Anyone in So Cal or Western Iowa let me rent/borrow a muzzleloader or deer handgun?

K

Kirk_Ferentz

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Feb 16, 2010
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Hey, I know it is a long shot, but I may have managed to get myself into a pickle with a deer tag. I was planning on using my shotgun, but due to some mis-information and confusing booklets, I think I managed to get a tag for a season that s bow, muzzleloader, or handgun only. I don't have any of these, and no time to get any of them.

The archery is out due to my lack of any skill. But if anyone in southern california (really anywhere from LA to San Diego would work) or western iowa has a warm heart or a heart that wants to make a few bucks and owns a muzzleloader or an accurate deer hunting handgun would be willing to help a fellow BF brother out with a Christmas miracle, please let me know. You would have no doubt that your gun would be returned to you, as there are reasons that I could never get away with bamboozling anyone.
 
Nice to see someone replied! I actually figured out that I can buy one in California with no hassle if you can believe that. No paperwork, checks, or waiting. So I just got a used Knight Wolverine and gave myself a crash course in muzzleloading. I wanted to eventually start doing muzzleloader hunting. It definitely opens up your options in Iowa. Hopefully it will get me a deer next week.
 
You won't have any problem filling your deer tag here. The deer are thick as honey in a refrigerator. Every morning there are several deer collision incidents on the radio during the commute. My insurance man said it should be allowed to kill deer from the doors of Huey's with M60's. His office alone, handles a million dollar deer settlement every year. They're vermin. Last week my boss was sitting post while others drove the timber. He said he nearly got trampled by the 75 deer that ran through.
 
When I was living out in western Iowa, it wasn't uncommon to see a field with 20 or 30 deer in them. I went through plenty of brake pads with near misses with them. (those will eat a Ford Ranger for lunch) And they are brazen as hell. There were a few times I could get within 20 or 30 feet of impressive bucks before they would take off. (they were in the city and knew that they were safe.)
 
Seeing them and shooting them are two different propositions. 3 days wasn't enough to fill my tag. Didn't get a shot. It is only a pair of people, and unfamiliar territory. I saw plenty ... in places where I couldn't shoot them. Now, driving them with a bunch of people in territory where you know where they are going to come out is a different story, but I haven't had that luxury the last two years. When you got two people, your options seem pretty limited. Maybe I need to read up on two-person techniques. If you move on the edge of the trees, seems like they will just stay in the trees ... if you go into the trees, you make a ton of racket and they can hear you long before you can find them through the trees and brush. I tried the one guy high, one guy behind him in the middle of the slope 15 minutes behind to try to catch them circling around the first guy, but the terrain wasn't really well suited for that.

Last year, I would find them, but they were 150-200 yards away, and on the move. More skiddish than I had ever seen whitetails. By the last day, I had picked the best territory and drew up a pretty good plan and actually had them moving the way I wanted them to, but still got very far shots. I think for next year, I am either going to try to get in with a group or else buy a turkey license instead. The last three years, I have gone out for pheasants and deer, and both times, turkeys are what I found.
 
:D
Kirk_Ferentz said:
Seeing them and shooting them are two different propositions. 3 days wasn't enough to fill my tag. Didn't get a shot. It is only a pair of people, and unfamiliar territory. I saw plenty ... in places where I couldn't shoot them. Now, driving them with a bunch of people in territory where you know where they are going to come out is a different story, but I haven't had that luxury the last two years. When you got two people, your options seem pretty limited. Maybe I need to read up on two-person techniques. If you move on the edge of the trees, seems like they will just stay in the trees ... if you go into the trees, you make a ton of racket and they can hear you long before you can find them through the trees and brush. I tried the one guy high, one guy behind him in the middle of the slope 15 minutes behind to try to catch them circling around the first guy, but the terrain wasn't really well suited for that.

Last year, I would find them, but they were 150-200 yards away, and on the move. More skiddish than I had ever seen whitetails. By the last day, I had picked the best territory and drew up a pretty good plan and actually had them moving the way I wanted them to, but still got very far shots. I think for next year, I am either going to try to get in with a group or else buy a turkey license instead. The last three years, I have gone out for pheasants and deer, and both times, turkeys are what I found.
Click to expand...

That's why it's called deer hunting and not deer shooting.....:p
 
Yeah I'd rather do real hunting and strike out than take shortcuts and get something. The deer definitely have the upper hand the way I have been doing it. It is still worth it to me, but it would be a lot better if I had a reasonable liklihood of getting something.
 
I've done a lot of two man drives and they work often as not. Reading back issues of Deer & Deer Hunting magazine is an excellent place to start. I am one of the original subscribers and still have some of the first issues, #1 was in 1977 and we were called the "Stump Sitters", IIRC. Whitetail behavior science was in it's infancy then.
 
Good scouting, knowing where the deer are feeding aand bedding and the trails they use to get to those areas are vital. Not sure of your terrain, but I usually got my deer in AZ glassing ridges then figuring a stalk with the terrain and wind direction. A lot of times stalking the deer means you are looking for a good way to get ahead of them and ambush them when they feed by. Chris
 
I have a Thompson Encore .50 caliber muzzleloader. They are extremely accurate and are supposed to be able to take a Deer up to 200 yard's although, I have never tried it or been in a position to try it. It will shoot tight group's at 100 yard's with powerbelt bullet's and 150 grains of powder.
 
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