My 2015 muzzleloader hunt is over.

I have been working on shooting and scouting a lot this year. This is the third antelope tag I have drawn in 30 years.
I went out scouting a couple weeks ago and I took this picture of what I think is my buck.




I got out there on the 22nd and sat in my blind on the 23rd and 24th. I got this picture of him on the water.



I decided that with all the competition this year I was going to get in the blind early. At 8:00 or so a nice little buck came in and I thought about it hard. I passed him and at 9:00 or so in came my buck. He came in from a different way and I was worried that he wouldn't actually give me a shot. After a long wait he came in, but too close. I had my sight set for 100 and he was at 89. At the shot I was slightly above him and straight on. The bullet hit his shoulder and turned and followed the spine and exited the flank. YANK the rug. I reloaded and watched for a minute and all of a sudden he was up. I could not believe my eyes that buck was up and walking (wobbly) I set my sight for 150 yards and put the rifle on the shooting sticks. I then used the range finder and when he got to 150 yards I was going to shoot again. He stopped quartering hard to the left. Then he turned his head and looked back at me. In my haste I didn't think of the wind. I had a solid 15 MPH wind that was a factor and I didn't know it yet. At the shot the buck was DRT. I gathered my stuff and walked out. That is when I realized that the first shot had been turned by the shoulder blade because of the angle. The second shot blew 4" to the left and hit the same shoulder and exited the neck.
I got it to the river and let it cool down in the river for a few hours and took a few more pictures. I used a gun I built from parts, a bullet I made my self, and I skinned it and gutted it with a knife I made last winter.

That is awesome homemade knife and weapon, congratulations on a great hunt with memories for a life time.

Congrats Ron!
Was that a .50 caliber or the .45 caliber?

Par for the course in Idaho, 10% draw odds for lopes here...

Although your buck scores better than par! Nice work, congrats.

Congrats Ron. That is a neat story and your buck is one to be proud of. It took me a good ten years to draw my first tag.
I shot one that was worth it also.

>Congrats Ron!
>Was that a .50 caliber or
>the .45 caliber?


My rifle is a 45. I shoot a Paper Patched RCBS 11mm rifle bullet I make my self.

Congrats. Lovely buck with nice mass all the way up. Love to hunt muzzleloader antelope!

Nice goat Ron!

Ron and his smoke pole are deadly.

Thanks guys!

Lol I'm about ready to throw the towel in on goats this year in 41 with the old muzzleloader

41 can be a tough hunt. Did you see many?

Congratulations Ron! Beautiful pronghorn and great story! Great photos, thanks for sharing! I like your shooting sticks! Did you build those yourself also?

I did build them. The feet are actually interchangeable. I epoxied archery inserts into them and I can use the rubber blunts or the field tips. The part we put the gun has sling swivels and piece of leather. I also made my short starter.