Two New Muzzleloader Hunting Blogs - Knight Muzzleloader Hunting and Harvester Muzzleloading Hunter...

The Above Photo Pretty Much Attests To The Compatibility Of A Knight Muzzleloader & Harvester Muzzleloading Bullets.

That's 50 shots through the same 1.6" hole at 100 yards - shooting a .50 caliber Knight "Long Range Hunter" and the Harvester Muzzleloading 300-grain saboted "Scorpion PT Gold" bullet. The other parts of this deadly accurate equation was a 100-grain charge of Blackhorn 209...CCI 209M primers...and the 3-9x40mm HPML Muzzleloader hunting scope from Hi-Lux Optics.

This shooting was conducted on a 50-degree morning, allowing the rifle to cool 3 to 4 minutes between shots. And the bore was not wiped once. The shooting session took approximately 3 1/2 hours. Muzzleloading does not get any better than this!

For more muzzleloader performance and hunting information, be sure to check out the blogs at the following links.

Knight Muzzleloader Hunting

Harvester Muzzleloading Hunter

Meat In The Freezer

I love hearing from those of you who visit this blog and the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING web site. That's especially true at this time of the year, when many of you want to share your hunting experiences - and how well your rifles and loads are performing on big game.

Please...Keep It Coming!

For me, the 2009 season here in Montana has been pretty lackluster - when it comes to taking game anyway. I've enjoyed every outing during the course of the state's five-week "General" firearms season, and I have had the opportunity to pass on seven or eight different bucks. So, it's not like I did not have an opportunity to fill that tag. Twice during the season, I saw bona fide shooter whitetail bucks. But never where I could get a shot.

My girl and I did put a couple of big, fat and tasty does in the freezer - so it's not like we'll go without venison. Her's was the first game she had ever tagged with a muzzleloader. Last year, she sort of adopted my short and fast handling .50 caliber MDM QuicShooter as "her" muzzle-loaded hunting rifle. She liked the way it came up and held...so I set out to work up a light recoiling load for her - one that could still shoot with exceptional accuracy...and deliver the wallop needed out to 100-125 yards. That load turned out to be 70 grains of Blackhorn 209 and an experimental 240-grain version of the Scorpion PT Gold that I had convinced Harvester Muzzleloading to put together for me. At 100 yards, the bullet (set in the slightly tighter fitting red .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot developed for the Savage "smokeless muzzleloader") would group inside of 1 1/2 inches. And thanks to the improved aerodynamics of the light polymer-tipped spire-point, this mild load would still hit with around 850 foot-pounds of energy at that distance - still enough to cleanly down deer-sized game.

On the third morning of the season, following a light layer of fresh snow through the night, Christy got her chance to fill her tag. A 70 yard shoulder shot put the big doe on the ground - quickly. And muzzleloader hunting has now gained a new follower. That's Christy, with her doe, in the photo at the top of this post.

I was hunting with the short and light .54 Green Mountain "Brush Rifle"...going for the high shoulder shot (shooting Harvester's saboted 400-grain "Hard Cast" bullet), and will recap the shots taken at the end of the season. All I'll say at this point is that the accurate custom .54 in-line, load and shot placement used works well!

With meat in the freezer, and a fairly long 5-week firearm season to enjoy, I spent most of my time looking for game. The presence of elk usually becomes more predominate once there's a few feet of snow in the high country. And an elk is what I really wanted to take with the Green Mountain .54 rifle.

The area I hunted this season is a relatively wide, mostly wooded, flat valley set at 4,000 to 4,500 feet. Lots of waist high grasses provide lots of winter feed - usually pulling the elk down once the snow begins to fly. Unfortunately, following those elk are now quite a few wolves. The area is home for three known packs...and more than likely a few lone individual wolves. And they keep game extremely stirred up and spooked these days.

I spent a big part of the third week of season hunting the area, camping alone with my two dogs - Bob and Tully. Despite morning temperatures right at 10 degrees, we kept our tent warm and dry, thanks to a small propane heater. Still, on the last night in camp, the dogs were nervous all evening - constantly watching down a Forest Service road we had camped next to. And by the time I had rustled up a hot evening meal, the dogs were ready to turn in - which is kind of unusual. Once into my sleeping bag, with an extra heavy comforter thrown over the top, due to the day out in the cold, I fell asleep quickly. A couple of hours later, I was awakened as both dogs nosed their way in under the comforter - and not because they were cold.

