I had to laugh at the irony. The last time I’d hunted with a Knight KP1 muzzleloader
it was 26 degrees with 25 mph winds and a steady rain that froze everything it touched,
including me. That was in Iowa. Now, a year later, I was sitting comfortably in a
shooting house in southwestern Alabama, watching a food plot. Temp: a balmy 60. Wind:
none. Sunshine: bright. Ah, yes, I thought. I could get used to this.

I was enjoying my low-stress hunt on property leased by The Shed Hunting Lodge (www.shedhuntinglodge.com).
Shed owners Larry Norton (of champion turkey calling fame), Gray Mosley and Henri
Billiot have 10,000 acres of great deer and turkey habitat available for their guests.
I’d come to The Shed along with several industry writers and photographers to review
new products from Knight and its sister companies Knight & Hale Game Calls and
Summit Treestands, along with some new ammunition designs from Winchester.

We liked the forecast for the next day even thought it meant an end to our personal
comfort. A powerful cold front was coming through, and we hoped it would boost deer
activity. Sure enough, that’s what we got. That night we hung four bucks on the camp
meatpole.

I shot this bruiser a half-hour before dark. The buck acted like he owned the place,
hooking branches as he walked the field edge, and then stopping to paw at a scrape.
I was wondering if I would have to try a shot at 180 yards, but finally he started
meandering up the hill toward me. When he turned quartering to me at 130 yards, I
sent a 285-grain Knight Ultimate Slam bullet on its way.  The Barnes-designed
Spitzer Boattail hit just high and behind the shoulder and went all the way through,
dropping the buck in his tracks. Norton later aged the 190-pound, goofy-racked deer
at 41/2 years old.

I was really excited to finally take a buck with the KP1. In the past year I’ve experimented
with its 12-gauge slug barrel, the muzzleloader barrel and the .30-06 barrel, all
with good results, but hadn’t had many chances to actually hunt with it. This spring
I plan to outfit it with the 12-gauge smoothbore barrel and take it turkey hunting.

I’ll have more product news from this hunt in upcoming posts.