Category Archives: Hunting

Although mostly intended for the kind of hunting where you get a license, go out into woods, and shoot an animal (either for food or pest control) this category may also be used for tracking down cyber criminals (it’s Joe’s day job).

It’s Muzzleloader Season in Eastern Washington

Posted on by

I started buying guns during the Clinton years, simply because they were trying to ban them, but never thought much about hunting until my son was old enough to carry a youth-stocked shotgun in the field.  I took him through hunter safety and we’d gotten a few upland game birds together, but he was always interested in big game hunting.  Three years ago we bought him his own rifle, and the next day he’d gotten his first deer.  I’d gotten a deer tag here and there, and gone out a day or two some seasons, but it was never a big priority for me.  We went out with Joe once near his folks’ place, which was really nice, but only managed to see one deer in full sprint, which makes for a lousy (and dangerous) shot.  No dice.  I did what I could to help Son get his deer or two each year, and the vicarious satisfaction was enough, I guess.


Not this year.  When I took Son to get his ’08 deer tag, I decided to get one for myself– for late muzzleloader season, and I meant it this time.  Fewer hunters in the field and the cooler weather of the late season appealed to me.  We’d selected the perfect site for a tree stand, just a short walk from our house on a steep hill covered by thick brush where humans rarely tread, and where the deer trails all seem to converge.  This is a choke point in their travel around the city of Palouse, along the Palouse river.  Son got a deer there last year, and had seen several deer almost every time he’d been up there.  Last year I sat in that tree and watched a doe with two fawns, sitting, chewing the cud, the young ones chasing a covey of quail, and just generally hanging out, for about an hour.  My tag was for buck only at that time, so I just sat there watching them, not 15 yards from me.  It’s good to really blend into the environment now and then.  You see some amazing things.


This year I went out before dawn on the first day of the season, November 20th, with the caplock muzzleloader.  Some people use in-line muzzleloaders with substitute propellant pellets, modern sabots, shotgun primers, and scopes.  I don’t quite understand the benefit.  A sidelock with the right load, standard percussion caps, using black powder which ignites more easily, can perform just as well at reasonable distances, and it’s not as if these rifles are 300 yards hunting worthy.  I charged the rifle with powder and round ball with a lubricated patch before heading out of the house (a muzzleloader that is not primed is not considered “loaded”).  A few yards from the house and I was out of the city limits.  Time to cap the nipple.  If I see a deer after about 15 minutes I can legally fire.


Nothing.  No other hunters and no deer.  I crawl through the brush and up the steep slope to the tree.  Tough going.  I’m winded.  I have a tendency to be afraid of heights.  Huffing and puffing, I start up the tree.  Too shaky.  Not safe.  Back to the ground.  I have to think; my hands aren’t going to suddenly let go just because I’m a little winded.  Back up the tree (it’s a hairy climb) to sit on the small stand.  I experience just a bit of vertigo for a minute, and then everything’s fine.  The rifle was decapped and tied to some parachute cord at the ground, so I hoisted it up to the stand and capped it again.  I sat there for two hours as the sun came up and then, suddenly; nothing happened.  No prey was doing me the favor of walking in front of my extremely limited field of fire that day.  Tons of sign on the ground, but no luck.  Time to climb down and get ready for work.


Two days later, I went back up to the tree late in the day and sat there for an hour and a half.  Nothing.  Tons of fresh sign, but nothing.  I was thinking of climbing down and taking a hike along the river for about two miles.  Anywhere along that corridor there could be deer.  I wanted to act.  But no– if I’m moving, the deer are infinitely more likely to detect my presence and high-tail it before I can get a shot.  If you’re still, and your prey is moving, you have the advantage, especially if your prey is somewhat predictable.  These deer are predictable.  For sure, they’ll be moving at dusk, which is right now.  The only questing is where.  But I should act– he who hesitates is lost.  But haste makes waste.  But the early bird gets the worm.  Look before you leap.  There’s no time like the present, tomorrow’s another day, etc.. I was trying to think of more contradictory words of wisdom when I heard a rustling in the brush behind me.  Had to be a human or a large animal, no question.  A large doe appears from the brush, followed by more deer.  Who cares– this one looks really good.  The muzzleloader tag is for a deer with either a 3-point minimum rack or antlerless.  I’m shooting for the table, not for trophies.