Even before Bob and Tully settled down, a wolf howled...followed by another...then another...and another. And they weren't more than 150 yards from camp. I reached over and made sure my Ruger .44 magnum Super Blackhawk was within reach...and tried to go back to sleep. But, that was impossible. For the next two hours, the wolves covered every inch of the timber surrounding camp, howling every few minutes. Finally, about 2 a.m. in the morning, they apparently moved off and things were quiet.

With just a couple of hours of sleep, I was up about an hour before first light. After several cups of warmed leftover coffee, I put the dogs in the truck (for their safety)...shouldered my .54 Green Mountain rifle...and headed on down the Forest Service road, to a swampy area 3/4-mile from camp. A couple of inches of fresh snow had fallen through the night, but I did not cut a single fresh deer track. Every hundred yards or so, there was a set (or two) of wolf tracks crossing the roadway and snowmobile trail I eventually followed into where I planned to hunt. Most morning walks into the area would produce sightings of a half-dozen does and fawns, and occasionally the glimpse of a buck. But, not this morning.

By late morning, I still had not seen a single deer - in an area where I usually see seven or eight during the course of a morning sit on my stand. So, I climbed down and decided to still hunt back in the direction of camp. About a quarter-mile into the slow walk back, several wolves howled again - on a small section of high ground about two miles away. I had a wolf tag in my pocket, and I'd had my fill of wolves. I hurried back to my truck, jumped in with the dogs and drove around to another Forest Service road. I knew that's where the wolves were, and quickly headed down the roadway...topping a small rise just in time to watch a big black wolf dart across the road. I jumped over to a nearby pine, and took a leaning rest - hoping another wolf would step out.

Not one, but three wolves appeared on the roadway - so I yelled to get them to stop. And they did, offering a perfect broadside opportunity. I guessed the range to be
200 yards. The carbine length .54 "Brush Rifle" had been sighted in to print "dead on" at 100 yards. And I knew it put the big 400 grain lead slug a full 7 to 8 inches low at 150 yards. So, I put the crosshairs about 10 inches over the back of the largest wolf (probably a 110-120 pound animal) and squeezed off the shot. I watched as snow and mud flew in the air behind the wolf. I had apparently sailed the bullet right under the wolf. I thoroughly checked for signs of a hit - nothing! And when I pulled my laser rangefinder from my pack and took a reading on the pine tree I had used for a rest, it was 231 yards away. I had miscalculated the drop of the big heavy bullet and the range.

I spent the rest of the morning tearing down camp, then drove around to four other camps I knew in the area to talk with other hunters. All shared the same feeling - the wolves had pretty much run all the game out of the area. Four or five of the hunters I spoke with that morning had been hunting the area for 20 or more years, recalling when it was nothing to see 20 or 30 deer a morning, and encounter a small herd of elk at least several times a week. One group of five had been hunting for six days straight, and had one small buck hanging on their meat pole. No one had seen a single elk in nearly a week of hunting - nor had they seen any elk tracks. And this in an area where ten years ago they often had two or three elk on the meat pole.

"The game is not here any more...it's either been pushed out or killed by those damned wolves," proclaimed one hunter.

Not one of the 20 or so hunters I spoke with that morning had anything good to say about reintroduced wolves - or what Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks was doing to correct the situation. Several of those hunters strongly felt that the state's wildlife agency had sold them out over the course of the past decade, so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could "successfully" complete their so-called "Wolf Reintroduction Project". Now, big game populations in the area are disappearing quickly.

And those are exactly the same feelings voiced by the several hundred other Montana hunters I've spoken with through the past year. All are now realizing that wolves are making a strong negative impact on big game numbers, especially on the elk population. Likewise, not one of the hunters I spoke with that day, or since, think that the token Montana wolf season, and unreached 75 wolf quota, will have any impact on the situation. In fact, most hunters feel that, due to the natural growth of wolf numbers next spring, come fall 2010 we'll have close to 20-percent more wolves - and even fewer elk and deer to pursue.

On my 15-mile drive out to the highway that day, just a half-mile from the pavement, movement off to my left caught my attention. I rolled to a stop on the gravel and grabbed my binoculars. The movement turned out to be 19 elk - 1 spike bull, 17 adult cows, and 1 calf. They were running helter skelter back and forth. All had crossed a fence, except the calf. And the cows were frantically trying to get the calf to jump the fence. So, I scanned the area...and in short order saw the reason why. A huge gray wolf was following them...just waiting for the chance to pick off the last remaining survivor of that herd's spring calf crop. And that's where wolves are making their biggest impact on the future of elk hunting in the Northern Rockies. These apex predators are totally wiping out future generations of elk.

