So..... why a muzzleloader?

[MrTom]

There's got to be a story behind everyone's choice made to shoot and hunt with a muzzleloader. Me? I got tired of all the crap with shotguns and the ammunition. Plus, I seldom needed more than the one shot.

I grew up using a smoothbore shotgun and foster slugs to hunt deer, starting at the age of 14. I shot deer and got pretty good at killing them. I put together a slug gun over time that sported a scope and rifled barrel and that made the hunting that much more humane. What griped me was the constantly changing world of ammunition and with each change the price of using it going straight uphill. I'd shot a handful of deer with a TC Renegade .54 during the regular gun seasons which is where I started developing my attraction to the "one-shot theory" that I'd always adhered to and pushed at my hunting partners, but they were firm in their shotguns.... and making the woods sound like a war zone.

I stumbled across a Winchester bolt .45 muzzy and bought it new at a locally new Cabelas. I scoped it and shot a hundred pounds of bullets and sabots through it getting ready for the next deer season. For the next four seasons this gun and I took as many deer as shots to collect them. BUT, I still played with shotgun game too and ran out to buy the newest and latest and greatest sabot slugs, usually spending $100.00 on them so I could shoot the gun in to them and then use one to kill my deer. Back then I hunted a second season which usually meant hunting on snow or in falling snow. Generally, it was cold, but it was also back when we started to see much warmer weather and hunting in slop was as common as hunting while it was below zero. The shotgun afforded me a reliable first shot while sometimes that front stuffer would balk at the trigger pull and I'd get to see a white flag leaving the area. Over time I was able to find some confidence in what I was shooting in in my muzzy during this late season and somehow just made the switch to using is while my buddies were blazing away and their deer harvest boasted of their lack of accuracy, often sporting two to four hits on a deer. to them it was a deer take. To me I saw waste.

About 25 years ago I got the opportunity to manage a property for an elderly couple. This gave me specific permission to post the property on their behalf and control who was on or using the property. The property was an absolute deer haven, so I decided to hunt it myself, as in by myself. I used my muzzleloader and enjoyed the peace in waiting out deer or the peace of still hunting. After 5 years both of the elderly couple had passed and their kids sold the property. While I managed the place I gave a neighbor permission to come in and harvest downed trees for his firewood as he heated with wood. Not only did he help clean up the forest floor but he help eliminate to a great degree the threat of fires. When the property was lost for me I asked him about hunting on his parcel just up the road. He was more than happy to let me on to hunt and to this day he is one of my best friends. I can count on one hand how many deer I have taken off his land with a shotgun. I have no idea how many I have taken with the muzzies.

Over the years I have added to my muzzy collection, mostly in-lines but also a couple sidelocks. I'd sold that Renegade I hunted with earlier hoping to find a single trigger model. I finally found one only a few years back here on this site. I still haven't shot it and as far as I can tell its never been shot. I sold the Winchester.45 too and hope to someday find another. I have a couple older .45 TC Hawkens that I don't shoot, but they are fun to handle occasionally. There's a lot of memories tied up in those sidelocks and the beginning of the muzzleloader love affair. I seriously shoot at a local club where I'm a long time member and some of the rifle shooters there are simply shocked to see a front stuffer poking holes in holes at 100 yards, so over time my shooting has evolved and gotten much better. So back to the original question.....

Shooting these muzzleloaders either at the range or in the stand has taught me to relax and not be so hurried to shoot. They've taught me several things by the most important is to have confidence in what I am shooting and what I am shooting at. We all go thru little trials with the smoke belching guns, but the trials become teachers and we pay attention. Hunting with muzzleloaders has taught me to appreciate that first shot, and except for twice in all these years, is the only shot that really matters. Hunting with muzzleloaders has allowed me to thoroughly look at the experience, each and every day different from the day before, not so much from the standpoint of the kill but to simply experience what the woods has to offer: the snow falling, the still and quiet, the birds and other animal life, sunrises and sunsets that so many others simply don't see or can't see. I'm getting older and know it... feel it. I don't go to the woods with my muzzies to lament what is coming someday, probably sooner than I'd like, but I go there with my old friend the muzzleloader to be thankful for being there today. I'm a sausage maker and I really do intend to kill deer for that purpose, so I struggle with the idea that I am going there to kill, because the whole experience is so much more than that. Over the many years of hunting with the stink stick I've learned to be more selective in what I take. Horns are nice if what I am aiming at has them but the long nosed, tall eared, does are welcome too. I watch an awful lot of deer come and go while I have that muzzy in my lap. And I don't have to listen to that terrible racket of a shell being racked up.

