First muzzleloader harvest

[brewer12345]

Shot a yearling doe this morning at 50 yards with a 530 round ball and 110 grains of powder. I hit her a little far back, but the ball did more than enough damage to dispatch her quickly. For deer at least, I am sold on round ball hunting. The scariest part was that I had to get her across the river to get home. Surprisingly, she floated.

[John McCorkle]

Well done! Good luck with the butchering and cleanup.

Did you get pictures? Was it a clean pass through?

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[Tripplebeards]

They float if you don’t gut them.

[versa-06]

Congratts!!! Go get another!!!

[brewer12345]

Can't seem to upload a photo from my phone. Will try later with the laptop.

Actually, she floated after gutting. Did not appear to get a passthrough, but could not find the ball.

[brewer12345]

Congratts!!! Go get another!!!

Would that I could. I barely got a tag at all this year. Deer tags are tough in Colorado. I decided to pick up muzzleloading because there is less competition for tags and the deer won't know the difference.

[Texas by God]

It’s always exciting to take a deer with a muzzleloader and the .54 PRB will gitrdone wth less powder than that. Way to go! Oh, and pics or it didn’t happen.....

[brewer12345]

It’s always exciting to take a deer with a muzzleloader and the .54 PRB will gitrdone wth less powder than that. Way to go! Oh, and pics or it didn’t happen.....

That is what the rifle liked the best. I have no doubt that 60 grains would kill deer at 50 yards. Just wanted the most accurate load. I actually busted another doe in the river, but she was a bit out of range, I wasn't sure it was legal to shoot while I and the target were in the river, and I wasn't sure I wanted to find out what happened after a deer suddenly dies upstream of you in the river.

Try again with the pic:

249679

[hc18flyer]

She will eat Good! I prefer muzzleloader season to high power rifle. hc18flyer

[shortlegs]

Nice shootin! I am hoping to get one with my 54 this year.

[koger]

50 and 54 round balls do great, 125 yds and under, but after that they shed energy quickly. Now here in Ky, most of those deer shot here will be 75 yds and under, with the long shot being around 200 yds or so. I own 23 different ML;s and hunt with them as they strike my fancy. I have a TC REnegade with a28", 1" Hawken barrel on it. Glass bedded the entire length of the barrel in the stock. With a scope, this rifle shoots a Lyman 450 grain conical I mold myself, into a ragged hole at 100yds. I have taken 46 deer with a traditional ML, here and in other states, something special about a traditional rifle and using them successfully. Congrats on your kill.

[brewer12345]

With my eyes, 100 yards is about it for a deer sized target with open sights. State law does not allow the use of scopes in muzzleloader season. Inside that range, a perusal of ballistics tables means that round ball or conicals in 50 and 54 is more than adequate. The 54 I used today shoots well with Lee REALs, but for deer I feel they are overkill (for elk they are preferred, IMO).

I am a meat hunter, aside from just enjoying being in the field. I have fun shooting smoke poles, but I am not picky. If a rifle tag were easier to get, I would get one. People seem not to want to go after muzzleloader tags as much, so I am happy to hunt with one. I was a bit shocked to find how totally the doe disappeared behind the huge cloud of smoke after I fired. If she had run directly away from me instead of off to the right, I would have had a tougher time finding her.

The muzzleloader bug has bit me, though. Have a 50 TC Hawken that does not shoot round ball well at all, so I may be picking up a Green mountain slow twist barrel for it. I also bought an original CVA Squirrel Rifle kit in .32 that I plan to assemble this winter so I can shoot it in the spring and whack critters in the Fall. Just another facet of our hobby.

[richhodg66]

Congratulations. Our muzzle loader season here is over, but it's a great time to be out. For a long time, Kansas wouldn't allow scopes, now they do and then made archery season start the same day. It's still usually a ghost town out on the public land here at that time, not many guys who are serious about muzzle loaders.

[RU shooter]

Our early season starts next week hope I'll be cutting up a nice doe like that one soon .

[brewer12345]

An unexpected benefit of being a caster is that you can cast whatever you like for your weird caliber muzzleloader. That means basically anything other than 50 cal, apparently. I had no idea how hard it would be to get, say, a maxi ball in 54 cal. I had to track a mold down on fleabay, but I will cast a bunch and see how they do before next season. Aside from elk, I kind of don't see the point of conicals. The recoil is fearsome and I don't think the deer is any more dead than with a round ball.

[dk17hmr]

I killed a little buck in Colorado this year with my 54 and a 465gr conical... It was a bit much but it didn't go anywhere. When I draw again I'd like to take a round ball gun maybe 58 caliber.

