I got back a couple days ago from a muzzleloader hunt at the Game Trails Ranch with a group of guys which included Gregg Ritz of Thompson/Center, PGA golfer Frank Lickliter and the first person to complete the Ultimate Slam with a muzzleloader, Jim Shockey. This particular event was to benefit Camp Patriot, an organization that sends disabled military veterans on outdoor adventures, as well as raise money for Jim’s fund which sends military veterans on hunts.

The weather was cold.  Really cold.  The temperature never got above 20 degrees the entire week.  Steady winds had the wind chill consistently in the single digits.  My guide Paul dropped me off the first morning at a stand overlooking a site baited with corn.  Does and a few small bucks were the order for the morning; the evening sit was similar.

The second morning brought even more activity, as well as some larger bucks, but nothing big enough to meet the 130 inch minimum.  At lunchtime, news of a weather system heading towards western Kentucky broke.  Starting tomorrow, it would not only be snot-freezing cold, but sleet and freezing rain were about to join the party.  Not enjoyable conditions when you’re twenty feet up in a tree.

I climbed into my stand that second afternoon around one o’clock, and deer activity precipitated almost immediately.  The wind was picking up as well, making my stand sway back and forth.  There were fourteen or fifteen deer milling about the general area, including two bucks around 115 to 120 inches.  Around 2:30, a set of horns appeared and I brought my binos up for a look.  His brow tines were broken off, but I thought that he’d still make the 130 inch minimum.  I also thought about sitting in that stand  in single digit wind chills, being gradually covered with sleet.  That last thought resulted in my smokepole resting on the shooting sticks, and ripping through the peaceful silence of the woods.  Deer ran every direction, and as my buck ran by my stand, I could see the hole my Omega had center punched his chest.  He ran about seventy yards and fell over.

My largest buck to date…