It was a cold December Sunday, but that did not hinder Matt Hughes. He was in southern Iowa for the Knight Invitational Hunt during first season. Opening day saw over an inch of freezing rainfall, but Knight Rifles are designed for the most extreme weather conditions. Matt had confidence that his Knight would not fail him when the time came. He was hunting on Mike Mattly’s land just waiting to get a big Iowa whitetail in his sights with his Knight .50 Cal Muzzleloader. Matt had a few close calls on Saturday, but luck was not on his side. Sunday was a different story. It was just around 4:00 in the afternoon when Matt spotted what he was looking for. A mature 9 pointer stepped out of the woods and into a winter wheat field. It was the buck he had hoped to see during this hunt. Matt quickly got his rifle ready. His cameraman, Rex Summerfield, let him know when the time was right. The buck fed broadside and gave him a standing shot at about 103 yards away. Matt’s adrenaline was pumping when he pulled his rifle up spotted it in his scope, and squeezed the trigger. The 290 grain PBT bullet found its mark….a perfect heart shot. Yes! The Knight performed flawlessly.
To walk away with a nice buck scoring 155 made it all worthwhile!