Hunting & Fishing Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

[XTR]

Hunting here in TN. Shot was 150 yds, good sized doe, she ran 15 or 20 yds. From the stand lazed her at 150, lazed the stand from the blood drops at 147. Shot clean through both lungs. I think the impact was about 2 inches higher than my hold point. That would have put it between the 100yd cross hair and the 150 dot. I've never checked the 150 yd dot in my scope. I knew it was spot on at 100 and 200. In any case, made a dead deer.

I',m using a Bushnell DOA and it is pretty much right on for my load. It isn't great glass, but shooting black powder I'm not trying to shoot more than 200 yds, and the BDC recticle is right on. I'm shooing a Knight rolling block (Green Mtn barrel) with 250gr TC shockwave sabots over 100gr of loose triple 7. (loose and pellets seem to shoot the same, I just like loading loose powder)


Makes me happy that a buddy convinced me to do the muzzle loader thing this yr.

 

[Shyty]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

Oh, I'm so sorry for you! The black powder bug is very addictive and hard to over come once you lay a deer out with the old smoke pole. I'm surprised that the U.S. Attorney General hasn't issued some type of warning label to go with muzzle loader hunting. Congrats on the deer, hope you get a couple more with it. Its very addictive or at least it is to me.

 

[Jig Stick]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

no pic? WTF

 

[XTR]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

I've been bitten.

What killed me was the time after I shot before I could see through the smoke cloud.

My buddy and I were in a 2 man stand (lots of deer here, he got a shot on one too) He was ranging. I was trying to pick one back up that had disappeared into some heavy brush off to my right when he spotted this one right in front of us in the road. I watched the deer walk from a little inside of 125 out to 150 before it turned broadside. It was standing in a road facing left. It was dead calm so the smoke just hung, the first thing I saw through the smoke was a deer crossing the road from left to right. My spotter said mine had bounded left and that may have been another one in the woods that we jumped. As it turned out it was mine and it was dead about 10yds off the right side of the road, but it was a good 2 seconds before I could see anything. A frightened deer can go a long way in 2 seconds. Having a spotter was very helpful.

Also, I'm buying a range finder, holy crap was that helpful, not only in ranging the shot (which is way more critical at most hunting ranges with black powder) but also in determining where to start looking for the trail. The ground looks different from the ground than it does in a stand. I'd bet that knowing we needed to start 150 from the stand and being able to look back and range to it probably saved us half an hour.

 

[XTR]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jig Stick</div><div class="ubbcode-body">no pic? WTF </div></div>

Sorry, it's already cut up and on ice. Yea, it was the first one with the rifle, but it was just a doe.

 

[wfjames22]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: XTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What killed me was the time after I shot before I could see through the smoke cloud.

</div></div>

Get a Savage (while you still can) and shoot smokeless powder. I shot a doe Saturday morning and saw all of the action, just like shooting a normal rifle.

 

[XTR]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wfjames22</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: XTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What killed me was the time after I shot before I could see through the smoke cloud.

</div></div>

Get a Savage (while you still can) and shoot smokeless powder. I shot a doe Saturday morning and saw all of the action, just like shooting a normal rifle. </div></div>

When you say smokeless what powder are you talking about? I shoot Triple 7, which is a black powder substitute/synthetic.

 

[wfjames22]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

I am talking about smokeless powder, the same thing used in cartridge ammunition.

 

[Guest]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

Another vote for the Savage smokeless.
Not only will you not be blinded by the smoke, but you save on powder, get better accuracy, and you don't have to clean the damned thing every time you fire it.

Like the man said, though. Get one now, because there won't be anymore made after current orders are filled.


/check local regulations on the legality of smokeless powder in your area

 

[wfjames22]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

Smokeless muzzleloading definitely legal in TN (OP's location).

 

[XTR]

Re: Got my first muzzle loader kill today...

I will look into the Savage, but I really like the smoke pole.

I gotta say looking at the performance that I got on this kill I like the way the 250gr TC shockwaves over 100gr of 777 worked. It's a .45 ballistic tip in a sabot. The exit hole in the ribcage showed good expansion. That also expanded going though lung tissue and not something really dense like a shoulder (the hit was about 2" up a and 2" behind the point of the forleg). It also shot pretty much right on my DOA recticle, which is comforting to me. I've checked the drop at the range on the 200yd dot so I'm confident out to 200 now. I think I'd need to load hotter to shoot 250. The rifle will take up to 150gr of powder, but shooting white tails I don't see a point to going that hot, but it's a nice option to be able to go to a 300 over 150 if I went somewhere to shoot bigger game and the recticle is still supposed to be on there too.