Apex Predator
Senior Member
I bought this Optima handgun after seeing how much fun Dave and other folks were having. It really is tons of fun to shoot and hunt with. It's a fifty caliber and sports a 14" barrel. Best load for me is the 250 grain TC Shockwave ahead of two 50 grain 777 pellets. A cheap BSA 2X20MM scope tops her off. Sighted in dead on at 50 yards, she groups right at one inch.
Saturday was opening day of black powder season, as most of you know. I could be found in Screven County on a lease I share with Martin, John, and Nolan. I took my father-in-law along, because he is my best hunting buddy!
I had planned to put John D (FIL) in a killer stand that had seen lot's of action last black powder opener! He made it up the ladder in the pre-dawn, but decided against sitting the ladder when it started to slide around on the tree, and he got a good look at the size of the platform. Plan B was for him to sit on top of a near by rock formation overlooking a creek.
My plan of blazing a trail to one of the under used creek bottoms was dashed by bunches of newly grown briars! I decided to fight that battle in the daylight! I decided on a quick and easy hunt for the first morning. We have a double ladder setup as an easy hunt for the kids and elderly. It overlooks a small green patch that we planted. Nolan saw a nice buck in this plot on last year's black powder opener.
I climbed about twice as high in my summit climber as that double ladder perch, which was 20 yards behind me. It was a quiet morning. The sun was getting warm on the back of my legs. Here is a shot of the plot to my left, and the tangle in front of me.
It's a 3-4 acre oasis of 15-20 year old pines in the middle of a sea of 5 year old pines (bedding area). We had photos of 8 different bucks in this one little plot last year.
At 9:10 I hear him coming, but not until just before I could see him. He was 20 yards directly in front of me and closing at a fast trot. I swung the gun out of my lap, started to raise it up, and mouth grunted all just a second or two after seeing him. He stopped behind a small pine, with just his back half showing. The tree trunk was only two inches or so, and I could see the front foot. I knew where to put the cross hairs, so I shot through the green pine needles. He was directly behind the pine, and 12 yards in front of me! At the shot he bolted/then walked 20 yards to the edge of the ocean of young pines. He stood there looking around as I tried to get another load in the gun! After a couple of seconds his tail started to twitch, and then he started to sway! Down he went, hard!! He was wheezing for 10-12 seconds, then all was still and quiet. I started texting my buddies! After about three minutes, I see something move, and look to where the deer was. He was standing, and started walking off into the thicket, wheezing the whole way. After a few seconds, all was quiet.
I waited an hour, climbed down as quietly as I could, and made my way over to the site. I picked up the trial where he went into the woods, and luckily, didn't have to follow it but about 10 yards. There was my buck! I took this cell phone photo before my buds arrived, and it's one of my favorites!
The bullet entered perfect center of lungs, but exited just past mid body back. The buck had to turn his torso toward me when he stopped at my grunt. Him being obscured partially by the pine tree gave a misleading profile. Only one lung, liver, and guts were damaged, but he didn't like it much! I'm glad it turned out. Bullet was not recovered.
I judged the buck to be around 3 1/2 years old and probably 150-160# on the hoof. Prolly 120" range. I'll measure him later.
Here are some better photos that Martin took for me.
Saturday was opening day of black powder season, as most of you know. I could be found in Screven County on a lease I share with Martin, John, and Nolan. I took my father-in-law along, because he is my best hunting buddy!
I had planned to put John D (FIL) in a killer stand that had seen lot's of action last black powder opener! He made it up the ladder in the pre-dawn, but decided against sitting the ladder when it started to slide around on the tree, and he got a good look at the size of the platform. Plan B was for him to sit on top of a near by rock formation overlooking a creek.
My plan of blazing a trail to one of the under used creek bottoms was dashed by bunches of newly grown briars! I decided to fight that battle in the daylight! I decided on a quick and easy hunt for the first morning. We have a double ladder setup as an easy hunt for the kids and elderly. It overlooks a small green patch that we planted. Nolan saw a nice buck in this plot on last year's black powder opener.
I climbed about twice as high in my summit climber as that double ladder perch, which was 20 yards behind me. It was a quiet morning. The sun was getting warm on the back of my legs. Here is a shot of the plot to my left, and the tangle in front of me.
It's a 3-4 acre oasis of 15-20 year old pines in the middle of a sea of 5 year old pines (bedding area). We had photos of 8 different bucks in this one little plot last year.
At 9:10 I hear him coming, but not until just before I could see him. He was 20 yards directly in front of me and closing at a fast trot. I swung the gun out of my lap, started to raise it up, and mouth grunted all just a second or two after seeing him. He stopped behind a small pine, with just his back half showing. The tree trunk was only two inches or so, and I could see the front foot. I knew where to put the cross hairs, so I shot through the green pine needles. He was directly behind the pine, and 12 yards in front of me! At the shot he bolted/then walked 20 yards to the edge of the ocean of young pines. He stood there looking around as I tried to get another load in the gun! After a couple of seconds his tail started to twitch, and then he started to sway! Down he went, hard!! He was wheezing for 10-12 seconds, then all was still and quiet. I started texting my buddies! After about three minutes, I see something move, and look to where the deer was. He was standing, and started walking off into the thicket, wheezing the whole way. After a few seconds, all was quiet.
I waited an hour, climbed down as quietly as I could, and made my way over to the site. I picked up the trial where he went into the woods, and luckily, didn't have to follow it but about 10 yards. There was my buck! I took this cell phone photo before my buds arrived, and it's one of my favorites!
The bullet entered perfect center of lungs, but exited just past mid body back. The buck had to turn his torso toward me when he stopped at my grunt. Him being obscured partially by the pine tree gave a misleading profile. Only one lung, liver, and guts were damaged, but he didn't like it much! I'm glad it turned out. Bullet was not recovered.
I judged the buck to be around 3 1/2 years old and probably 150-160# on the hoof. Prolly 120" range. I'll measure him later.
Here are some better photos that Martin took for me.
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