Congrats that'll eat good

[SSGOldfart]

Congrats she should eat good[smilie=w:

[John McCorkle]

An unexpected benefit of being a caster is that you can cast whatever you like for your weird caliber muzzleloader. That means basically anything other than 50 cal, apparently. I had no idea how hard it would be to get, say, a maxi ball in 54 cal. I had to track a mold down on fleabay, but I will cast a bunch and see how they do before next season. Aside from elk, I kind of don't see the point of conicals. The recoil is fearsome and I don't think the deer is any more dead than with a round ball.For me, I got a sweetheart of a steal for a 50 cal inline but it has that pesky 1:28 twist. Conical (Lee REAL 320) lets me shoot cast without a sabot and still get great stability/accuracy. I can shoot roundballs but only very very light loads...like 40 grains light. But I spent way way more on all the goodies for black powder than I did for the rifle itself...still live it. Next week Louisiana starts our ML season so I'm pumped

Congratulations on your doe!

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[brewer12345]

For me, I got a sweetheart of a steal for a 50 cal inline but it has that pesky 1:28 twist. Conical (Lee REAL 320) lets me shoot cast without a sabot and still get great stability/accuracy. I can shoot roundballs but only very very light loads...like 40 grains light. But I spent way way more on all the goodies for black powder than I did for the rifle itself...still live it. Next week Louisiana starts our ML season so I'm pumped

Congratulations on your doe!

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My buddy bought an inline while I went with percussion. His fast twist gun shoots the maxi malls I cast very well. I am not surprised the REALs do well for you.

Good luck on your hunt.

[John McCorkle]

My buddy bought an inline while I went with percussion. His fast twist gun shoots the maxi malls I cast very well. I am not surprised the REALs do well for you.

Good luck on your hunt.Thanks I'm super excited...but I have to say the more I read up on roundballs and their effectiveness I am looking for a slower twist rifle to push it faster in. Man I have seen some roundballs expand twice their original diameter and do breathtaking damage...even if they don't, drive a half inch pipe through a deers chest and it will leak out both sides very very fast.

Wish they made barrels for modern muzzle stuffers designed for roundballs ...the appeal of a synthetic stock with inline cleaning and ignition with scope options but with slow twist and rifling designed for roundballs and patch to drive it fast....oh man that would be amazing!!

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[brewer12345]

The downside to round ball is that they shed velocity/energy quickly. The ballistics tables tell me that a 54 maxi ball driven with a stiff powder charge from my short rifle still has over 1000 ft lb at 100 yards. A ball with the same charge is more like 600 ft lb. Granted, the energy numbers don't tell the whole story, but they are indicative. I would take a 100 yard shot at a deer with a round ball. For something bigger (bear/elk) I think a conical makes more sense.

The doe I busted in the river was 115 yards away according to the rangefinder. Along with all the other stuff that I did not like about taking that shot, that was just far enough away that I probably would have passed on the shot even on dry land.

[John McCorkle]

The downside to round ball is that they shed velocity/energy quickly. The ballistics tables tell me that a 54 maxi ball driven with a stiff powder charge from my short rifle still has over 1000 ft lb at 100 yards. A ball with the same charge is more like 600 ft lb. Granted, the energy numbers don't tell the whole story, but they are indicative. I would take a 100 yard shot at a deer with a round ball. For something bigger (bear/elk) I think a conical makes more sense.

The doe I busted in the river was 115 yards away according to the rangefinder. Along with all the other stuff that I did not like about taking that shot, that was just far enough away that I probably would have passed on the shot even on dry land.I wasn't at all interested in muzzleloader until end of last year...found a Remington Genesis for a song at a gas station/general store/pawnshop

Now researching all the nuances it's so much fun! I can absolutely see myself paper patching some of those Lee bullets for the SW 500....not for this season but eventually for sure. It's a never ending supply of New horizon to explore. Absolutely love it and can't wait to take my first deer with ML this year too.

What powder you using in that .54 of yours?

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[brewer12345]

Been using black mz. It is a lot cleaner than real black and my local sportsman's Warehouse sells it for ten bucks a pound. Have tried olde eynesford ffg, but between the additional mess and cost I didn't find it that much better.

[ole_270]

Son took his first muzzleloader deer this year, He's close to 40 and has taken everything from prairie dogs to elk with modern centerfires. Used my old TC New Englander 50 cal with 777 and the smaller of the two Lee REAL conicals (210?). Buck made it about 50 yards, shot was at 70 and hit slightly high. I don't think it will be his last smokepole deer.