I'm very new to the game of shooting and hunting with a muzzleloader. Well, yesterday was a lucky day, and I was blessed with my first success - and meat. My lady and I walked into the bush early in the morning, and quietly and slowly stalked along with a good breeze in our faces. My first stalk got me in range of a nice cow, but I then noticed she had a calf, and so I backed away and left them to it none the wiser. At one stage the sun lit on something red moving through the grass toward us, and we ducked down, thinking it was a scrub bull. It turned-out to be a yearling buffalo covered in red mud, on his own - strangely - and too cute to shoot. He cut our wind and ran. A little later we disturbed a wild dog who'd been resting in some shady patch of pandanus by a spring, and he proved too skittish to present an opportunity. As the day heated and the swampy creek ended, we had about reached our turn-around point, three kilometres from the Toyota. And then I noticed that slight patch of buffalo hide gleaming in the distance, immediately swallowed-up by the scrub. One last try. Off we went, and soon realised it was a young bull worth a good try. The wind was good, but the terrain was fairly open, with the bull commencing his midday rest in a patch of shade on the edge of the burned-out country. There was just enough cover to get close enough for a stalk, and at that point I kicked my sandals off and dropped my pack, hat and binocular, leaving it all with Meg. I had two rifles to stalk with: The CVA Mountain Rifle, .54", and the heavy double - in case something went wrong for either me or the bull. Sneaking through the grass I got to about forty-five metres or so. It turned out to be a pair of young bulls. Eventually they noticed my presence, but couldn't figure me out. The larger of the two stood to face me, and he was the one I wanted. I prepared for a shot, but he didn't present. Much of him was hidden by the grass. After some time I decided to wriggle over to a termite hill, which opened the view somewhat. I practiced sighting, but don't have the confidence or experience or skill for a headshot - too risky. At one point the buffalo turned broadside, and I hoped it would pause enough to let me shoot. But it was just tired of trying to figure me out, and lay down. I thought I might slowly stand-up behind a tree, to use it as a rest. I thought the movement might make them stand and present out of curiosity, but it didn't. I had to wave and click my fingers for some time before they noticed, and then we were back to that front-on presentation. Despite my firm belief in heavy hitting Nitro Express cartridges for buffalo, I've also killed quite a few with arrows or smaller cartridges, and with that background experience I know of their vulnerability to a well-placed shot into their chest from front-on or slightly quartering-on. And that's the shot I took as it opened-up, slipping that diminutive hardened lead roundball into the junction of his chest and neck, and through to the major vessels beyond. The smoke cleared, and the bull was not doing well. I loaded safely but as fast as I could, and crashed another ball into his chest. Leaving a good blood trail, he couldn't walk too far before sitting down to die. I reloaded and brained him into happier pastures beyond the stars. My dream of making meat with a muzzleloader and roundball had finally come true, and I felt very grateful. It was a long, hot, heavy hike back to the ute, thankfully with a dip in a cool, flowing creek to help us along our way. Dinner was excellent!
My lovely lady, Meg, took a series of photographs that I think captured the hunt very well, and I'll post these in order.
Posts: 1077 | Location: NT, Australia | Registered: 10 February 2011
Awesome hunt! And it proves that a .54 round ball, in the right place is deadly. Am I correct in assuming that these buffs are like varmints and you guys can just go out and drop them whenever you want, or is it not that easy.
Posts: 17084 | Location: USA | Registered: 02 August 2009
