Thinking of trying Muzzleloaders

[dutch]

Any advice on a beginner for muzzleloader hunting elk? I know pretty much nothing about muzzleloading but I think it would be fun to try. We are thinking of hunting our elk next year with muzzleloader. Would appreciate advice on what caliber to buy, types of guns for beginners and whatever else.
Thanks
Dutch

 

[jmalmberg]

Email Bluelk...he knows pretty much anything there is to know...he has also tested many of the guns and products out there. Muzzleloading is awesome!!!!! You'll get hooked....
Here is his email address.

[email protected]

 

[bluelk]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-28-02 AT 03:05PM (MST)[p]dutch: Welcome to muzzleloading. I use nothing but .54 caliber rifles for elk, but they are getting hard to find except in the Lyman line. I would buy either a Lyman Great Plains (sidehammer), an Austin & Halleck inline, or a Knight inline. I like the trigger on the Austin & Halleck a lot better and the bolt action is a lot easier to work than the Knight. If you don't want to buy a Lyman Great Plains (sidehammer)in .54 I would buy an Austin & Halleck in a .50 or a Knight in the same caliber.

I would use Pyrodex 777 powder, a PowerBelt/BlackBelt bullet in the 348 to 408 grain range.

Go over to the Realtree site: www.realtree.com and run your mouse arrow on Community across the top of the home page. You will get a drop down menu and at the top you will see "Forums". Click on that and then click on the Muzzleloading and Accessories forum. When that page opens near the top you will see a sentence about reading my Muzzleload 101 Chapters. Print them out, read them, and you should be just about ready to go.

 

[Viking_Six]

Bluelk,

You forgot one thing. Not only print them out, read them, but also follow them!

This is required reading for all new ML shooters and it sure doesn't hurt those of us who have been at this awhile as well.

 

[fstop]

Dutch,
I was in a similar situation last year and decided to go for it and try muzzleloading and I can honestly tell you it's been on of the best decisions I've made regarding hunting in a long time. I honestly believe it can make you a better hunter. I did take some time to read all of the messages from bluelk. His insight is a valuable tool whether your trying to figure up a load or just simply load your gun. I was extremely lucky this year to also draw a Limited Entry Muzzleloader Tag in Utah. You can see my luck if you go to the "Photo Gallery" and look under Adam's Smokepole Bull. I'm telling you, You might not ever want to hunt with anything else. Good Hunting, Adam Eakle.

 

[dutch]

Hey Adam,
Nice bull, bet it was a rush!!! Thanks to all for the info.

 

[RKenSparc]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-31-02 AT 10:44AM (MST)[p]Dutch,
Blue Elk can tell you everything you need to know. For an extra resource you can try my site www.angelfire.com/home/oldguns It's got some good general advice if your just starting out.

Good luck

 

[Omega]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-11-02 AT 01:10PM (MST)[p]I started muzzle loader hunting this year. So far my wife and I have shot 2 bull moose and 2 buck antelope with our Omega .50 cals. We used 240 grain Sabots and the shots ranged from 90 to 134 yards (lazer range finder) As someone else said here don't try it unless you are serious it is addictive!