Missed

[GDLT31]

My buddy missed a deer,now we sighted our ML’s out to 100 yds. Now he shot at this deer at 10 yards and turn the power from 4 down to 2 well he missed thinks it was low. Does anyone know how to figure this formula out. Thank You.

[John McCorkle]

Alot of variables here....way way too many to say.

First, what caliber muzzleloader are you using...what bullet (roundballs, sabot with jacketed, sabot with cast, conical, Minnie, other etc) what powder and charge weight and....what distance are you trying to shoot?

Muzzleloaders have lower velocities and as such a higher arc of ballistic compensation...meaning range estimation is key for longer shots and your PBR (point blank range-or the distance you can effectively hit a vital sized target- will be much shorter than with a high velocity rifle)

I can hit vitals with the same hold (+/- 2 inches) over several hundred yards with a high powered rifle.

But 10 yrds is very very short range....so short that I doubt range or ballistic arc had anything at all to do with it. 10 yards and you start to see the effects of mechanical offset for your sights or scope. I imagine he hit low because physically the bore is lower than the sight line though his scope...not accounting for this will mean he is already 1.5 - 2 inches off just because of mechanical offset.

Same reason short range tactical training always stresses mechanical offset...if you are sighted in at 25 yards and need to take a shot at 5 yards inside a house, you will miss low by about 2 inches and put a canoe through a hostages head without accounting for the distance between your sight line and the bore of the gun.

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[Gofaaast]

I call buck fever!!!

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Is he sure that he missed i have shot a few deer with a muzzelloader that have been hit and had vary little blood trails even in the snow last year i shot a nice buck after the smoke cleared he was gone no blood at all it took me about a hour to find him he fell in ditch about 20 yards from were i shot him i must have walked past him 3 times before I saw him

[smithnframe]

The first thing I see wrong is a muzzloader with a scope! I'm a traditional muzzleloader here!

[Edward]

The first thing I see wrong is a muzzloader with a scope! I'm a traditional muzzleloader here!

Most likely operator error ,and not the scope .By the way 4-5 of my side locks wear scopes ,with at least 2 I won"t see the target @ 700 yds/just sayin Ed

[GDLT31]

Sorry for so little info,50 caliber 240gn Hornady sabot 100 gn of BH209.
Sighted at 100 yds ,but the shot was between 7 to 10 yds.
One of the others mentioned buck fever,I might lean that way for I wasn’t there when he made the shot. You have a great reading article,again Thank You for your wealth of knowledge!!!

[brewer12345]

Is he sure that he missed i have shot a few deer with a muzzelloader that have been hit and had vary little blood trails even in the snow last year i shot a nice buck after the smoke cleared he was gone no blood at all it took me about a hour to find him he fell in ditch about 20 yards from were i shot him i must have walked past him 3 times before I saw him

Is little blood trail common with muzzleloader kills? Shot my first doe with a 54 round ball and there was basically no blood trail. If I hadn't seen which way she ran after the shot and heard the death throes a minute or two later I would have had a tough time finding her.

[charlie b]

I would venture that he was spooked by the deer and missed.

Happened to me one day. I had stopped to eat lunch. Got everything packed back up, stood up and when I turned around a buck jumped out of a bush about 20yd away coming toward me. He was as surprised as I was. Took me a few seconds to comprehend that it was really a buck and that I had a rifle in my hands. I shouldered the rifle and just as I was pulling the trigger he jumped again. I shot right where he had been. But, it was not an aimed shot as far as I could remember. I only remembered the rifle at my shoulder and pointed in the general direction. I don't remember seeing an image in the scope or even around the scope.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Is little blood trail common with muzzleloader kills? Shot my first doe with a 54 round ball and there was basically no blood trail. If I hadn't seen which way she ran after the shot and heard the death throes a minute or two later I would have had a tough time finding her.
No in my case I was using the wrong bullet that didn't expand and the wound channel sealed up