So, to say that making muzzleloaders my choice over the years is a matter of evolving, the statement would be correct. Being a part of this family here at MM has allowed me to spend time with other who have sauntered down a similar path in their hunting/shooting life. Its given me a chance to watch posting as newcomers go thru the trials and tribulations that making smoke seems to bring with it early on and watch them grow to confidence. My grandkids ask why I don't hunt with a rifle. I tell them I do. The oldest grandson has a muzzleloader but he's still stuck on the cartridge hunting. One day though, he'll get the bug and like all of us here, the evolution will begin in him.

 

[ENCORE50A]

A buddy started me out with a H&R Huntsman in the early 70's. That rifle has some problems and they discontinued it.
After the Huntsman I went to the CVA, TC and was hooked.
My dad, R.I.P., when I was young, always gave me 1 shell at a time. I remembered that.
Took a few whitetail with a shotgun, rifle and revolver, but I always went back to the muzzleloader.
Now I'm shooting and hunting with DUNAMIS.
In the twilight of my hunting, I'll continue to use a muzzleloader. However I am getting the urge to hunt again with granddad's 40-60.

 

[JIMYJAC]

Mr. Tom, I know how you feel. Started out with smooth bore 870 with foster slugs. Got pretty good. Moved on to a super slugger rifled barrel good scope. Did well with it. Then same as you I experienced manufacturers changing their offerings. Got expensive. Sold my set up and went to muzzleloader and have not looked back. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[toggy]

In Minnesota we have a slug-only zone, roughly the southern half of the state. Once I got permission to some land in the south I needed a slug gun. I have an 870 with open sights but I often loan that to the landowner. I decided to get a decent gun and a decent scope on it My CVA meets the slug requirement and I also get the muzzleloader season now as well. Even though it's pretty damn cold here and the deer are worn out in December.

Then I discovered that with the right load my Accura is a great shooter. It performs great and I am glad to shoot it during the regular season.

MZ gets you intimate with the gun being able to adjust loads and ammo to get different results.

But yeah it's a labor of love with keeping the gun clean. Blackhorn makes that less stressful...

Edit: fewer other hunters as well in the MZ season!

 

[kerryman71]

I have only hunted with a bow so far. Last year I got into the idea of a muzzleloader. Here in MA we can deer hunt with bow, muzzleloader or shotgun. I've had the opportunity on good deals on a shotgun, but they don't appeal to me for many of the reasons you mentioned.

I look at hunting as much more than just going out and blasting an animal. With the bow, I really have to do my homework as to where the deer may be and what their travel corridors will be, then hope they come within range for a shot. Going into an area that I have picked out from a topo map and other information I've gleaned on deer behavior and movement and finding deer activity is pretty cool. Having the deer meet me halfway would be nice, but that's hunting.

I guess the challenge of the bow is what makes me continue to use it, so it makes sense that I'd venture into muzzle loading. I have my first one ordered and on the way; CVA Optima V2 Nitride open sights. Not sure that I'll be proficient enough with it to actually hunt with it this season, but I'll be ready for next year.

The people I know who bow hunt and/or hunt muzzleloader all put the effort into the hunt. Scouting, getting in early and setting up and waiting, all the while enjoying the peace and solitude of the woods. A couple guys I know who only hunt shotgun think I'm nuts for the effort I put in, and generally just go out a few times during the season and try to blast a deer while walking in the woods. Not my idea of the whole hunting experience, but to each their own.

 

[SuperKirby]

I grew up in central Wyoming. We hunted pretty much every year but I can't say we were ever real serious about it. I think as I grew into my late teen years my interests took off, but my resources didn't so hunting kind of went by the wayside. At 19 I met a girl and shortly after turning 20 I had married her. The only problem with this was that she was from a farm in MN. We bounced back and forth for the first few years of marriage but after a few years the economy was starting to tank, I was about to get laid off from the railroad in WY, her dad in MN was having some health problems and needed help on the farm so we settled in MN.

