Muzzleloader Hunting

[moparmaniac59]

I don't know how many folks here (other than Cuda Hunter) that are big on hunting. I'm not quite as crazy as Josh, I'm too old. I've been hunting since I was a young boy with my dad. I've never hunted black powder and it sounded fun so last year I bought a .50 caliber CVA muzzleloader. They are a ton of fun to shoot. I can tell you this much, once you fire it, you can't see squat due to all the smoke!  I went out hunting on Monday (Veterans's Day) and bagged this nice 8 point buck. Not bad for an eastern VA deer. No comparison to a big Texas mule deer. A big deer in Virginia is 200-230 pounds. Once I shot, he jumped & was gone. Even with a heart shot he made it 40 yards into a briar thicket. I shot him in a cut corn field. I thought I'd never find him. Took me 45 minutes to drag him 40 yards out of the briars. The funny part was seeing an out of shape 53 year old man trying to get a buck into the back of my Land Rover. I'd get one end in and the other end would slide out.  I finally took some rope & tied off his rack to the hand holds on the inside of the vehicle and then swung his ass up into the vehicle. Now he's in the freezer and I'm laying on a heating pad for my tweaked back!! I'll be back in the wood Saturday!! 

[dodj]

Nice!
I've never hunted muzzleloader style. A friend of mine says the difference between muzzle loading and regular rifles is, after you shoot, there is no chance of a second shot. You are then just an observer. You have to make sure the first shot is placed well.
Congrats, nice first shot!
 

[moparmaniac59]

Yeah, making a second shot isn't impossible, but would take someone like me maybe 30 seconds at best to reload. I've seen it done much quicker, but most likely the deer would be gone. Unless of course, the deer didn't have a fatal shot, then you can track it & make the kill. I can't imagne being in the civil war trying to reload while someone is shooting back at you. There were muzzleloaders picked up from the battlefield in Gettysburg that had 10-12 rounds rammed into them where the guy got scared and just kept loading and never fired!!  As far as hunting, using a muzzleloader is a blast. I'll be bow hunting next year! 



                                                                           Matt B.

[72cudamaan]

An interesting point with a muzzle loader is this, if you miss, because of the different way the sound
is produced, the deer can't tell where the sound came from and quite often won't even run away. So you
might have a good chance to regroup,reload and get a second shot.

[moparmaniac59]

I've never heard that. That's very interesting. I've had deer come right up to me within maybe 20 yards and just stare as I'm sure they are curious as to "what the heck is this?" And then again they can be very wary (like turkey hunting) & have such a keen sense of smell that they can walk a circle around you and never get within 200 yards!! A grunt call is a good way to get them in close! 


                                                                            Matt B.

[72cudamaan]

By the way, nice shot.   

[dodj]

Tenderloin tonight?...yumm

[moparmaniac59]

When I'm ready to eat it, I'll take the meat from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge for 2-3 days, then I usually soak the meat (in the fridge) for 2-3 more days in salt water. Then I'll take it out, rinse it off and soak in in some type of marinate for 2-3 more days in the fridge and then grill it. Some folks age their meat even longer. Folks may find that odd thinking that's a long time, but what they don't realize is good cuts of beef are aged for weeks before it leaves the slaughterhouse and arrives in your grocery store. It is yummy, low in fat (lower than beef) and high in protein. 


                                                                        Matt B.

                         

[barracuda7199]

I'm a hunter too good buck. i got this one on october 20th he is a nine point on public land
 



I got this hog last week


my uncle got this hog about two weeks ago he is a really good one for a wild pig

also deer meat is awesome!! that hog i killed made the best sausage i have ever ate as well

[moparmaniac59]

Very nice Brandon.  Did you bag them in Georgia?





                                                                             Matt B.

[barracuda7199]

  yeah man we have alot of game. Especially wild hogs.

[dodj]

Is it anything like domestic pigs?
Can you handgun hunt in Georgia?

[barracuda7199]

yes you can hand gun hunt here. i hunt public land every time i go hunting. when it is closed to deer hunting i will take my .22 magnum rifle and hunt hogs. but i have killed them with a knife using dogs also have caught them with dogs and tied them up and brought them out alive. wild hogs are smart critters they can smell better than a deer but they have poor eye sight when they have there head down rooting you can walk right up to them if your slow and are down wind.

['cruddy mutt']

Me and my kids hunt small game but last year was the first for elk so we are now into big game thats a good looking buck you got we have never hunted with a muzzleloader but we have friends that do and they say its a blast we are just getting into bows and thats how we will hunt from now on

[NCtrueconservative]

Big hunter here! Love muzzleloader myself. Our muzzleloader season just finished. Rifle starts Saturday. Between 4 of us, we bagged 5 deer on opening day. Wack em and stack em!