Hunting in the West is at a crossroad. We have a dire situation that can no longer be put on a back burner while questionable wildlife managers twiddle their thumbs...guessing how all of this will end. Sportsmen need to demand action now.

For more on the wolf problem, go to the following links for the LOBO WATCH website and Wolf Hunt Update blog.

www.lobowatch.com

wolfhuntupdate.blogspot.com

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING

Save An Elk Herd...Kill A Wolf!

Green Mountain's Short & Sweet .54 Brush Rifle

The last time that I was a real fan of the .54 caliber bore was during the early 1980s, when I spent most of the summer to build a very authentic percussion half-stock "Hawken" rifle. And, appropriately, the rifle featured a slow turn-in-66 inches rifling twist - for shooting a patched round ball. The nearly 10-pound rifle, stuffed with 120-grains of FFg black powder and a tightly patched 230-grain .535" diameter soft lead ball, was super accurate and deadly on big game out to about 75 yards.

When I made the switch to Knight's MK-85 in-line ignition rifles, and saboted bullets, during the late 1980s, I pretty much abandoned the .54, going in favor of the .50 bore. I simply found the .50 to be far more accurate, thanks to sabots that allowed me to shoot a bullet that was closer to the diameter of the bore. From time to time, since then, I have played with a few .54 caliber rifles, but always returned to a .50 caliber in-line rifle. And, as it turned out, I wasn't the only one to abandon the .54. From 1992 thru 1997, I headed up Market Development for Knight Rifles. When I first went to work there, close to 30-percent of the rifles produced were of .54 caliber...and about 10 percent were .45 caliber. The 50 caliber bore represented 60-percent of all the rifles the company produced. By the time I left the company, the .50 caliber accounted for right at 90-percent of all Knight rifle sales.

Other in-line muzzleloading rifle manufacturers experienced the same demise of .54 caliber rifle sales. And I now know of just one company that currently offers an in-line ignition rifle in that bore size. And that is Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Company, and the rifle is their short 20-inch barreled "Brush Rifle", a slick custom version of a Knight DISC Extreme.

I have been shooting one since the rifle was first offered. In fact, my rifle is serial number 0001.

And thanks to some improvements in sabot technology and bullet selection, I have truly enojoyed shooting and hunting with this fast handling, hard hitting close cover muzzleloader. The buck in the above photo was taken during the 2008 season, at just 15 or so yards - dropped where it ran - by a big 325-grain Barnes all-copper Expander MZ hollow-point bullet. And recently, I have discovered an even harder hitting load built around Harvester Muzzleloading's saboted 400-grain Hard Cast lead bullet.

More on this short and sweet .54 in-line muzzleloader at -

http://namlhunt.homestead.com/HuntingLoads.html

When Knight Rifles introduced their .52 caliber bore back about 2000, they developed new .52x.458 and .52x.475 sabots for the new bore size, and came up with some new choices for the muzzleloading hunter - with bullets ranging from 275- to 375-grains. Many of those who own...shoot...and hunt with a Knight .52 consider these rifles the finest shooting and hardest hitting big game muzzleloaders ever offered. While I agree that the .52 has been a remarkable shooting and energy retaining long-range big game muzzleloader, I also feel that if the same effort had been spent to come up with more compatible sabots and bullets for the .54, that bore size would still be alive and well today. As great as my .52 DISC Extreme has shot with the saboted 375-grain spitzer .475" diameter hollow point, I can only imagine how well a 26 to 28 inch barreled version of the same rifle in .54 would shoot had there been a .54x.475 sabot available.

Barnes makes the bullet...and offers saboted bullets for the .54. With easily 200,000 to 300,000 .54 rifles still out there, you would think that someone would at least make an attempt to revive the bore size. And that would start with several new sabot-bullet combinations.

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING

My 50-Cent Shooting Box

I'm sure that I'm not the only person who muzzleloads who also loves to get up early on Saturday morning, when the snow's not flying, and drive around looking for yard and garage sales. I love a great bargain, and much of my hunting, fishing, and especially camping gear comes from these front and back yard extravaganzas. Some of my outstanding recent buys include a set of insulated chest waders...still new in the box...in my size...for just $10. And I was just about to head on over to the local sporting goods store and pay $130 for the same thing. (And the price sticker showed that was exactly where these came from!) Another great deal was a set of top quality Motorola camouflaged hand-held radios...again like new. And when I asked the price, the guy looked me in the eye and said..."How about a dollar?" After I handed him the buck, and had the radios and chargers in my hands, I asked him what was wrong with them. He simply said they wouldn't charge. I took them home, plugged in the chargers, set the radios in...and they charged just fine. In fact, they stay in my truck, sometimes for a month or more, and they hold a full charge.

