Muzzle loader season starts tomorrow..

[Robertfishes]

Took my trusty Knight 50 cal to the rifle range weds. Tuesday I bought a box of 50/50 777 pellets and 24 Barnes T- EZ solid copper 260 grain sabot bullets. I can only shoot out to 107 yards, shot twice, 1 inch apart and 3 inchs high. Ran 3 wet patches thru barrel, 3 dry and one with a little lube on it..777 is so much easier to clean than pryodex.. Shot 4 more times at another target, about 1.5 inch group and still 3 inch high. Took dirty gun home to clean

[Robertfishes]

I should be good to go tomorrow. Taking my buddy from Ohio to my hunt club, I hope he sees a hog or two. It is cooling down here in North central Florida, it might be 49 in the morning. Our bucks were chasing does in late August and again 3 weeks ago..rut is really early and spread out in this part of the state (levy county). I passed on several small bucks and good does during archery season hoping for a big buck..didn't get one. I have been seeing a good buck feeding in a fresh cut the last 3 weeks..I will be gunning for him the next few days.

[superkodiak38]

Ours started Thursday, the first three days are buck or doe then a week of doe only, Maryland is dumb like that. It was 85* Thursday and Friday and I didn't go. A front came in today and it is raining and should only get to 60* tomorrow so I will take Matthew out and see if he can put another notch on the muzzleloader stock

[Robertfishes]

it was 48 degrees this morning!! Felt good since I have been hunting in the 80s and 90s all season..went to a cut this morning,sat on a stool backed up to a brush pile. Had a Buck come by looking for a doe, I didn't think he was what I was looking for.. 2 groups of hen turkeys fed past me at 25 yards. Then I saw a decent florida buck bird dogging a doe, he looked Good and I made the shot. Well he had ground shrinkage.. and was a Buck I had grunted in and passed on during archery season..so now with one in the cooler I will be looking for a really good buck and any hog I see..

[superkodiak38]

Congrats on the buck ! We went last night but the wind was gusting to 30 and we had only one doe come by, she sidehilled us flicking her tail either nervous about the wind or maybe having a buck on her tail, tried grunting a bit but no other sightings. I should have a good wind for a stalk in the morning, going to stalk the ridges and valleys that border a marsh it's a long walk but it should be productive.

[Yohon]

Congrats on the buck Robert!! Still really windy here from that front, SuperK should be able to ninja up on one in this weather

[Robertfishes]

Yesterday afternoon I went to another property that has a hog problem.. I had a buck, 3 does with 2 fawns walk by..no hogs but my 2 friends each killed one..was 39 degrees this morning and calm. Went to one of my bow stands, had a spike walk by early then a 5 point with a spike, about a dozen turkeys..heard a shot at 9 am, a guy hunting a half mile south of me shot a good florida 8 point I got down at 10:30 and ran off another group of hens when I came out of woods into the edge of the cut..

[Robertfishes]

Loving this cold front..44 degrees this morning..Sitting in a ladder stand this morning, havnt seen anything yet. Today There is a big 4x4 skidder making bed rows in the cut where I killed the buck, I am about 2 miles south sitting in a group of oak trees with cypress swamp behind me, pines and palmettos everywhere else. I saw some hogs and does here during archery, there are scrapes and rubs too. Pretty sure I'm going over to my buddy's place this evening to hog hunt.

[superkodiak38]

It was warmer than that here this morning, 50 when I got up. I started my stalk on the edge of a cornfield about 3/4 of a mile from the parking area. About 5 minutes into shooting light I look down a row with my bino's and see a big doe trotting down the row right at me, I dropped the bino's and brought up the muzzleloader and she diverted in to another row. Tried to re locate her and get a shot but I couldn't find her again. I stalked the edge of the marsh for a couple hours and found some rubs and a recently hit scrape but no more encounters. Might sit a groundblind with one of my boys tonight.

[Robertfishes]

Good luck this afternoon. My buddy shot a 8 point at 9:55 this morning. We had 3000 acres to ourselves, other than the guy on the row maker machine.. I sat till 11 and never saw a deer. I had good cover scent...the property next to ours is burning a bunch of tree piles today. A multi Billionare guy bought about 70,000 acres and is turning Southern Pine Plantations into grass fields for beef. I'm in a tree now waiting on a hog or two, I'm not allowed to shoot deer at this nice property.