Multiple shots required some fast reloading
Business at Mike’s Gun Shop had been brisk last year, but owner Daniel Lawson had Nov. 6 circled on his store calendar as the opening day of muzzleloader season in Stokes County. Rising early that day, and taking the time to put his wife in a deer stand first, he arrived at his stand and had the feeling of dread that comes with running late.Thirty minutes later he was watching the biggest buck he had ever encountered.
“When I climbed in my two-man ladder stand about 20 feet high, dawn had already broken over the 2-year old cutover that I was hunting,” said Lawson, who initially drove past his stand in the hustle of the morning. “And 30 minutes later I saw a holly bush moving back and forth.”
He was soon able to make out antler tines poking up through the holly just 75 yards away, but he had no shot at all. Lawson finally picked out 10 points on the big animal’s head gear.
Then other deer started to show up.
“A doe came to stand by the 10-pointer with the tall tines, and four other lesser bucks appeared and all of them walked stiff-legged with their hair standing up on their backs,” Lawson said. “The rut was in full effect, and these deer were all acting bucky.”
The biggest buck finally stepped into the clear about 8:30 a.m., and by this time Lawson was a nervous wreck.
“… I put my rifle in position and placed the crosshairs of my (Nikon Buckmaster) scope on him,” Lawson said.
When he squeezed the trigger, the .50-caliber CVA Optima – and the buck just stood there. The shot was a miss.
So Lawson reloaded as quickly as he could.
“I had all my reloading gear laid out on the seat beside me, and I skipped the ball-starter and shoved the powder and Powerbelt bullet in with the ramrod,” he explained.
A second shot rang out, and the buck promptly jumped and ran away, leaving Lawson wondering if he had connected.
The other deer were now acting confused, and somehow Lawson was able to load up a third time and squeeze off a shot that hit a doe in the neck, killing her clean at 156 yards.
When he got out of his stand he found the 10-point buck had not gone far; it laid dead about 150-yards away.
“I texted my wife that I had killed a nice buck, and she thought I had gone crazy shooting up the woods or something,” Lawson said.
When she arrived to view the fine buck they gave thanks, since venison is this family’s main source of protein.
The buck is a mainframe 8-point that 10 scoreable points and a green score of 140 inches Boone & Crockett.
A kicker off the G2 tine and a crab claw gave the left main beam six points, and the rack sported an 18-inch inside spread.
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