As we approached my first year hunting here, my father in law extended the offer to hunt the farm. A couple weeks before the season I pulled out my trusty 7x57 Mauser, modernized by my Grandpa and handed down. My father in law asked what I was hunting with and I showed him. He responded that I couldn't hunt with that. Of course I can, I've killed several deer with it and I'm pretty sure the big mule deer are tougher than midwestern whitetail. He then explained that while the gun may be capable, the state of MN said it wasn't and I was required to use a shotgun. In my life I had fired a shotgun less than a handful of times. Regardless, he handed me a shotgun and we shot it a few times that day. Should be good to go. Then a few days before the season started he asked my plans for hunting. I explained that the terrain was different than I was used to but I'd hunt the only way I knew - start at the corner of the property and put the boots to the ground until I found the deer. Again I was told that wouldn't work and was introduced to tree stands. Fast forward to opening afternoon and I find myself perched in a tree like a squirrel, clinging to a shotgun, unsure if I'm looking for deer or ducks. I'm sure I looked as dumb as I felt. Add to that the war zone all around me as neighboring landowners were conducting what I later learned were deer drives and it was by far the most unpleasant deer hunting experience I ever had. I sat out there for about an hour before deciding that if that's how hunting was going to be for the rest of my life I'd find something else to do with my time. Seemed like playing video games would be a more productive than what I was doing at the moment. I walked in, gave him is shotgun back and told him I was retiring from hunting.

A couple weeks later he asked if I was interested in trying the muzzleloader season. Everything I knew about muzzleloaders at that time I learned from Elmer Fudd's musket. My father in law explained that muzzleloaders had changed a lot and I should at least try shooting one. Eh, I had an afternoon to kill so sure, let’s shoot a muzzleloader. He brought out a Knight Wolverine, stainless with a camo stock. Next he pulled out some APP powder in premeasured 100 gr tubes (if anyone remembers those) and powerbelts. He explained how both the powder and the bullets were brand new to the market and supposed to be the best of the best. He loaded up the rifle, had me aim at the end of a barrel laying on the ground about 25 yards away and take a shot. For whatever reason that first shot will be forever etched in my memory. It was a cool, wet day in mid-November with a fog in the air. At the shot the smoke filled the still air and it just hung there. The smell of the sulphur took me back to my pyro days as a kid playing with fireworks all summer. 4 more shots and there was so much smoke and fog hanging in the air we could barely see the end of the barrel we were shooting at.

I hunted that muzzleloader season and the first day I had a doe and fawn directly underneath me. It was the closest I’ve ever been to a deer and I couldn’t believe the constant focalization’s between the two, like they were having a regular conversation. They stayed until a gust of wind came and blew my scent down and they took off. Didn’t shoot a deer that year but didn’t need to. Muzzleloaders were suddenly the only way to hunt for me. It was two years later shooting a brand new Disc Extreme I was able to shoot my first muzzleloader deer, a doe at 60 yards or so.

Since then I’ve had countless muzzleloaders. Realized most of them were taking up space and I had several that had barely been shot and never seen the woods. I sold most of them and have been mostly content with my smokeless Encore. I’ll be honest, I don’t love smokeless like some do but the lower maintenance allows me to shoot a little more, especially after the twins were born in February and blackhorn became nonexistent. For the last 10 years or so I’ve bought a bow about every other year. I like to think it would get me more time in the woods but I can never get past the idea of taking a deer and knowing I would rather have shot it with my muzzleloader. Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll change my mind or MN will allow centerfires and I’ll try going back but for now it’s muzzleloaders only and that’s ok.

Here’s what I’m doing as I write this.

 

[kerryman71]

I grew up in central Wyoming. We hunted pretty much every year but I can't say we were ever real serious about it. I think as I grew into my late teen years my interests took off, but my resources didn't so hunting kind of went by the wayside. At 19 I met a girl and shortly after turning 20 I had married her. The only problem with this was that she was from a farm in MN. We bounced back and forth for the first few years of marriage but after a few years the economy was starting to tank, I was about to get laid off from the railroad in WY, her dad in MN was having some health problems and needed help on the farm so we settled in MN.

