Muzzleloading almost upon us...what are you hunting with?

[David LaPell]

I doubt I will be getting out for it, but I will show a picture of it anyways of my normal muzzleloader I use for deer hunting. It's an 1853 Enfield musketoon in .577 caliber. It has been used to good effect last in 2010 when I took a nice doe out to 100 yards offhand. She was good eating.

 

[ACP230]

I bought a flintlock blunderbuss at the end of the summer.
I don't plan to hunt deer with it but a friend and I are supposed to
go out after grouse with his flint trade gun and my blunderbuss one of these
days. It will have to stop raining all the time first.

 

[forresth]

I don't get a season for my CVA wolf until December around here.

I use 150gr worth of pellets and a 44cal 300gr sabot. Its basically a single shot 444Marlin+p. I stuck the old 3-9x that served me faithfully for decades on my 270, when I decided to upgrade it.

Hardly a traditionalist, but this modern set-up is actually pretty darned budget friendly. Buying the bullets and sabots separately also saved me a small fortune. The break-open design with tool-less breach plug removal makes clean-up with a bore-snake a breeze too.

 

[Muley Gil]

David, I have a Parker-Hale musketoon that might get some use this hunting season.

Otherwise, I'm leaning towards my Navy Arms 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle or my North-South Skirmish gun, a 1858 naval rifle, also a Parker-Hale.

The 1803 is a .58, rather than the authentic .54. But that's OK, as all of my skirmish gear is .577 or .58.

 

[tops]

For hunting I use one of them new fangled britch loading rifles. It is nice to go to the store and buy cartridges already made up and ready to stick in the gun. They have only been around about 150 years and it may just be a fad and they won't really catch on. Larry

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

The early mid October muzzle loading season in Pa allows for percussion and modern in-line guns but I'll be using my 45 cal flintlock shimmel. She's been with me since I put her together in HS from a H&A kit. Been restocked and has a replacement lock but in my heart she's still the same. I really like your Enfield, Dave. Isn't it a Parker Hale? What load do you use? I've been looking for a nice Civil War era reproduction Minnie ball rifle to use in the early season. The late season, after X-mas is flintlock only in Pa.
I like the challenges of traditional ML hunting. Gives the deer better odds of winning. Personally I just don't "get" the new inline systems. If I'm going to use that much technology, I'll stick with my cartridge guns!
John

 

[LazyKB]

I now use a Knight Disc Elite but have probably taken more deer with a Thompson Renegade than any other firearm I have.

 

[heatheroo]

I'll be out with my .50 flint long rifle. I made it back in the 80's from mostly Dixie parts. I shoot a .490 ball over 80 grains of FFFG

 

[gizamo]

I have posted other Flintlocks with Partridge...

This will be Christianed on the October opener..