She’s directly below me now, oblivious to my presence, walking fast.  I could have shot downward, through the spine and anchored her right there, but I’d rehearsed this in my mind many times and the picture was always of a side-on shot.  No matter, she’s moving quickly, leading more deer up the hill to feed on the farmers’ wheat.  It’s a herd.  She’s still oblivious.  Have to hurry.  I pull the trigger, thumb the hammer all the way back, release the trigger, and ease the hammer forward into full cock.  Silent cock– rehearsed this hundreds of times.  It wouldn’t have mattered because the deer were trundling through the brush making plenty of noise, but it’s the way this was rehearsed.  Keep the trigger finger straight along the stock.  Can’t touch this trigger.  Its pull is as light as some set triggers– a pound or less.  I’d spent hours on it, messed it up, replaced the tumbler and sear, and started over.  Now the trigger pull is as light as you’d ever dare, even slightly dangerous, but this isn’t a social rifle.  The charge has been in the barrel for over 48 hours, it came in from the cold last time and into the warm house where it could have pulled in some condensation, but it should be fine.  I’ve tested this and there should be plenty of headroom in that regard.  I’d been using CCI caps, but it was a little frustrating that once in a while I’d get a misfire.  The caps fit too tight on this nipple, and some of the hammer’s energy had to be spent seating the cap.  The same thing can happen with metallic cartridges if the caps aren’t properly seated, or if headspace is too great.  I’d read that Remington caps tend to fit looser, so this time I had a Remington cap on there, as I’d tried them and couldn’t get a failure.  No worries about a misfire.


The doe turned her side to me in the perfect spot, not 20 yards from my tree, with perfect backstop.  Front sight behind the shoulder, rear sight, finger on trigger, Bam!  On later reflection, I recall having sensed no recoil and he noise, without hearing protection, was not uncomfortable.  You do this at the gun range and it hurts.  Here it’s not even noticed.  It’s a strange thing.


The doe bounded away from the cloud of smoke, up the slope, and into the field like a perfectly healthy deer, several others behind her.  No time to reload– that’s not an option.  I could not possibly have missed.  I know.  I was there.  I saw the whole thing.  But off she ran.  Crap…no, wait, she’s slowing down.  At the top of the hill out in the wheat field, she stumbled and went down.  OK.  I have to remember to breathe at this point.  Sometimes that’s important.  I tied the rifle to the cord, lowered it to the ground, called Son on the radio & told him to bring the pickup, and then started climbing down.  He called back about something or other.  Crap.  I felt I had to answer right then, holding onto one of the “steps” (angled metal screws we put in the tree for hand-holds) with one hand while operating the radio with the other.  Probably not a good idea.


The 50 caliber ball (mass; ~180 grains) pushed by 110 grains of Goex FF black powder (this is the charcoal, sulfur and KNO3 mixture of yore) had traveled squarely through the rib cage and out the other side, behind the shoulders and in front of the diaphragm.  That’s the “boiler room”–the heart/lung cavity.  I’d been told this wouldn’t happen– that the round ball would stop just short of full penetration, but maybe those hunters use a lighter powder charge.  Still, more velocity should mean more deformation of the soft lead ball…  Impact velocity was about 1850 fps, and the exit hole was about the same size as the entry.  That’s a “one-shot stop” but, both lungs partially liquefied, this doe ran up a steep slope, bounding over bushes as pretty as you please, and into a field before going down.  That was about 75 yards total, with some rough going.  Something to keep in mind.  If you want to “anchor” the animal, it has to be a critical skeletal shot, like right through two shoulders (they can run pretty well on three legs) or a central nervous system (CNS) shot.  Little else will stop an animal (two legged or four legged) in its tracks, Hollywood notwithstanding (see update below).  I tried to avoid the shoulders because there’s some good meat there.  One of Son’s deer had had a scapula shattered, and that was a mess.  No thankee.


The whole sequence, from first hearing noise in the bushes to the deer falling, lasted around 15 seconds.


What, I can’t go on and on about it?  I’m 50 years old, this was my first deer, and now we have a lot more good meat for the freezer.  Yahoo!  For those who fear “gamy” venison; maybe we’ve just been lucky, but we’ve not noticed a trace of this phenomenon with the animals we’ve harvested so far.  We’ve gotten does because they’re vastly more common.  People who tell me they hate venison because its gamy all seem to have eaten bucks.  I really don’t know what makes for sweet meat verses gamy.  More research is obviously needed.  No doubt a federal grant is in order.


