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Jim Johnson shot this great 10-pointer in Floyd County with his .50-caliber muzzleloader

On the eve of the early muzzleloader season I was in the press box at Northside High School to cover the Vikings game against Lord Botetourt. The guy sitting next to me was Brian Porterfield, who was taking stats for Northside.

Taking stats (and covering a game) take more concentration than you might think, but we still managed to talk some hunting. Porterfield told me he was planning to hunt in the morning at a new spot and he was really excited.

He didn't get a deer that morning,  but a week later he did. This beautiful eight-pointer came in to 35 yards after Porterfield did a calling sequence with his Primos Can and a grunt call.

The buck had an 19.5-inch outside spread and 10-inch G2s.

Angelo Repepi came down from Pennsylvania to hunt for a few days with his brother, Nino, who works at Virginia Tech. This was his reward for going deep to hunt some public land above some fertile private land.

That remote location and the steepness of the ground meant the team had to quarter this buck and pack it out. I'd say the work packing out this 13-pointer was worth it.

Now for more news on the topic of hunter kills: You guys killed my e-mail system.

Well, you didn't kill it. Just severely wounded it. I had gotten so many massive image files over the past few days -- and hadn't been able to archive them because I was working remotely -- that our e-mail system finally had enough and shut me down.

But I'm back in the office and got the shots archived so I should be good-to-go for a while. I will try to get all of the shots posted within the next couple of days.

Some recent e-mails have gotten rejected. You should have gotten an e-mail rejection notice.

If you have sent me a shot, didn't get a rejection notice and haven't seen it up here, don't resend it just yet. Give me a couple days. If you still haven't seen it, try again.

After a break for work duing that rainy spell I got back to our Botetourt County deer camp yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday evening I watched a green field where one of my buddies killed a nice 9-pointer the evening before (in the rain). I saw a few does and small bucks, but the bucks didn't seem too interested in the does.

The same friend was in the field this morning and saw a great eight-pointer that he passed up. (We have a self-imposed one-buck rule).

I was in the woods. I saw six or seven does early and then nothing for the next four hours. I did hear something grunting above me -- and I grunted back -- but never did see it.

We're taking a break and will be heading back out soon.

Tomorrow I will be in Northern Virginia for a sports assignment (high school cross country state championship) so this is my last hunt for a few days. We'll see...

Jeff Rogers killed this awesome 10-pointer on Nov. 7 with his muzzleloader while hunting in Floyd County with his nephew, Alex Ham, whose pictured with the deer. This was the first hunt Alex has been on during which an animal was taken.

Myke Caldwell sent in this shot of this nice Bedford County buck, killed on Halloween on the family's property.

"It's not the biggest buck on our farm, but it's special," wrote Caldwell, who also took a doe that day.

Caldwell said his dad died recently, and this season just hasn't been the same for him and his brother, Ronnie. He was hunting out of the last stand his dad hunted out of when this deer showed up.

"The buck came in within 10 yards like he had not a care in the world," Caldwell wrote. "I believe Dad sent this buck in to me.  Thanx dad for this nice 3.5-year-old.  We miss ya!!!!!!"

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There's some great hunting around the Copper Hill area of Floyd County. But Bob Miller of Copper Hill actually traveled to Giles County to kill this nice 10-pointer with a muzzleloader on Nov. 7. Check out that left brow tine!

Aaron Creasy recently "shot" this cool-looking piebald near his Roanoke County home. Very interesting deer and a nice picture, too.

Nine-year-old Dalton Simmons shot this great seven-pointer on Nov. 7 while hunting with his dad, Lynn Simmons, on private land in Botetourt County. He got tracking help from his sister, Taylor.

Bernie Linkous was hunting in Giles County on Nov. 7 when he killed this great buck.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the rack has 13 official points and three others that were just under an inch in length.