Hi y'all!
A quick google search brought me here and my head is already spinning! Lots of info to take in. My name is Steve and I'm from Texas. Up until last year I was totally unaware that we even had a muzzleloader season outside of doe and spike. I'm an avid bow hunter, but we aren't allowed to hunt with a bow during muzzleloader season. I recently did some trading with a fellow and should have my new to me Traditions Pursuit .50 cal in my hands in a few days.
I've been hunting my entire life. I killed my first deer at age 7 and in the 24 years since then I've managed to kill quite a few... I even killed a couple of big ones, my biggest being a 17 point that scored 174". Most of my better deer have been with archery equipment, but that's mostly because archery seasons allow more options in the places I hunt. I'm pretty excited about this new adventure with the smoke pole.
I wouldn't go as far as considering myself an expert at rifle and archery hunting, but I've studied it a good deal, and have been fortunate enough to be pretty successful over the years. I come from a long line of "meat hunters" and I consider myself the same but with a twist. I enjoy hunting mature animals that have a few seasons behind them. "Trophy" is a pretty vague term to me. I have a couple of deer on camera that will push the 160" mark and 1 that is closing in on 170". The buck I'm really after is a 7 or 8 year old 9pt that might be in the mid 140's. He has lived his entire life on public land and with a little grace from the Good Lord I hope to end the chapter on him this season. I have over 300 hours logged chasing him already and he's been getting my goat!
Along with hunting I'm an avid bass fisherman and fish most of the tournament trails here in East Texas. My fishing partner and I had a great year on Sam Rayburn this year and won more money than we lost. That doesn't happen in most years lol.
I'm married to a wonderful gal that puts up with my outdoors obsessions. She occasionally joins me and has taken a few deer herself. We have an 18mo old daughter (Adalee) and a 12 day old son (Raylen). I'm a blessed man to have such a wonderful family. With any luck my kids will love the outdoors just like their old man.
I work in the oil field as a Directional Driller when there's a market. Currently it isn't looking good. I was laid off in April but my dad taught me a skill set at a very young age and I have been able to lean on my old welding machine to makes ends meet while waiting for the turn around in the market.
I'm crazy about the outdoors, and love to talk about it. I'll ramble for days if you'll let me. As stated, I'm a complete muzzleloader idiot, but from the looks of the "sticky" info already posted, I'm on my way to becoming a seasoned powder burner like the rest of you guys! I'm proud to be here and hopefully in the years to come I will be able to add some face value to the forum... If nothing more than what NOT to do lol. Thanks for having me!
-jooger17
A quick google search brought me here and my head is already spinning! Lots of info to take in. My name is Steve and I'm from Texas. Up until last year I was totally unaware that we even had a muzzleloader season outside of doe and spike. I'm an avid bow hunter, but we aren't allowed to hunt with a bow during muzzleloader season. I recently did some trading with a fellow and should have my new to me Traditions Pursuit .50 cal in my hands in a few days.
I've been hunting my entire life. I killed my first deer at age 7 and in the 24 years since then I've managed to kill quite a few... I even killed a couple of big ones, my biggest being a 17 point that scored 174". Most of my better deer have been with archery equipment, but that's mostly because archery seasons allow more options in the places I hunt. I'm pretty excited about this new adventure with the smoke pole.
I wouldn't go as far as considering myself an expert at rifle and archery hunting, but I've studied it a good deal, and have been fortunate enough to be pretty successful over the years. I come from a long line of "meat hunters" and I consider myself the same but with a twist. I enjoy hunting mature animals that have a few seasons behind them. "Trophy" is a pretty vague term to me. I have a couple of deer on camera that will push the 160" mark and 1 that is closing in on 170". The buck I'm really after is a 7 or 8 year old 9pt that might be in the mid 140's. He has lived his entire life on public land and with a little grace from the Good Lord I hope to end the chapter on him this season. I have over 300 hours logged chasing him already and he's been getting my goat!
Along with hunting I'm an avid bass fisherman and fish most of the tournament trails here in East Texas. My fishing partner and I had a great year on Sam Rayburn this year and won more money than we lost. That doesn't happen in most years lol.
I'm married to a wonderful gal that puts up with my outdoors obsessions. She occasionally joins me and has taken a few deer herself. We have an 18mo old daughter (Adalee) and a 12 day old son (Raylen). I'm a blessed man to have such a wonderful family. With any luck my kids will love the outdoors just like their old man.
I work in the oil field as a Directional Driller when there's a market. Currently it isn't looking good. I was laid off in April but my dad taught me a skill set at a very young age and I have been able to lean on my old welding machine to makes ends meet while waiting for the turn around in the market.
I'm crazy about the outdoors, and love to talk about it. I'll ramble for days if you'll let me. As stated, I'm a complete muzzleloader idiot, but from the looks of the "sticky" info already posted, I'm on my way to becoming a seasoned powder burner like the rest of you guys! I'm proud to be here and hopefully in the years to come I will be able to add some face value to the forum... If nothing more than what NOT to do lol. Thanks for having me!
-jooger17
