quote:

Originally posted by Andy#3:
I've been using this rifle and caliber combination for nearly 20 years. After doing ALOT of load development for it, my "go to" load is 110 grains (by volume) of pyrodex "P" powder, RWS #11 caps, hot shot nipple, and Hornady 425 grain great plains bullets. Here in Idaho we have to use a full bore diameter bullet. If you don't, replace the bullet with a .452"/350 grain wide/flat nose hard cast bullet, in a red harvester high pressure sabot. It will shoot the length of an elk....the Hornady is soft and tends to flatten out, especially up close. Keep those in the ribs, and off the shoulder of a big bodied elk.

I have used this combination in some of the most horrible weather you could imagine. Put a little tape over the muzzle, and leave the gun in the cold at night, and you shouldn't have any problems with hang or misfires...we don't.

Me and 4 of my hunting buddies use this gun and load combination with great results. We've killed many whitetails, quite a few elk, and many mule deer with this load. Expect 2" groups at 100 yards, off the bench, on a calm day. My biggest bodied bull was killed at 135 yards with the Hornady bullet. Shot through the top of the heart, he took 3 or 4 steps backwards, stood for about 15 seconds, and tipped over. It's a hammer on game and pretty "lively" on the bench!

We all also use XS ghost rings sights. No scopes allowed here.

The RWS caps are by far the hottest caps I've found. They are also almost waterproof. I've put them in a cup of water, overnight, and 2 of the 3 popped, the next day.

Anyhow, thats what works for us, and it should work well for you too. Andy#3

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Andy is spot on, and based on experience..All I can add is Ive seen better results with the 58 caliber on elk, and much better blood trails..Ive witnessed a lot more elk kills with muzzle loaders than Ive killed with them..

quote:

Originally posted by SCHALL53:

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Hot dog! I'm tickled for you.
How about some details on the hunt now?

Sure has been hot this season. Am sure you had plenty of help getting it taken care of right away.

Bulls that size this early in the fall sure are fine eating. Much better than later on after the rut effects them.

Sure don't look like you're very fat though!!

Buckeye: Can't use that load in CO. That's the same as a sabot, no doing's out here. Has to be bore sized single slug. Don't know about where you hunt as to what's legal or not. IF it is there, use it.

Just wait til I tell Lynn you got one and he didn't. He hunted by Saguache, don't know what unit that is. He could only hunt the first weekend.

George

Hear you go George,

A totally unbelievable hunt. It was litterally over for me before it begain. We got to camp on the afternoon before our hunt was to start. The outfitter asked us if we wanted to go out and sit that night and of course we jumped at the chance. They have 28 stands over water holes and wallows. They put me in a tripod stand over looking a pond at 4:30. At 6:20 I had a doe and fawn muley come in to water. Around 7:00 my bull came running in and ran around the end of the pond came back in to drink facing right at me at 60 yds. When he raised his head I nailed him right at the base of his neck. He dropped like a rock with the front half of his body in the pond.

I just sat there and couldn't beleive what had just happened. At 7:30 I had an even bigger bull come to water 10 yds. from my bull and wasn't bothered in the least. He was there for 5 minutes and left undisturbed. I got down out of the stand at dark and walked over to my bull and waited for the guide to pick me up. That is when I heard something back down in the pond. This time it was a huge bull moose. I didn't want to surprise him so I yelled at him. It didn't scare him one bit, he just waded out in the pond and fed. Made for a tense time while I waited in the dark.

When we got my elk back to camp, the hunters from the previous week I don't think were too pleased with me since several hadn't had any shot opportunities and I could have had 2. One of my buddies had also hit a smaller bull with his crossbow that night. We went out the next morning and tracked him for at least 800 yds before we lost the blood, figured his expandable didn't open.

My other buddy shot a big cow the next morning with his crossbow, she only went 100 yds. The buddy that lost the bull never had another chance and came home empty.

The other hunters in camp killed a black bear, a 5pt bull, and 2 cows. They also hit 3 other cows that were lost, one a shoulder hit that didn't penetrate, a frontal shot that went between the shoulder and rib cage, And another expandable that didn't open.

This is a perfect hunt for an old fart like me. You can hunt anyway you want to. Stand hunt or hike and call if you are physically able. The elevation according to my GPS where I killed my bull was 8456 ft.

The weather was was horrible for the rut which should have been going strong, 85 degrees plus during the day and dropping into the 50's at night. I only heard one bugle the whole time I was there.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I went out with my buddies and tried to video for them, went out blood trailling all the animals that were hit, or stayed in camp and just looked at the mountains. Met a bunch of great people.

I was the only one hunting with a muzzleloader, everyone else was bow or crossbow.


My bull was not a monster but carried a 6X7 rack.