I could name plenty more great buys...but I don't want to create too much competition for those unbelievable bargains.

Of all the things I've bought at yard sales this summer, one has easily been used more than anything else. It's an old hand-made wooden carpenter's box - which I bought for 50-cents. That's it in the photo above...being used as a shooting box. I keep it and a few other old tool boxes (also bought at yard sales) to keep shooting supplies in - powder, bullets, sabots, primers, several tools, loading equipment, cleaning supplies, you name it - all ready to head to the range. This particular "shooting box" is for the more recent in-line rifle models I use as my regular test rifles. And it sure makes getting ready to go to the range easy. I just slip a rifle or two or three into the truck, and grab this box - and I'm set.

I'd have to say that was the best half-of-a-buck I've ever spent.

What do you use to haul your shooting stuff to the range?

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING

United's Skies Not So Friendly

Do you have a long-range hunt this fall or winter, one which will take you a thousand or more miles from home, and requires you to fly by a commercial airline? If so, and you already have tickets and/or reservations, you just might want to call to insure that you'll be able to bring back the trophy you hope to hang your tag on.

I was contacted today by my good friend Ed Beattie, who handles much of Cabela's Adventure Travel, who shared that United Airlines has recently adopted a "verbal policy" of refusing to accept antlers as checked baggage - no matter how they are packed. Ed pointed out that United does not mention this policy on their website, nor will they supply anything in writing to Cabela's.

So, it just kind of comes as a surprise when you try to check your trophy as baggage, and they refuse to accept it.

"The other major airlines all mention on their websites that they will accept antlers or horns - if properly packed," states Beattie.

Cabela's currently has over 300 whitetail hunters booked to Canada this fall - and see's this as a real issue.

If you are planning to use United Airlines to fly to your hunting destination, perhaps you should call them right now. For that matter, you might even want to call any other airline you might be flying. The last thing you need, following a long and successful hunt, is to have an airline agent tell you that your trophy rack or horns cannot be checked as baggage...just a couple of hours before you are scheduled to fly home.

While larger trophy racks, like moose or elk, are normally shipped, it has been very common practice for successful deer, antelope, mountain goat, and sheep hunters to carefully pack their trophies, and bring them home as checked baggage.

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING

NOTE: Since this was posted, Cabela's has heard back from Untied Airlines. THEY WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT ANTLERS OR HORNS AS BAGGAGE. So, if you are headed out on a muzzleloader big game hunt, or any kind of big game hunt for that matter, and must fly - DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH UNITED.

Early Hunting Seasons...Just A Walk In The Park!

Here in Montana, there are four "wilderness areas" where the big game seasons open on September 15th. Last year (2008), I was not yet a resident of Montana and missed the deadline to apply for a non-resident elk or deer tag. But, I went into the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area with three others, just to spend a week or so "In The Bob". One of those hunters, at age 75, took the 62nd elk of his life - a good 6x6. And I was there to help him pack it out.


Anyway, this year was different. And with a resident elk, deer and wolf tag in my pocket, I headed into the Bob Marshall for a day-long hunt, and tagging along with me was my good friend, and fellow muzzleloader hunter, Will Moore - who owns a small piece of Big Sky Country in the Bitterroot Valley.


We left my truck at the trailhead in the first light of morning, then made the 5 mile walk, from 5,500 feet to the pass at 7,500 feet. It is a good trail, and that hike took about 1 1/2 hours. At that point, we were in the wilderness area, and the hunt began. On the way in, we had spotted about 20 elk - including a good bull.


Will and I decided to follow a shelf that ran along the side of an otherwise steep mountain slope, which paralleled a heavily wooded valley - with a nice open meadow here and there. Elk sign was everywhere - with the ground so tracked up it looked as if it had been plowed. And in several places a small pine or spruce didn't have a chance, and all had been nearly ripped out of the ground by bulls doing a little antler rubbing and perhaps practice sparring. Several times, our cow calls were answered by a half-hearted squeal from a bull. But, by noon we had not seen another elk.


It was dry, with none of the usual springs running up high. So, we decided to drop down a thousand feet or so and hunt the grassy meadows - where I knew a clear running mountain stream ran freely. Not surprisingly, we found lots of older wallows, a lot more tracks and dozens of major rubs. But, we still did not see any elk. By the time we stopped for lunch, around 1 p.m., we had already covered close to 10 miles of extremely rugged mountain country.


