Muzzle Loader 2011

Monday November 29th, was the start of New Jersey's muzzle loader season.  Dave and Bill were the first to fill their tags on opening morning each killing a 5 pointer. The temperatures were unseasonably high and after christening the new game pole they were off to the butcher shop after letting their deer hang for all of about 20 minutes.

Dave and Bill with their bucks.

The next morning Charlie arrived after his morning sit with this nice 8 point buck in the back of his pickup. We hoisted him up on the scale and he weighed out at 122 pounds.

Charlie with his Deer

On the way back from the check station we saw a big buck hanging at our buddy farm and pulled in for a closer look.   Jimbo had killed this 20" wide eight pointer on a 2 man push late in the morning.

This buck was bedded with a doe in a small wooded piece between farm fields.  Jimmy's cousin Al did a soft push through the piece jumping the buck with his doe and the both ran right to Jimbo's position.   Jimmy killed this buck with a perfect shot to the heart from his Thompson Center Encore muzzle loader as he was at full stride breaking out of the wood line into open ground.

Jimmy's deer dressed out at 162 pounds.

Jimmy with his Buck

 Here are a few trail camera photos of Jimbo's buck from a couple of mile's away earlier in the season.

Here is another picture of the same deer from a year earlier.

Later that evening on the same day November 30th, I got a call from my friend Rob who told me to meet him at the check station because he got one.  I showed up and Rob had this eight pointer hanging on the scale upside down so I took it down and hung it right side up for better picture angles.

Robs buck tipped the scales at 161 pounds.

Rob with his buck.

The early muzzle loader season in New Jersey is an exciting time because the rut is usually still strong and there is a lot of potential for killing nice bucks that haven't heard the sounds of gunshots and started running for their lives.  Every year we see some beautiful buck taken during the early season.

Steve killed this six pointer Christmas eve.  This buck didn't have a huge rack but he was a stout deer weighing in at 136 pounds.

Steve with his Muzzle loader buck.

Out of State 2011

          

            November proved to be a good month for out of state hunting trips in 2011.   We had three mature bucks killed, 2 from Ohio and a third from Virginia. 

         
            First to Score in the out of state category was my cousin Joe with this 150 pound eight pointer.   Joe killed his buck during the last 20 minutes of a seven day bow trip to Ohio.  Out of the four guys in his hunting party, Joe was the only hunter to fill his tag.   This deer was harvested on public land with an Excalibur Vortex crossbow outfitted with Spitfire broad heads.  

           On account of nightfall approaching Joe opted to wait until the following morning to recover his deer.  This buck only ran 40 yards before he ran out of blood.

     

         When Joe returned from his trip we took the deer to our local check station to have him weighed   For some reason the deer are not weighed in Ohio.    This deer dressed out at 150 pounds even.

  This big nine pointer was the next deer to be taken and it too is also an Ohio bow season kill. Elmer Killed this 130 class 9 pointer on a bow hunt Wednesday November 9th on  private ground.  Elmer shot this 170 pound buck as it was preparing to cross a stream.   He took a 60 yd shot with his Stryker crossbow hitting the buck in the spine and paralyzing it.   The deer then rolled down the embankment and landed in the stream where Elmer shot him again and then tied him to a fallen tree so as to keep him from floating down river.

 Elmer's buck wieghed in at 170 pounds even.

       Next to make a kill was my cousin Bill with this long tine eight pointer.   Bill took this Virginia buck during a morning hunt on 11-11-11 with his muzzle loader.   

Here is a cell phone pic of the buck as it lay where he shot it.