As we approached my first year hunting here, my father in law extended the offer to hunt the farm. A couple weeks before the season I pulled out my trusty 7x57 Mauser, modernized by my Grandpa and handed down. My father in law asked what I was hunting with and I showed him. He responded that I couldn't hunt with that. Of course I can, I've killed several deer with it and I'm pretty sure the big mule deer are tougher than midwestern whitetail. He then explained that while the gun may be capable, the state of MN said it wasn't and I was required to use a shotgun. In my life I had fired a shotgun less than a handful of times. Regardless, he handed me a shotgun and we shot it a few times that day. Should be good to go. Then a few days before the season started he asked my plans for hunting. I explained that the terrain was different than I was used to but I'd hunt the only way I knew - start at the corner of the property and put the boots to the ground until I found the deer. Again I was told that wouldn't work and was introduced to tree stands. Fast forward to opening afternoon and I find myself perched in a tree like a squirrel, clinging to a shotgun, unsure if I'm looking for deer or ducks. I'm sure I looked as dumb as I felt. Add to that the war zone all around me as neighboring landowners were conducting what I later learned were deer drives and it was by far the most unpleasant deer hunting experience I ever had. I sat out there for about an hour before deciding that if that's how hunting was going to be for the rest of my life I'd find something else to do with my time. Seemed like playing video games would be a more productive than what I was doing at the moment. I walked in, gave him is shotgun back and told him I was retiring from hunting.

A couple weeks later he asked if I was interested in trying the muzzleloader season. Everything I knew about muzzleloaders at that time I learned from Elmer Fudd's musket. My father in law explained that muzzleloaders had changed a lot and I should at least try shooting one. Eh, I had an afternoon to kill so sure, let’s shoot a muzzleloader. He brought out a Knight Wolverine, stainless with a camo stock. Next he pulled out some APP powder in premeasured 100 gr tubes (if anyone remembers those) and powerbelts. He explained how both the powder and the bullets were brand new to the market and supposed to be the best of the best. He loaded up the rifle, had me aim at the end of a barrel laying on the ground about 25 yards away and take a shot. For whatever reason that first shot will be forever etched in my memory. It was a cool, wet day in mid-November with a fog in the air. At the shot the smoke filled the still air and it just hung there. The smell of the sulphur took me back to my pyro days as a kid playing with fireworks all summer. 4 more shots and there was so much smoke and fog hanging in the air we could barely see the end of the barrel we were shooting at.

I hunted that muzzleloader season and the first day I had a doe and fawn directly underneath me. It was the closest I’ve ever been to a deer and I couldn’t believe the constant focalization’s between the two, like they were having a regular conversation. They stayed until a gust of wind came and blew my scent down and they took off. Didn’t shoot a deer that year but didn’t need to. Muzzleloaders were suddenly the only way to hunt for me. It was two years later shooting a brand new Disc Extreme I was able to shoot my first muzzleloader deer, a doe at 60 yards or so.

Since then I’ve had countless muzzleloaders. Realized most of them were taking up space and I had several that had barely been shot and never seen the woods. I sold most of them and have been mostly content with my smokeless Encore. I’ll be honest, I don’t love smokeless like some do but the lower maintenance allows me to shoot a little more, especially after the twins were born in February and blackhorn became nonexistent. For the last 10 years or so I’ve bought a bow about every other year. I like to think it would get me more time in the woods but I can never get past the idea of taking a deer and knowing I would rather have shot it with my muzzleloader. Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll change my mind or MN will allow centerfires and I’ll try going back but for now it’s muzzleloaders only and that’s ok.

Here’s what I’m doing as I write this.

Thanks, that's a great story. Good luck out there.

 

[brad502a]

When I started deer hunting I could not afford a slug gun, but Gander Mountain had a sale on a TC Renegade 54 kit for $99. I bought it and got some Pyrodex and 54 cal buffalo 460 grain bullets. It was more accurate than dad's shotgun by far (870 smoothbore). I never did get a deer with that gun, but after quite a few years and a new place to hunt, a GM 54 LRH barrel I finally got my deer with it. It was 140 ranged yds and a Hornady great plains 425 gr bullet over 120gv of T7 2f. It will cut clover leafs at 75yds and open sights (TC hunter and a Lyman globe on the front). The doe did not know what hit her. I shot rifled slug guns but the accuracy was always up the slug sometimes at $5 a piece. My muzzies are way more accurate and I have zero issue with one shot, one deer philosophy. I have 3 times shot 2 deer from the same stand after reloading both tags filled. I live in IL which requires shotgun, MZ, or pistol.

 

[Poobear]

There's got to be a story behind everyone's choice made to shoot and hunt with a muzzleloader. Me? I got tired of all the crap with shotguns and the ammunition. Plus, I seldom needed more than the one shot.

