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"The Sneak"
Tom's '98 Muzzleloader buck is a very heavy 6x5.
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It was the Eve of the early 1998 Black Powder hunt in Kansas when I
first spotted the buck feeding in a stubble field. I knew this area, and the deer in this
area, well. They were truly creatures of habit, and I was determined to take advantage of
their habitual mistakes.
I watched the buck for several hours the evening leading up to the hunt, he was a good buck
and definitely a taker. My hope was that on opening morning, I would find him in either the
stubble field or a nearby milo field.
I awoke early opening morning, and along with my nephew, Brian Montgomery, made my way
hunting. I setup on a nearby hill, not far from the field where I had seen the buck the
night before. It was about 7:00am when I spotted the deer coming out of a nearby canyon.
As I expected, the deer were heading for the milo field where they like to feed and bed
during the day. I quickly began my stalk. I had the wind in my face and high grass concealing
my movement. The buck had his mind on feeding and locating a good afternoon bed.
I was equipped with a muzzleloader, and though it's very accurate, I felt that I needed to
get as close to this buck as possible. Slowly I inched closer, knowing that at any moment
the wind could shift and send the beautiful buck bounding for the hills.
Finally, I had a perfect shot available. The buck was only 30 yards when I squeezed the
trigger on my Thomson center fire. The 300-grain sabot instantly knocked the buck to the
ground.
Written by Brian Latturner, as told by Tom Montgomery
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