Anyone hunt with a 209 inline ?

A

AKD

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Southern Alberta.
Im more of a target shooter than hunter but have also hunted from the age of like ... 4 or 5.

I load and only like to have one do it all rifle. I sold my .308 and now shoot a 6xc. Good for a long range deer with the right set up position but the gun is far to heavy to be in the woods with.

Thinking of picking up a a 209 inline muzzle loader. Actually thought about this for a few years. at $150 how can you not.

Any muzzle loader fans here? wondering if anyone has shot deer with the 209 or any muzzle loader at that.

How well under 200y do they take down game? Im not worried about accuracy, just stopping power.
 
I went on an emergency hunt last fall and took a nice 5x5 from 300m with a Savage ML-II just before legal light was ending. I stalked it for almost an hour and a half. Trying to get closer but in the end 300m in the middle of the field was the closest I could get. The gun performed flawlessly. The buck dropped like a sack of potatoes.

My Encore on the other hand has yet to take one. It works great for targets though.

On a side note I have also taken whitetails with "traditional" muzzleloaders in .45, .50, and .54 calibers. Usually in traditionals I use round balls. Under 100m they do quite well. I only use sabots in my inlines.
 
i like to use muzzleloaders over CF guns.

Right now i have close to 10 muzzleloaders

i like my encore endeavor best, she is good up to 300 yards.

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Lots of ML hunters on this forum (myself being one). I've piled up animals DRT, blood trailed animals on what I thought was a gimme shot, and lost a few. Effective range, bullet choice and placement just like any other firearm.
 
I've got an inexpensive Traditions tracker that I got from the EE for a song.

With 300gr SST sabots over 100gr of 777 (or pyrodex) that silly thing will cloverleaf at 100 yards. Bad news is the saboted bullets are so tight to load it takes an honest two minutes to reload, so the first shot has to count.
 
I only use my Savage MLSS .50 with smokeless powder. Good for 250 yards hunting. Cleaning other kind of muzzleloaders is a PITA.
 
I hit a doe at 257 yards thru the upper brisket and out the off side leg with a 50cal 338gr platinum powerbelt. She turned ran rite at me I hit her again broadside at 7-8 feet that finished her. I've dropped small bucks in there tracks at up to 150 yards. Last fall I had a fawn right almost into me and shot at less then 5yards she rolled past me got up gave me a stupid look and ran back the way she came with her tail up. I've never swore so much at a gun before (and myself) then I saw lung material hanging in the tree. I went 10 yards or so and the bush looked like it had been painted red. I followed her up the 110 yards saw no exit hole on her offside. I flipped her over not a mark. I lifted the tail and there was a new hole 1/2" beside the natural one. Lost a lot of meat unfortunatly. I've killed prolly 15 or so deer with frontstuffers. I love to hunt with them and am going to convert a 12ga sxs into a muzzleloader for this season hopefully. They do have a steep trajectory out past 150yards so practise a lot. Some of the newer style guns are larger then 50cal for easy loading and you must compensate with the projectile. I use platinum powerbelts 338gr. They shoot flat hit hard and have a double convoluted gas seal and an areotip. I have yet to recover a bullet from an animal and have shot completely thru deer chest to ass and ass to chest. I use 100gr 777 in my break actions and 150gr 777 in my bolt (very accurate rifle) and loose powder in my hawkens. They are a lot of fun. My current ml I use now is not very accurate but a 5 shot group is always inside 3" at a 100 yards its a traditions buck stalker break action. It just fit me so well and brand new at $147 I couldn't turn it down. Happy hunting
 
I do almost all my deer hunting with a muzzle loader. With the liberal seasons around here over the last 15 years I have piled up a couple of truckloads. I feel I can answer your question. First off, I do not believe 200 yards is a consistently viable option. Go to your local range and sight in at 100 then try to hit something at 200 you will get the idea. Unless you know the yardage exactly and know your rifle's trajectory equally exactly, beyond about 125 yards you stand a good chance of shooting entirely under or over the animal.

Shooting within the limitations of these weapons, say within 100 yards, I have been awestruck by the devastating power of a .50 cal on deer size game. Of course bullet selection is critical as is bullet placement. I have a great deal of respect for the hornady 240 grain XTP bullet in .44 cal behind 100 grains of pyrodex. Having seen dozens of them at work I can tell you there are very few bullets out there to match their performance on game. Practice lots to get a feel for your muzzle loader.
There are those who will howl over what I have just said, but remember I have spent a lot of bench time over quite a few years with my muzzle loaders and seen a lot of game fall. Keep it at 100 or so and you will have very few blood trails to follow. If you insist on pushing the yardage you will eventually come to grief.
 
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Moose. 252 yards. 90grains T7 and a hornady XTP in a Knight DISC 209. Not the biggest critter on the forum but sure was exciting.
 
I have a Traditions Tracker 209. I took my first pronghorn with it last year.

It works as advertised so it is good value for money at typical prices c. $150. If you have more money, buy a nicer gun, but if the budget is tight, the Tracker will do.
 
AKD said:
Im more of a target shooter than hunter but have also hunted from the age of like ... 4 or 5.

I load and only like to have one do it all rifle. I sold my .308 and now shoot a 6xc. Good for a long range deer with the right set up position but the gun is far to heavy to be in the woods with.

Thinking of picking up a a 209 inline muzzle loader. Actually thought about this for a few years. at $150 how can you not.

Any muzzle loader fans here? wondering if anyone has shot deer with the 209 or any muzzle loader at that.

How well under 200y do they take down game? Im not worried about accuracy, just stopping power.
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Quality is quality. $150 is fine however these guns are not tested for magnum charges. Smoke poles are fun however I would recommend you spend alittle more money and maybe invest in a tc or cva. Both make great muzzleloaders and basspro has sales every year. tc impact or cva wolf both come to mind as lower end guns from both. The $150 inline will not be a break action and are a pita to clean. Great guns for deer and kick alot less than slugs guns.
 
I deer hunt with a Thompson Center .50 I use 250 gr sabots. Both bucks I have shot dropped in their tracks. One at two yards one at 70. As it was said before keep your shots to 100-150 yards and you will have great results. The .50 caliber has excellent performance especially with well constructed bullets. I do not have experience shooting further with a muzzleloader, but that is why I have rifles.
PS I would also opt for a break action for ease of maintenance and cleaning.
 
I tried in-lines but found them to picky as to the bullets they use, I prefer a traditional .50 or pref. .54 cal. ML using conicals and real black powder. My longest kill on deer was about 100yds. Most often, the use or non-use of muzzeloaders is dependent on whether there is an earlier season for their exclusive use.
 
I took this non-typical a few years ago with my .45 CVA it can make 2" groups at 100 yards any day.

The load was 90 grns pyrodex under a hornady 180 grn HP.
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