I grew up using a smoothbore shotgun and foster slugs to hunt deer, starting at the age of 14. I shot deer and got pretty good at killing them. I put together a slug gun over time that sported a scope and rifled barrel and that made the hunting that much more humane. What griped me was the constantly changing world of ammunition and with each change the price of using it going straight uphill. I'd shot a handful of deer with a TC Renegade .54 during the regular gun seasons which is where I started developing my attraction to the "one-shot theory" that I'd always adhered to and pushed at my hunting partners, but they were firm in their shotguns.... and making the woods sound like a war zone.

I stumbled across a Winchester bolt .45 muzzy and bought it new at a locally new Cabelas. I scoped it and shot a hundred pounds of bullets and sabots through it getting ready for the next deer season. For the next four seasons this gun and I took as many deer as shots to collect them. BUT, I still played with shotgun game too and ran out to buy the newest and latest and greatest sabot slugs, usually spending $100.00 on them so I could shoot the gun in to them and then use one to kill my deer. Back then I hunted a second season which usually meant hunting on snow or in falling snow. Generally, it was cold, but it was also back when we started to see much warmer weather and hunting in slop was as common as hunting while it was below zero. The shotgun afforded me a reliable first shot while sometimes that front stuffer would balk at the trigger pull and I'd get to see a white flag leaving the area. Over time I was able to find some confidence in what I was shooting in in my muzzy during this late season and somehow just made the switch to using is while my buddies were blazing away and their deer harvest boasted of their lack of accuracy, often sporting two to four hits on a deer. to them it was a deer take. To me I saw waste.

About 25 years ago I got the opportunity to manage a property for an elderly couple. This gave me specific permission to post the property on their behalf and control who was on or using the property. The property was an absolute deer haven, so I decided to hunt it myself, as in by myself. I used my muzzleloader and enjoyed the peace in waiting out deer or the peace of still hunting. After 5 years both of the elderly couple had passed and their kids sold the property. While I managed the place I gave a neighbor permission to come in and harvest downed trees for his firewood as he heated with wood. Not only did he help clean up the forest floor but he help eliminate to a great degree the threat of fires. When the property was lost for me I asked him about hunting on his parcel just up the road. He was more than happy to let me on to hunt and to this day he is one of my best friends. I can count on one hand how many deer I have taken off his land with a shotgun. I have no idea how many I have taken with the muzzies.

Over the years I have added to my muzzy collection, mostly in-lines but also a couple sidelocks. I'd sold that Renegade I hunted with earlier hoping to find a single trigger model. I finally found one only a few years back here on this site. I still haven't shot it and as far as I can tell its never been shot. I sold the Winchester.45 too and hope to someday find another. I have a couple older .45 TC Hawkens that I don't shoot, but they are fun to handle occasionally. There's a lot of memories tied up in those sidelocks and the beginning of the muzzleloader love affair. I seriously shoot at a local club where I'm a long time member and some of the rifle shooters there are simply shocked to see a front stuffer poking holes in holes at 100 yards, so over time my shooting has evolved and gotten much better. So back to the original question.....

Shooting these muzzleloaders either at the range or in the stand has taught me to relax and not be so hurried to shoot. They've taught me several things by the most important is to have confidence in what I am shooting and what I am shooting at. We all go thru little trials with the smoke belching guns, but the trials become teachers and we pay attention. Hunting with muzzleloaders has taught me to appreciate that first shot, and except for twice in all these years, is the only shot that really matters. Hunting with muzzleloaders has allowed me to thoroughly look at the experience, each and every day different from the day before, not so much from the standpoint of the kill but to simply experience what the woods has to offer: the snow falling, the still and quiet, the birds and other animal life, sunrises and sunsets that so many others simply don't see or can't see. I'm getting older and know it... feel it. I don't go to the woods with my muzzies to lament what is coming someday, probably sooner than I'd like, but I go there with my old friend the muzzleloader to be thankful for being there today. I'm a sausage maker and I really do intend to kill deer for that purpose, so I struggle with the idea that I am going there to kill, because the whole experience is so much more than that. Over the many years of hunting with the stink stick I've learned to be more selective in what I take. Horns are nice if what I am aiming at has them but the long nosed, tall eared, does are welcome too. I watch an awful lot of deer come and go while I have that muzzy in my lap. And I don't have to listen to that terrible racket of a shell being racked up.

