20 January 2025, 05:59
dustofferMy Tenderloin Source
First 9 days of muzzle loader season only saw 2 deer then Thursday 7 showed up. Biggest buck wasn’t legal (too narrow) and biggest doe was way on my left side and as a lefty I couldn’t turn enough to pop her without risking spooking them, so this guy got targeted. Long dry hole this season, but my persistence finally paid off.
20 January 2025, 07:17
Bobby TomekWell done! And yes, your persistence certainly paid off.
What ML and load are you using?
20 January 2025, 21:32
dustofferBobby--it is a Wolf .50 cal using 2 White Hot pellets behind a 285-gr sabot slug. I like the convenience of using shotgun primers for muzzle loaders as when the hunt is over, I can just remove the primer and leave the propellant and bullet in the barrel for the next hunt.
And, it this load has proven its accuracy for me.
21 January 2025, 18:54
Stonecreekquote:
I like the convenience of using shotgun primers for muzzle loaders as when the hunt is over, I can just remove the primer and leave the propellant and bullet in the barrel for the next hunt.
That might be okay if the next hunt is next weekend. However, I had a friend who left his in-line loaded (sans primer) from January to September. When he tried to fire at a nice bull elk at 25 steps in the early Colorado muzzleloader season the muffled report of the primer sent the whole herd scrambling. The powder charge, likely having absorbed too much moisture over the summer, failed to ignite.
22 January 2025, 04:55
dustofferStonecreek—you are absolutely correct on this point. Our ML season is only 2 weeks so I was OK leaving the load in place. My intentions were to unload at season end but the buck made me unload it!