Outdoors With Kevin Fox:Alternative Method Season for Whitetail
I sat in a very comfortable folding chair and had moved my electric heater from inside the cabin to the deck, where I would spend the evening deer hunting. It had been a quiet evening without seeing a deer, but that didn’t surprise me, as I fully expected the deer not to appear until the last 20 minutes of the day. There were plenty of tracks revealing that deer had been coming out to feed on the harvested cornfield I was hunting over. It was the Alternative Methods whitetail deer season, and unlike this year, a deer was needed to put some venison in the freezer. Well, maybe not needed, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt anything either — for bologna and burger for parties, and for chili or even spaghetti sauce.
My Alternative Methods choice was a Connecticut Valley Arms model Wolf. It is chambered in .50 caliber and came as a combo, including a 3‑9 Konus scope. Trust me when I say that it is not a terribly expensive muzzleloader, but my goodness — they think it is deadly accurate. Although it may not be my favorite muzzleloader, I tend to lean toward a Thompson/Center Hawken that was redone to make it look as period as possible for a modern muzzleloader. But the buckhorn sights on the Hawken meant that I would lose the last minutes of the day simply because I wouldn’t be able to see my sights!
As I eased into prime time for when I expected the deer to appear, almost as if we had made an appointment, a deer did come onto the field. It may have been in range of the “Wolf” when it first appeared, but it was feeding toward me, so I let it continue to work within even better range. Of course deer do not always oblige what is best for the hunter, and for a short time the deer was actually feeding toward me, which meant I had nothing but a frontal shot. That meant I had no shot at all. But it turned with its tail toward me, allowing me time to put my muzzleloader on the railing around my deck and rest it on a small pillow from the cabin. When it turned around again it may have been 75 yards or so away and offered a broadside shot. I waited and watched as the deer fed, and when it stopped for a moment and raised its head, I pulled the trigger.
As is the case with a muzzleloader rifle, there was smoke. But I heard the impact, and running from behind the veil of smoke was my deer. The deer, which was a buck that had already shed its horns, went perhaps 60 yards or so before it went end over end into a brush pile on the corner of my field. When my brother arrived, I acted as though I didn’t know where the deer had gone, and I let him follow the blood trail. I laughed when I found the deer in the brush, as I had already been there once to make sure the deer was, in fact, dead.
I, for one, enjoy the Alternative Methods season for a variety of reasons. First, it just means more time in the field, and that’s always a good thing. Second, I think it’s easier to pattern a deer’s stomach than its hormones during the rut. And finally — third — I get an opportunity to use a firearm that I could use during the regular November deer season but don’t because there is a chance that the deer I wished to take might be beyond my effective range with my muzzleloader or my pistol.
This year, the Alternative Methods season runs from Dec. 27 to Jan. 6. Please go online or check out the Missouri Hunting Digest for acceptable methods, hunting hours, as well as the dates that I shared, so that you are in the know.
Speaking of pistols, I sat with my back to a corner post in a fencerow that also bordered a harvested cornfield many years ago. I had bought a Thompson/Center Contender, chambered in .44 Magnum, that summer and was anxious to hunt with it. The pistol came with a 1.5‑power scope, which really showed how unsteady I was with a pistol. It seemed almost impossible to hold the crosshairs steady unless I used a rest, which I did when sighting the pistol in behind the house.
So along with my backpack, which contained the pistol and a pad to sit on, and my binoculars in my right hand, I carried a set of H.S. Strut folding shooting sticks. I sat for a time against the post and only saw a small flock of turkey enter the field. A little early in the evening, a small buck came out on the field, but was much too far for me to even consider attempting a shot. The deer continued to feed from my left to my right across the field, but never any closer.
I continued to watch him, and somewhere along my viewing the deer was staring toward the corner of the field to my left. I turned ever so slowly, but couldn’t see anything. So I kind of relaxed but continued to watch to my left. The buck had gone over a rise in the field and I could no longer see him, but when I turned my head back to the left, a doe was feeding along the hedge row where I was sitting.
If it continued to feed along the same corn row, it would probably be within 30 yards of me. While its head was down, I raised my pistol from my lap and placed it in the rubber forks of the shooting sticks and waited. It seemed like time crawled as it took forever for the doe to close the distance. Had I had my muzzleloader, and especially had it been during the regular gun season, I could have taken the shot when I first saw the doe. But I was anxious to see if I could take a deer with my Contender.
I watched the deer feed, and from time to time I would look through the scope, but never seriously considered taking the shot. At about 50 yards or so, it became obvious that I would get a shot, and I pulled the hammer back on the Contender. I have taken quite a few deer over my life and I always enjoy hunting them, and to be honest — and with regret — I have outgrown getting buck fever. I wish I hadn’t, because that was a special time. However, this doe that was slowly feeding into range had me shaking. It seemed like I was steadying my pistol on a sewing machine, and if I couldn’t get control of myself, I told myself I wouldn’t take the shot!
The doe was now in range and something had to be done one way or another. I feared that the doe would hear my heart beating. I was so nervous. Finally, I quit thinking about the doe and tried to focus on one spot on the deer, much the same way as you would when hunting with a bow. I aimed at that fold in the skin behind the shoulder and focused as hard as I could to hit that spot. I didn’t hit the spot, but I only missed it by a few inches, and the doe went down in a heap.
That was the only deer I have taken with the Contender. But who knows what I’ll be packing on Dec. 27.
