MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 29, 2020
Some hunters even prefer the late-season muzzleloader hunt. I don’t, mostly because front-end loaders can be frustrating. My first opportunity to take a deer came on a chilly morning when I spied a fat doe slowly feeding toward me through 18 inches of snow. She stopped at 60 yards and I took careful aim and fired. I could not have made a more perfect shot. My .56 caliber round ball hit dead center – on a .60 caliber sapling. That’s when I learned one of the peculiarities of muzzleloader hunting. For some strange reason deer don’t react the same to the sound of a shot as they do the sound of modern centerfire ammunition. That doe looked up, flicked her tail and continued slowly walking away, vanishing into the thickets just about the time I finally got my gun reloaded with powder, patch and ball. ~ Bob Humphrey