Next I’d like to try a flintlock.  Why?  Just ’cause.  For one thing, a modern rifle is for long shots, and the hunting we do near the house is limited to no more than about 70 yards (so far we’ve killed no deer beyond about 40 yards).  For another; I just want to.  I’d’ve used a muzzleloading pistol if the WA game department allowed it.  I won’t go on about how using a primitive gun is some sort of superior life choice or anything.  It isn’t.  I admit it’s a distraction.  The people who used them back in the day were in fact using state-of-the-art technology.  We should learn the state-of-the-art for our own time, and endeavor to advance it.  If they’d wanted to be old-fashioned in the 18th or early 19th century, they’d have used matchlocks or bows and arrows.


Here’s the obligatory, grizzly post kill photo along with the rifle;



Yes, some people find liver to be disgusting.  I like it.  I’d show you a big juicy steak, but for best flavor and tenderness, the muscle meat has to age for several days before cutting and cooking.  The liver is great if eaten right away.  These deer liver steaks were fried in olive oil with shallots, just a pinch of crushed of rosemary, and salt & pepper, served with a nice baked potato and a glass of red Zinfandel.  Simply lovely.


Update Dec. 1 / 08


Butchering the deer this weekend, we found the heart had been grazed by the ball, opening a hole in one chamber (yeah, we leave the heart in while it hangs.  Call us weird).  The ball entered straight through one rib and out through another, severing both.  The doe had run about 75 yards with two blown lungs, a blown heart and two severed ribs.  I also found an almost pristine 17 caliber air rifle pellet lodged against the pelvis.  It would have had to travel through the hide, through a layer of fat, through 2.5 inches of meat and stop at the bone.  I doubt this could have happened to the adult doe. 17 cal air rifles don’t typically have near enough penetration, plus there was no apparent wound channel, so I’m thinking someone shot a fawn in the butt.  Some people’s kids.

The white-tailed deer in my van

Posted on by

This morning I finished cleaning my heavy barreled AR-15 and then cleaned my .300 Win Mag. It was raining but was supposed to stop by midday where I was headed (they were wrong). I packed up my rain gear (a poncho), gun gear, hunting knife, computer, some food, and water. I had to mail some stuff to one of my lawyers and finally got out of town a little after noon. I arrived at the Boomershoot site a little after 13:00. I walked from near the 380 yard line to the Taj Mahal about a quarter mile away taking about 1.5 hours going slowly around the area, nearly twice, in opposite directions. I expected to find a deer in the tall grass or under a tree where I had seen two deer before. Lyle and his son and I had seen three deer about two weeks ago. No such luck today. I got soaking wet from the knees down. I did a little work at the Taj Mahal and dried out a little bit. I didn’t warm up any though. After an hour or so I left and as I drove south over the hill toward South Road on Meridian Road I saw two deer. One was stopped looking at me from about 100 yards away. I stopped and watched as the first one ran away and the other just stared at me. It was on land I didn’t have permission to hunt on. On the other side of the road was more land I didn’t have permission to hunt on. If it crossed the road I couldn’t shoot it while it was on the road. It was safe from me for over 400 yards in any direction. I drove on and it ran away as I got closer.

I was cold and damp and was enjoying the warmth of the van. I decided to do some “road hunting.” I would drive around for a while and see if I could see anything from the roads on any of the land I had permission to hunt on. I drove slowly north into a field we call “The 120”. Nothing. I turned around and slowly drove back out to the main road. I drove west on South Road and then north on Newman Road. I turned west into another field where Lyle, his son, and I waited for dusk and deer to appear before. Last time dusk and then darkness had arrived without any deer.

About 16:00 I parked and set up to wait for dusk and the hoped for deer. An aerial image of the location is here. The top strip of green is trees and brush. Just to the south (down) is my parents land. In the middle of the picture, going north-south, is a strip of grass in a draw. It is called a grass waterway. I had parked my van just south of where the grass waterway bends to the east. Using the van for shelter from the breeze and the rain I setup and waited. I fired up my computer and used the hot air from the fan to dry the ocular lens that had water drops on it. I checked temperature, 46 F, and the barometric indicated altitude–3000 feet above sea level. I put the information into Modern Ballistics and used the laser range finder to get distances to the nearest trees and various landmarks in the grass waterway. I set the scope angle to an indicated 5.75 MOA. Using the 180 grain Federal Power-Shok cartridges for my .300 Win Mag that would give me a zero of 234 yards and a point blank range of 273 yards with a point blank size of 4.8 inches. The nearest trees were about 270 yards. Anything my side of the trees could be hit within 2.4 inches of my point of aim without adjusting for elevation–assuming perfect ammo, gun, and shooter. None of those were perfect but from 200 to 260 yards the point of impact should be +/- 1.4 inches assuming everything is perfect. The deer, almost for certain, would be within that range if it appeared.