So, to say that making muzzleloaders my choice over the years is a matter of evolving, the statement would be correct. Being a part of this family here at MM has allowed me to spend time with other who have sauntered down a similar path in their hunting/shooting life. Its given me a chance to watch posting as newcomers go thru the trials and tribulations that making smoke seems to bring with it early on and watch them grow to confidence. My grandkids ask why I don't hunt with a rifle. I tell them I do. The oldest grandson has a muzzleloader but he's still stuck on the cartridge hunting. One day though, he'll get the bug and like all of us here, the evolution will begin in him.

I am quite sure you are a writer or should be as this take on your travels was spot on and a great read. Please continue to post such interesting stories for all of us to enjoy! Especially those of us who can’t visit and hunt the wild like yourself. Thanks

 

[deermanok]

I bought my first muzzleloader in 1975. Mine was a Zouave carbine and my buddy got the infantryman model.
There wasn't a hunting season in Connecticut back then so we only used them for target shooting. Looking back, we didn't know didly about muzzleloaders but they were fun to shoot.
Over the years, I've owned quite a few different guns and hunted with them and was lucky enough to take deer.
Since I've retired, I have more time to spend shooting and trying to develop the most accurate loads with the guns I currently own.
There's just something about smell of black powder and all that goes along with it.
I'm always learning a little bit more everyday. Muzzleloading is a great hobby that I would recommend to anyone to experience.

 

[Idaho PRB]

I truly enjoyed reading your story, very well said. Thank you.
Me? started with an extra hunting opportunity and still is really but I too have become very comfortable with it and confident it will get the job done nicely.

 

[.45er]

Good reads here folks.

I started-off at 12 years old reloading several centerfire calibers. Then added bowhunting later for the challenge. I then moved to a state where centerfires for deer were prohibited so switched to shotgun-ing for deer. Got bored with that deer hunting load so bought my first muzzleloader 25 years ago...a .45 CVA Hunterbolt. Got obsessed with reloading/hunting with a muzzloloader and never looked back.

 

[CharlieTN]

Great read seeing everyone’s history here.

My dad gave me my first muzzleloader, a TC Hawken .54 he had built from a kit when I was 11-12. That was 40 years ago and I still have it. He was big into the whole mountain man and rendezvous scene for a number of years and I still have his set of buckskins he made as well as a shooting bag, powder horn, and a few other leather accoutrements he made.

Jumping forward into life I found inline muzzleloaders and have taken a few deer with an older Knight inline. I got out the inlines a couple of years ago focusing mostly on archery but really wanted to get back into muzzleloaders for deer hunting. Found a sweet deal on an ‘06 made CVA Wolf with 4x Nikon scope on it so I’m back hunting with an inline.

It is my goal next year to work up a good hunting load for the Hawken and to kill a deer with it as well.

Here’s a pic of the Hawken. It is well aged but still shoots good.

 

[deermanok]

Great read seeing everyone’s history here.

My dad gave me my first muzzleloader, a TC Hawken .54 he had built from a kit when I was 11-12. That was 40 years ago and I still have it. He was big into the whole mountain man and rendezvous scene for a number of years and I still have his set of buckskins he made as well as a shooting bag, powder horn, and a few other leather accoutrements he made.

Jumping forward into life I found inline muzzleloaders and have taken a few deer with an older Knight inline. I got out the inlines a couple of years ago focusing mostly on archery but really wanted to get back into muzzleloaders for deer hunting. Found a sweet deal on an ‘06 made CVA Wolf with 4x Nikon scope on it so I’m back hunting with an inline.

It is my goal next year to work up a good hunting load for the Hawken and to kill a deer with it as well.

Here’s a pic of the Hawken. It is well aged but still shoots good.

View attachment 28120

I have an old CVA Missouri rifle in 54 caliber.
I tried some 54 cal. Powerbelts in mine, it shot ok but mine shoots best with a patched ball over 70 grains volume of 3f Swiss black powder. It will put every shot in about the same hole at 50 yards.