We hunted the series of meadows up to the head of the valley, and with afternoon temperatures in the 80s, we never heard another elk that afternoon. Fresh wolf tracks here and there told me we ought to try calling - to see if one of us could be the first modern day Montana hunter to take a wolf with a muzzleloader. Relying on a multi-sound Knight & Hale deer call, I started with a series of doe bleats...putting just a bit of distress into the calls. Within 5 minutes, something was right behind us, stomping and snorting. Through the trees and low brush, I could see it was a mulie buck, but could not get a visual on the rack - other than it looked heavy and tall.

Will brought his rifle up several times, but never shot. The deer finally turned and bounced back into the heavy cover.


With all of the commotion, I decided to switch to one of the Knight & Hale rabbit distress calls, hoping that a wolf nearby just might charge in for an easy meal. I had made a couple of squalls, when my partner brought his Traditions Pursuit up, and was aiming once more - in the opposite direction. Then, suddenly, the deer was back, less than 20 yards behind him...stomping and snorting once again. Will turned and aimed at the deer for a few seconds, then turned and aimed again 180-degrees the opposite direction. The deer finally ran off, and whatever it was in the opposite direction had also slipped away.


It turns out that he could have shot the buck, knowing it was big and heavy - but never getting a good look at the rack. And his other "target of opportunity" had been a big old dog coyote that had run to within 50 yards of where he sat - 25 or so yards to my right. We enjoyed a few laughs, and with a good 5 hour walk out, we headed for a trail we knew would take us back to the main trail and down to the truck. In the dim evening light, we stopped occasionally to glass mule deer and a few whitetails - but no elk. We did hear one good bull bugle, but never managed to get a fix on his position - since it bugled just once.


We ended up walking the last 2 miles of the trail in total darkness. And with a long day and close to 20 miles of tough walking under our belt, the ride down the mountain to camp was a quiet one. It had been a great day, even though neither of us had snapped a cap. Fortunately, I had a very good woman waiting for me at camp, with a good fire and a hot meal. Sleep came easy that night...after a day's walk in the park - a very, very big park.



Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING

Montana Ignores The Popularity Of Muzzleloader Seasons

Depending on who's information one chooses to trust, there are now between 3 1/2- and 4-million muzzleloading hunters in the United States.

Likewise, every state in the country now offers a "special" muzzleloader season for those hunters - every state except one. And that state is Montana.

Sure, big game hunting is extremely popular in this state. And, if you live in this state and truly want to hunt with a muzzleloader - you can. But not during a season specifically for muzzle-loaded guns. In Montana, if you want to hunt with a muzzleloader, you'll have to do it during the 5 week general season - or other seasons set for hunting with a modern cartridge rifle, handgun, or shotgun. There simply is not a "Muzzleloader Only" big game season or hunt,

Montana Fish,Wildlife and Parks does absolutely nothing to promote hunting with a muzzleloader.

The incentive for hunting with a muzzleloader in other states has been seasons that have been established especially for the muzzleloading hunter. In fact, more and more states are now conducting several muzzleloader seasons each fall and winter - commonly an "early season" that takes place prior to the modern firearm seasons...and a "late season" which runs some time after the modern gun seasons have closed. Where states tend to offer just one muzzleloader season, it seems the majority are of the late variety - following the general firearms big game seasons.

Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission is not only cheating big game hunters in this state out of a special season that is extremely popular with hunters everywhere else in the country, this game commission is also cheating the Montana fish and game agency out of a very valuable management tool - and an opportunity to bring in additional revenue through muzzleloader hunting permit sales - just as it does for bowhunters. In this state, bowhunters get first crack at big game during an early 6 week archery season.

Montana muzzleloading hunters are forced to hunt side-by-side with center-fire toting big game hunters, packing super long range rifles in calibers like .300 Winchester Magnum or 7mm Remington Magnum. There is absolutely no incentive to hunt with a muzzleloader in this state. And consequently, few modern rifle big game hunters here know anyone who does hunt with a muzzleloader.

The state's whitetail populations are busting at the seams in some regions of the state, and need additional harvest. Several times, the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING ASSOCIATION has suggested that the state schedule a late muzzleloader season just for whitetails - but it has fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps the state's Fish, Wildlife and Parks is afraid of a muzzleloader season because no one within the agency truly understands muzzleloading and muzzleloader hunting - and to conduct a season they might just have to learn a little more about it. One thing is for certain, if they did they would quickly realize how many hunters really would like to hunt with a muzzleloader - just as game departments in other states have already come to realize.

What are your thoughts?

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING