Let me first begin saying that if you have never been muzzleloader hunting for mule deer, you need to try it. Muzzleloaders are relatively inexpensive still with some models going for under $250. You buy some pyrodex powder and sabots, some breach lubricant and you have all the components. You also can go to you tube and see how easy it is to load the gun safely. I found Mike at Sportsman’s an excellent source of help to focus on the right sabots and power. Now you are ready to go to the range.First start at 50 yds to see if you can hit the paper. I was surprised how well I shot right with the first three shells. Three inches high and to the right. Remember, in California, you cannot use a scope so you are shooting open sights. At 50 yds, you can put the front bead right on the 8” target and hold pretty steady. Once you fire, there is smoke so you really cannot see the target, kind of scary at first. Now you look thru the spotting scope and viola, you hit the target. Now the fun starts.
You reload based on the You tube video and you are ready to shoot again. The more you shoot, the more fowling builds up in the barrel and breach tube. Mike told me to take a piece of cleaning cloth, put it in your mouth to lubricate it. Ram it down slowly working it to clean the major fowling from the barrel. If you do this every three shots, you can continue shooting without cleaning the breach plug after a few shots. If it really gets hard to push the sabot down the barrel, then its time to clean the barrel and breach.
I found that in the field, you do not have time to major clean the barrel and breach plug. If you miss the first shot, the deer is moving and you have to reload fast and try and get a second shot. Remember, you are under 150 yds usually and if you miss, he is moving away so reload as fast as you can and move to get another opportunity.
After 50 yds, I moved to 100 yds and experienced the challenges of open sights. The front bead covered up almost the whole target. Shot three more, cleaned, and checked the target. All shots were really high and to the right almost off the target, not good. I was told that at longer distances, you need to take the top of the bead and hold just under the 8”target because your sight vision tends to aim high when you place the bead right on the target. I tried three more and viola, hit the 8” pie plate target, 4” high of center and to the slight right, now I was cooking.
I then tried 150yds, and held low with bead and still hit the target high and to the right with three more shots. I felt good about my hold at this point. I did not try 200yds even though they said it would shoot that far, just did not like the idea of not even seeing the target well, let alone trying to hold on the animal at that distance. I am sure with a scope, it would be a shot you could practice but not with open sights.
I practiced several more weekends and was now ready to go on my hunt. Part II of my mule deer muzzleloader hunt will come out on Friday. I am leaving for Colorado for an elk hunt on Sunday so stay tuned, a lot of fun experiences coming.
The above pic was an evening view of the moon coming up. Enjoy some of my photos to be posted today on my facebook. Thanks for following Ryan’s Roost!
