hunting season!
P.s. As for those Knight rifles… They are DEAD ON right out of the box! I went back to the house later and shot it again and it hit the target there also!
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Uncle Jerry …aka… Zimmy 101
That is a good picture I wonder who took it?????? 
