Story - 2014 Muzzleloader Buck

This spot was a couple years in the making. A couple years ago I was checking out a few different benches and found a spot that looked pretty good. I came back with a tree stand and hunted it. A few hours into the hunt I pulled out the binoculars to do a scan and when I brought them up, there was a deer dead center in the viewfinder just standing in the brush. I got the gun up before I could really tell what it was. As it walked off through the woods I saw horns once, but I couldn't tell how big they were, so I never pulled the trigger. I climbed down at the end of the hunt and did a little more scouting in that area. He was walking down a good trail and I had a much better view from the bench above.

This year I went to the higher bench and found a good tree to climb. A couple hours into the hunt I heard a squirrel barking behind me. As I turned to look, I spotted a deer making it's way parallel to me about 60 yards away. I spun around, got the scope on the last opening before the brush, and cocked the hammer. When it came through the last opening I saw good horns and squeezed the trigger. After the smoke cleared I didn't see or hear anything, so I figured he dropped pretty quick. I called Brent on the radio and told him he could come down in about 30 min. About 15 minutes later I looked to the right and saw a little fork-horn with a big hole in his leg. I couldn't believe how much his rack had shrunk in the last 15 minutes. I put one in his chest and he went down about 5 yards later. After that smoke cleared I saw a doe that had apparently been with him the whole time. She was slowly making her way back down the way that they had originally came. After dumping powder all over the place and finally getting a bullet shoved down the tube I took steady aim and jerked the trigger harder than I ever had before. I could see the crosshairs move about 2' before smoke filled the glass. Brent came on the radio and asked if I was done shooting up the woods, and I confirmed. He walked in while I was still in my tree to check my shot angles. I guess I was in a really good tree, because no matter where he was on the ground he couldn't see me. The buck was in plain sight, but we couldn't find blood on the doe. We found a spot on the ground where the bullet hit and it looked like it was about where her feet would have been. When I got to the buck, he was smaller that I originally thought, but bigger than I secondarily thought. I guess he was like the baby bear porridge. We got him dressed, dragged, hauled, skinned, quartered, butchered, froze, thawed, and ate.

I have tried a few different ways of horn saving.
1. Cut 90 degree angles from the top and back to cover on a plaque.
2. Boil the whole head for a European mount.
3. Cut from the back just below the ears to just below the eyes.

I think #3 will probably be my new way of doing it for these reasons.
1. It is easier to cut.
2. It can be presented Euro or covered.
3. It sets on the wall better with or without a plaque.
4. It sets in a pot better to boil off the meat.
5. It makes for easier brain access for tanning.