New from Massachusetts

[howieb]

Hi! Currently awaiting a CVA Optima V2 to be delivered on Saturday. I'm 62 and this is my first year hunting. Starting with a bow, but also looking forward to "gun season" after Thanksgiving. I've been up in the tree, with a climbing tree stand, 5 times so far, and finally started seeing deer in the daytime my last time out. I'm not a fan of the climbing stand, and looking to get some sticks and leaving the stand up for the season. Anyway, I'm excited to get started with the muzzleloader.

I'm a bit of a reverse convert, generationally speaking. It's my son who turned me on to hunting, getting his first deer last year, and many ducks and other critters since. Unfortunately he lives in Idaho, so hunting together may not be a frequent endeavor.

-Howie

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma. Good for you, best of luck during the season.

 

[HC]

To the brotherhood

 

[Sandhillshunter]

Welcome from Nebraska and good luck on the season.

 

[Slingingslugs]

Welcome to MM and to the hunting world. Good choice for a first mzl. I've own several and have passed several down to other hunters. Good accuracy and dependability for the price point. What load are you shooting? I like a 250 barnes expander riding in a black harvester crush rib in front of 70 weighed grns of bh209 and a cci magnum primer. Really accurate. Before I shot blackhorn I used 2 50/60 777 magnums behind a 240 xtp and I took a lot of game. Deer and hogs. Keep that Optima clean and she will serve you well! Good luck from Florida!

 

[JBushnell]

Welcome from Montana.

 

[UndeadPoet]

It is never too late to get started… Welcome, from North Carolina!

‘Poet

 

[Shorty]

Welcome Howie, from upstate n.y.. glad to hear you started hunting, its a sport that calmes the soul !! Its all about enjoying mother nature at its finest, and if your lucky some great table fare also. Go visit your son in season acoarse, while your bones can still handle it. Happy hunting and keep your powder dry.

 

[gman57]

Welcome from NC you are new to this so ask all the questions you may have and someone will be able to answer. Also most important Use Safety Line when using climber or in any tree stand , can’t stress the importance of this, it can save your life. That said enjoy the smoke.

 

[bmcl322]

Hey Howie! You are not alone on several fronts - I'm 56, so not far behind you, from Massachusetts as well & have been on the forum a short period of time too. Also, just purchased my 1st muzzleloader (& 2nd on order for my kids).

My lovely wife, 3 kids and I live just South of Boston.

Brian

 

[howieb]

What load are you shooting?\

I may have jumped the gun a bit, so to speak. I bought 3 types of bullets and 2 types of powder pellets. Hornady SSTs, T/C Shockwave and Powerbelts, Pyrodex and White Hot pellets, and WInchester 209 primers. I couldn't find magnum primers anywhere, and not sure the WInchesters will work well with the White Hot, which I've read may need a magnum primer. If I had done more research ahead of buying, I may have skipped the Powerbelts and White Hot pellets. It seems they have a bit of a bad rap. I will probably also experiment at some point with Blackhorn. I just saw yesterday that Hornady also has Sabot-less bullets.

I'll probably be at the range this weekend trying out the different loads and sighting in the scope.

-Howie

 

[howieb]

Hey Howie! You are not alone on several fronts - I'm 56, so not far behind you, from Massachusetts as well & have been on the forum a short period of time too. Also, just purchased my 1st muzzleloader (& 2nd on order for my kids).

My lovely wife, 3 kids and I live just South of Boston.

Brian

Hey Brian. I live just west of Boston. Good to meet you.

 

[deermanok]

If you can find, Triple 7 loose powder is a good propellant for the muzzleloader.

 

[deerlessbob]

Welcome from AL!

 

[bmcl322]

Hey Brian. I live just west of Boston. Good to meet you.

Good to meet ya as well. Try to pick up Blackhorn 209 if ya can. I found some at a Walmart in NH. Hard to find, but by listening to the experts here, it is the way to go. Albeit, it is hard to find time to get to the range, I'm enjoying measuring the 209 and planning loads with the various bullets and sabots I've picked up.

I'm in Scituate and truly lucky that in this politically arse backwards state, I have 2 gun clubs - 4 miles & 7 miles from my front door. There is a God!

 

[4stringdude]

Welcome aboard from the Hoosier State!

 

[robwheeler]

Welcome from NW SD.
The land of Hugh Glass.

rob

 

[ourway77]

Welcome from Delaware Never too late Do all you can because at my age 84 I can no longer hunt 2 factors age and health

 

[Paul33]

Welcome

 

[mnoland30]

If you're hunting deer from a stand you probably won't have any trouble getting a combination that shoots well to the range you need. I like loose powder because it can be more accurate, is cheaper, and gives more velocity. Ebay sells powder tubes so you can pre-measure your powder, and then it's just as easy to pour in a tube as to drop in pellets. My buddy's new Accura came with both the pellet and powder versions of the breechplug. If yours doesn't, you'll probably want to order the powder breechplug, especially if you want to shoot Blackhorn 209 powder. It is hard to ignite.

My buddy had trouble with ignition of 777 pellets (using #11 caps), so he started using a Pyrodex pellet followed by one or two 777 pellets. The Pyrodex pellets are easier to ignite. I'll be surprised if you have trouble with ignition with Win 209's.

Be sure and clean your rifle after every session. All of the black powder substitutes are corrosive to some extent. When shooting 777, I swab with a wet patch, then a dry patch between shots. Make sure you mark your ramrod after loading the first round, so you're sure you've pushed the following bullets all the way down.
Have fun.