At 16:40 my daughter Kim called to discuss snow tires for her car. I chatted for a while then saw two deer walk out of the woods and stroll slowly to the east. I told Kim, “I’m out hunting and I just saw two deer come out of the woods. I want to shoot them now.” We said good-bye and I turned my attention to the deer. The deer were together in the center of the grass waterway having just come out of the woods. My laser range finder said I was 255 yards from the lead deer which was broadside to me and a better target. I was aiming just ahead of the shoulder as it was walking into the shot. The gun went off without a conscious thought from me–IPSC does that to you. In IPSC when I’m doing things right I find that as the sights are aligned on the target the gun goes boom without me knowing it was going to happen–even when it’s happening three times a second. Just as I pulled the trigger the deer stopped and put it’s head down to eat. In the 0.3 seconds the bullet took to reach it’s target the deer would have put it’s heart into the path of the bullet. But because it was stopped the bullet got it’s spine instead of the heart and lungs–we both got lucky. It would be hard to get a cleaner, quicker death than a completely severed spine between it’s head and heart. I got an easier job of cleaning the chest cavity and have more eatable meat.


The untouched deer after being shot. Click for a larger image, then click again for still larger.

Another example for doubters of Myth Busters. The deer fell toward the shooter (actually it turned 90 degrees toward me then fell over so the long axis of it’s body was aligned with me). You are looking at the exit wound side of the deer. It did not get pushed or knocked down by the bullet impact. It’s spine was severed and whatever muscle twitches remained caused it’s only motion as it crumpled to the ground.

The other deer jumped and ran a few steps before stopping and looking in my direction. I wondered at first if I had missed and this was the deer I had shot at. I looked closely through the scope and could see the white from the belly of the deer I had shot. It was motionless. I quickly packed up enough to drive to the downed deer. The still standing deer didn’t run away until I had started up and was moving toward it.

I parked the van next to the deer and started cutting on it. I then called Doug to tell him and hoped he would volunteer to come help. He did. When he and his son Brad arrived about 10 minutes later it was getting dark and it was still raining. I was doing this for the first time and progress was slow for me before Doug arrived. Doug brought a hatchet that we used to break open the pelvis and the sternum. After tagging it and emptying the body cavity we put it on the tarp in my van and drove back to his place to skin it while hanging up in the machine shed.

I called Kim back after the gutted deer was in the van and on the way to the shed for skinning. She asked if she was still going to get some of the meat. I told her, “Of course”. After talking to Kim I called Xenia and told her I would be home a little late because I had got my deer.

In the shed we had artificial lights, a roof over our heads, and equipment to hoist the deer up to chest height for easy skinning. 1.5 hours after I took the shot it was gutted, skinned, and wrapped in a tarp in my van.

I went inside to visit with my parents and clean up a little. I wore plastic gloves and my poncho while working with the deer so I didn’t get much blood on me. I just had to clean my knives and a little bit blood from one sleeve of my shirt. Mom fixed me a peanut butter, jelly, and lettuce sandwich and gave me a glass of milk for my supper. I left my parents place at 18:30 and was home, parked in the driveway with the carcass of a white-tailed deer in my van by 19:30. Tomorrow it will go to the meat cutter who will age it, then cut, and wrap the meat.

Interesting coincidences–I have harvested (using Barb’s Jeep rather than my rifle) only one other deer before. It also was on Halloween and just seconds prior to downing it I got a call on my cell phone. That time I was on the phone talking to Barb when the deer jumped out in front of me and the impact caused compound fractures in both its hind legs. I killed it with my pistol and again Doug came to field dress it.

Doug asked me if I got sick to my stomach as I pulled the trigger. He still does sometimes. Other people get very excited and can’t shoot worth a darn when a deer gets into their sights. I didn’t feel any excitement or sickness–just the recoil of the rifle on my shoulder. There was no particular joy or sadness either. Just another four legged, crop eating pest was dead and I would have some meat to share with my children over the next few months.

More pictures from my first hunting season are here. Tomorrow, after the light is better, I plan to update the photo album with pictures of the entrance and exit wounds.

Update: I took the deer to the meat processor Tuesday morning. While on the scales with head and legs still attached it weighed 79 pounds. The photo album has been updated with pictures of the entrance and exit wounds.

Update2: Information on whitetailed deer. Also of interest is that in Clearwater county, where this deer was harvested, a collision with a deer is the most common form of car accident.