"The Sneak"

Tom's '98 Muzzleloader buck is a very heavy 6x5.

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