Was a great morning. this isn't flying related

[Gary Dowler]

Anyone else in here a deer hunter?  Shot my first ever one with a muzzle loader this morning. Nothing impressive, but that mule deer will go a long way to filling my freezer. 8:06 this morning, one shot at 117 yds.  T/C Hawken rifle, 54cal round ball. Was home by noon.  Me is happy!

[Mike Griffin]

Hi Gary

I deer hunted all my life until my back and knees got so bad I could not climb up in a stand anymore.  I certainly remember my first kill and how nervous I was and what emotions rushed through me.  I never owned a black powder rifle but shot quite a few with my Winchester 30.30.   My favorite season was bow season and loved to bow hunt.

Congratulations and I hope you will have many more successful hunts in the future. 

Mike

[Fredvon4]

Gary I no longer hunt but fondly remember my firsts... best one, teaching son on his first hunt ----like my dad must have felt teaching me

I may be reading wrong...but this is first with muzzle loader right?

To this day I am not sure (considering my considerable gun collection) why I never jazzed to muzzle loaders... maybe some day

My most memorable was a 650 yard Elk --first shot kill with Rem 700 308 and very cheap scope....very very lucky shot In retrospect I should NOT have taken   ( very conservative ethical kill hunter)

Flip side was 600+ lb animal was a few steep valleys away to pack out.....on foot......grrrr
Up side...he kept a poor E-4 enlisted family fed for a full year....

Glad you had a successful hunt

[Larry Renger]

Ooooh! You killed Bambi! 

On the other hand I love properly prepared Venison steak. 

Have you ever heard Tom Lehrer’s song about hunting?  Look it up, it’s a hoot.

I recently found some videos about hunting boars with Airguns. I sure would want to be up on a tree stand if I tried that!

[Fredvon4]

Larry Larry Larry...

I recently lost a VFW bet... I had owned a LOT of air guns in my life... the vet next to me said something about his 357 air rifle

I call BS..he bet me $10 he had one..out in his trunk was indeed a 357 cal air rifle he regularly kills feral hog with...astounding...yep paid the ten spot

Amazing the stuff I learn every day...BUT none of it from Alexa...she is brain dead...
very few on here will get that last bit

[Will Hinton]

Way to go on the kill! I really admire you black powder hunters, that's getting it down to the nuts and bolts of shooting.  (Yeah, I know, so does archery.)

[Mike Scholtes]

I don't hunt with it, but I have a Hawken .50 cal muzzle loader percussion cap rifle, circa about 1840 (replica of course). It is plenty potent for mid-sized game and in its day kept many a family fed. Pretty accurate out to maybe 150 yards. Also an 1851 Colt Navy .44 and a Ruger Old Army, also .44. A hoot to shoot and get lots of questions at the range. One time when shooting the Hawken the range master came over to me and said, very sternly, "No rapid fire, now!" Yuk Yuk.

[James Mills]

Congrats, I shot my first one with a black powder a couple of years ago.  I mostly bow hunt, getting over a shoulder injury so it archery may be limited for me this year.  Black powder is a lot of fun to just shoot.  I haven't harvested anything the past two years, hope to turn that around this season.

James

[Gary Dowler]

Gary I no longer hunt but fondly remember my firsts... best one, teaching son on his first hunt ----like my dad must have felt teaching me

I may be reading wrong...but this is first with muzzle loader right?

To this day I am not sure (considering my considerable gun collection) why I never jazzed to muzzle loaders... maybe some day

My most memorable was a 650 yard Elk --first shot kill with Rem 700 308 and very cheap scope....very very lucky shot In retrospect I should NOT have taken   ( very conservative ethical kill hunter)

Flip side was 600+ lb animal was a few steep valleys away to pack out.....on foot......grrrr
Up side...he kept a poor E-4 enlisted family fed for a full year....

Glad you had a successful hunt

Yes, first time hunting with muzzle loader. Killed many a deer with my trusty little Remington 7mm-08 over the last 31 years.

[Will Hinton]

All I harvest any more are "Shoot n see" targets with my Henry, Heritage Arms, and 3 9mm's plus my AR15 on occasion.  But I sure would love a couple of venison roasts!  (Hint, hint.)

