Cornhusker Mule Deer

Late Season Buck with a Muzzleloader

- Darron McDougal

Daylight was quickly fading as 16 mule deer trotted across the snow-layered landscape toward a standing cornfield – a pattern I had identified while scouting and hunting for a few days on land I’d gained permission to hunt that borders Nebraska’s legendary Pine Ridge region. I clutched my muzzleloader a bit tighter as I watched the deer from a Double Bull blind I had set up a couple of days earlier.

The December air was dense with moisture, imposing a chilling bite and causing thick vapor with each exhalation. Shivers set in as I waited for a specific buck to appear. The light was fading fast, and doubt was creeping in. My only hope was a last-light opportunity.

Then the chosen buck suddenly appeared. I raised the muzzleloader to acquire the deer in the scope, and as it paralleled the blind 183 yards away, I grunted to stop it, exhaled and took aim. Just as I began applying pressure to the trigger, the buck started moving again. I relaxed my finger then repeated the steps. This time, the big buck paused a bit longer and the rifle fired – smoke engulfing my otherwise unobstructed view.

This Nebraska deer hunt began a few months earlier in September, during archery season. It was my first time hunting the Pine Ridge area, so I familiarized myself with the public lands within reasonable proximity to the campground where my wife and I parked our fifth-wheel camper. After several scouting outings, we located a big whitetail buck and two solid mule deer bucks. Things were looking great. I hunted for a week, but fickle winds prevented me from hunting my chosen spots.