 

[CharlieTN]

When I started deer hunting I could not afford a slug gun, but Gander Mountain had a sale on a TC Renegade 54 kit for $99. I bought it and got some Pyrodex and 54 cal buffalo 460 grain bullets. It was more accurate than dad's shotgun by far (870 smoothbore). I never did get a deer with that gun, but after quite a few years and a new place to hunt, a GM 54 LRH barrel I finally got my deer with it. It was 140 ranged yds and a Hornady great plains 425 gr bullet over 120gv of T7 2f. It will cut clover leafs at 75yds and open sights (TC hunter and a Lyman globe on the front). The doe did not know what hit her. I shot rifled slug guns but the accuracy was always up the slug sometimes at $5 a piece. My muzzies are way more accurate and I have zero issue with one shot, one deer philosophy. I have 3 times shot 2 deer from the same stand after reloading both tags filled. I live in IL which requires shotgun, MZ, or pistol.

what you’ve observed is one of the reasons I love hunting with a muzzleloader. The boom just doesn’t seem to spook the deer like the crack of a high-power rifle. I’ve shot a buck and had does just continue to mill around even with the buck dropping a few yards from them.

 

[.45er]

I have an old CVA Missouri rifle in 54 caliber.
I tried some 54 cal. Powerbelts in mine, it shot ok but mine shoots best with a patched ball over 70 grains volume of 3f Swiss black powder. It will put every shot in about the same hole at 50 yards.

We've come far in the world of modern muzzleloading in the past decade or so. BH209, sabots and high-tech projectiles specifically made for the muzzleloader come to mind. I look back and my personal best in my Avatar was my first muzzleloader deer taken using three-30 grain powder pellets and a 195 grain full bore PB.

 

[Walkingeagle]

I’m from Alberta, Canada, where there is no special season for muzzleloaders. There is only archery or firearms seasons, with draws dictating a bunch of dates on certain animals within. So without getting long winded…
Very few people use muzzleloaders at all. I became interested due to my love of history and choice to follow the Mountain Men of the day. TC Hawken entered my life, followed by several other makes/models of side lock cappers. Eventually my interest drew me to the beautiful form of the original TC Encore, for a few years then interest lost. Sold and back to sidelocks, then another Encore. This cycle has remained to where I’m now into my 7th Encore. The others were all sold off except 2 Pro Hunters which went to nephews. Still love my sidelocks, and participate in traditional events and hunting as able, but this damn desiese has degraded me to the point where my eyes are no good and the rest of me no better.
Anyhow enjoying learning of stuff I never even thought about with all previous Encores.
Walk

 

[Blackrock]

Unfortunately, here in Michigan BPML's are getting less support from sporting goods stores. Cabelas is in the far southeastern part of the state -- about 480 miles one way from me. Local stores do virtually nothing with BPML's. They do not stock nor order BP and only caps are 209's and sometimes #11's. Jay's, a large sporting goods store with 2 locations in central lower Michigan, carry some BP subs and caps but no BP firearms except for a couple of kits. My last stop when traveling through that region I was told no firearms in stock and they will no longer accept BP firearms in trade.... so only left with basically online sources. ( Qualifier - I'm referring to front stuffers -- the inlines do get some support. Disappointing-- but the in-lines have pretty much taken over the BPML world around here)

 

[FredB]

I started deer hunting with a Winchester 30-30 and never thought much about muzzleloading. Nobody I knew was into it. Then, I was active duty military and could not get leave to come home to hunt the rifle season very often. That's when I really looked at muzzleloading as another opportunity to hunt, if I couldn't make the rifle season. I got my .54 cal MK-85 in 1995. For a number of years, I still didn't get home to hunt with it, but used it to take a number of whitetails in Oklahoma, where I was stationed. Shotguns were pretty much the rule there, but ml's were allowed in shotgun seasons. I hadn't, and still haven't, ever used a shotgun for big game. Now, I'm retired and back home in Idaho. The ml hunts I love are draw hunts, and I can only draw every other year, but those are the hunts that I most look forward to. Fewer hunters, more game, one shot, every load a hand load, back to the open sights like how I started, the BOOM & the smoke. What more could I want?
I use a scoped 7mm WSM when I hunt the general season, so I guess I could want that sometimes. (Follow up shot capability, sub-moa, glass, and a 300yd point-blank.) Options are good.

 

[retrieverman]

My Dad was a sporting goods manufacturers rep for most of his working life and ended up owning his own rep group that covered the southeastern part of the US, and in around 2000, he hired a guy who was already the Knight rep and brought the line with him. It was about that time that we started deer hunting in Oklahoma which has a muzzleloader season, and Steve (the Knight rep) set my Dad, my brother, and me up with Knight rifles.
Steve Borsa the Knight rep was killed in a car wreck in 2007, my Dad died of cancer in 2014, my brother never liked muzzleloaders because you actually have to clean them, so I now have all three Knights rifles that Steve gave us.