[Gary Dowler]

I don't hunt with it, but I have a Hawken .50 cal muzzle loader percussion cap rifle, circa about 1840 (replica of course). It is plenty potent for mid-sized game and in its day kept many a family fed. Pretty accurate out to maybe 150 yards. Also an 1851 Colt Navy .44 and a Ruger Old Army, also .44. A hoot to shoot and get lots of questions at the range. One time when shooting the Hawken the range master came over to me and said, very sternly, "No rapid fire, now!" Yuk Yuk.

I also have owned a 1851 Colt 44 cal. Sold it years ago, but 2 years back I replaced it with a 44 cal 1858 Remington replica.  Shoots awesome!!!  Itching to nail a coyote with it.
On the 54 cal Hawken I used, I was amazed. 117 yds, patched round ball over 100grs of powder (1700 fps) struck right into the upper shoulder, got lungs, clipped the spine and still exited clean through the opposite shoulder.  Dropped where he was standing.  Didn't think I'd get that sort of penetration out of a round ball, not past 100 yds anyway.

[Gary Dowler]

All I harvest any more are "Shoot n see" targets with my Henry, Heritage Arms, and 3 9mm's plus my AR15 on occasion.  But I sure would love a couple of venison roasts!  (Hint, hint.)

Well if you were local I could perhaps see my way to dropping off a steak or two....

[James Holford]

I still have my youtg model Traditions .50cal hammer drop muzzleloader. Huntes few times with it but never got the chance to kill with it.

Im 33 years old.and hunted all my life and never got a shot on a deer til 2 years ago.

.35 Whelen @ 40yards dropped this basket 8 point . Hard hunting in the swamps of Louisiana.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Andre Ming]

 

[Will Hinton]

Well if you were local I could perhaps see my way to dropping off a steak or two....

Wow, that'd be worth a gallon of 10%!

[Mike Scholtes]

You can get some pretty impressive fps with modern black powder. I only load the Hawken for target shooting but would be safe to some very lethal grain loads. Hardly ever shoot the Colt 1851 Navy any more, a pain to clean and too pretty to mess up with actual use! The Ruger Old Army is stainless and cleans easily, plus much easier to load and fit primers. Getting near-impossible to get supplies in California. Lucky I stocked up years ago.

[Gary Dowler]

You can get some pretty impressive fps with modern black powder. I only load the Hawken for target shooting but would be safe to some very lethal grain loads. Hardly ever shoot the Colt 1851 Navy any more, a pain to clean and too pretty to mess up with actual use! The Ruger Old Army is stainless and cleans easily, plus much easier to load and fit primers. Getting near-impossible to get supplies in California. Lucky I stocked up years ago.

T/C says you can load 120grs behind a patched ball in the 54 cal.  This should run at or a little over 1800 fps. I'm using 100grs at around 1700.  Obviously it was quite sufficient.
I agree completely about the hassle cleaning the revolvers. It's a pain, but this thing is so much fun to shoot! Inside 50 yds it's fully as accurate as any modern handgun.

[Mike Scholtes]

I duuno, I have an accurized S&W 629 target model that pretty much shoots the center out of the bulls eye at 50 yards, without a scope (that's coming soon). But granted that even 1850s technology was plenty good for its intended purpose. I have a pair of Colt SAA 1872 models that are as accurate as anything with such primitive sights can be, and again for its intended purpose (euphemism for shooting people) are plenty accurate. Would not like to be on the receiving end and hoping the guy holding the pistol will miss.

[Will Hinton]

When I was buying my Heritage Arms 22/22 mag a guy claimed accuracy out to 50 yards with his.  I haven't backed off that far with it yet as I get very little time to shoot any more and just concentrate on my 9mm's to stay proficient for concealed carry, but one of these days I simply HAVE to see just what that little pea-shooter will do.  I have serious doubts as to the guy's claim.  Any one here that has tried it?

[Gary Dowler]

When I was buying my Heritage Arms 22/22 mag a guy claimed accuracy out to 50 yards with his.  I haven't backed off that far with it yet as I get very little time to shoot any more and just concentrate on my 9mm's to stay proficient for concealed carry, but one of these days I simply HAVE to see just what that little pea-shooter will do.  I have serious doubts as to the guy's claim.  Any one here that has tried it?

A long time ago I had a S&W 2206, a semi target 22 pistol with the 6" barrel. I would frequently set clay pigeons on an embankment then walk off 100 paces, sit down resting my elbows on my knees and shoot them. Gun held 11 rds total.  With those 11 shots I could break 7 targets all day long, 8 on a good day, and 9 if the stars really lined up right. Never did manage 10.