I was 15 or 16 yrs old and I was hunting with my Dad in our three day October Muzzleloader season. Dad shot a small buck that evening and I had just helped him drag it up to where he could get the four wheeler to it. I decided that while he walked back to get the four wheeler I was going to sit there and watch a large draw for the last 20 min of daylight.
With just minutes left in legal shooting light I see a doe and the largest buck that I have seen in the woods still to this day start working their way up the draw. They are are about 80 yards away and working to my right and slightly away from me. This was in the day of percussion cap and open sight muzzleloaders. I line up the sights and squeeze (probably jerk) the trigger. Whether it was my muzzleloader ball striking the bank behind them or the way the sound funneled down the draw, I'm not sure but, both the buck and the doe turn and run directly toward me. I stand their dumbfounded and watch them get to less than 10 yards from me, at which point they both slam on the brakes, turn around and look back the direction they just came from. This means they are facing directly away from me at somewhere between 5 and 10 yards. I pull out a quickload and start trying to reload without alerting them. I get the powder dumped down the barrel, and the ball started but, when I run the ball down the barrel with my ramrod the doe looks at me, and both of them take off down the mountain without me getting another shot.
My dad returns and I tell him the story. There is no evidence that I hit the deer and we start the ride back to camp. At this point it starts pouring down the rain. When we get back to camp, which consists of 8 or so family members and friends, we decide to unload our muzzleloaders. Everyone shoots their gun off but, when I pull the trigger I get the classic pop of just the cap. We assume my powder got wet. I keep the gun pointed down range while someone puts another cap on. Pop, same thing. My dad asks me if I was sure I reloaded it. I said I was positive, I did it with that buck standing less than 10 yards away. I even pulled out the empty quickload to prove it.
After several more caps we remove the nipple and add a little powder. This time when I pull the trigger a little smoke rolls out the end of the barrel. I pull out my ramrod and check to find out that my gun is in fact NOT loaded. Somehow when I was trying to reload with the buck standing there I completely missed my barrel. I am sure there is still a lead ball laying on the ground at that spot to this day.
