Hi, folks. We Manitobans are halfway through muzzle loading deer season, and i have taken up arms for the first in a number of years. I have immensely enjoyed my time in the bush, and can't for the life of me remember why I quit. I really enjoyed banging away with my Lyman Great Plains .50 call practicing and sighting in prior to the season opener. I was really pleased with my practice scores, especially in light of how thick my glasses have become. I have an old Lyman tang sight on the .50, and it works remarkably well with glasses on.
That's it for the good news. A couple of days ago, I shot a decent 4X4 buck @ 38 yards with a patched roundball, and 90 grains of powder. He dropped like a stone, kicking up all kinds of dirt, and thrashing like mad for 30 seconds or so. Then he got up and ran away! Crap! There was some blood, not a lot, where he was rolling around, but it quickly stopped after he got up. He disappeared, and with no snow, I lost the trail after a couple of hundred yards. There have been no ravens or magpies in the area, so I assume he survived.
This isn't the first time I have had deer escape with a round ball in them. Years ago, I had 2 others run off, but the ravens eventually led me to them the next day. Part of the problem appears to be the lack of blood loss, making trailing very difficult in the absence of snow. Round balls leave a very small entry wound, like most bullets, and either no exit wound, or a similarly small one. The ball doesn't expand, or have the energy to blow out a big exit wound. The ball passes through, and the elasticity of the skin closes the wound like an arsehole (sorry about the metaphore) shutting off any further external blood loss. Also, the ball doesn't have sufficient muzzle energy to cause massive instant trauma, so internal hemorrhage is the only likely cause of death. It is pretty lethal, but not instant, and hard to track.
Sooooo, my question for the communal knowledge is this; does a conical bullet have enough extra stopping power to justify the expense of re-tooling? A logical alternative rifle might be a Great Plains Hunter, with a more rapid rate of twist. Another possibility might be re-barrel. As mentioned, I am pretty damn fond of my rifle, happy with how it shoots, but I can't keep wounding deer. I am sure lots of you have experience with both, so please share your knowledge. OBTW, I am thinking of something like Buffalo Bullets, rather than sabots. I'm a bit of a traditionalist....I'm sure most of you understand.
That's it for the good news. A couple of days ago, I shot a decent 4X4 buck @ 38 yards with a patched roundball, and 90 grains of powder. He dropped like a stone, kicking up all kinds of dirt, and thrashing like mad for 30 seconds or so. Then he got up and ran away! Crap! There was some blood, not a lot, where he was rolling around, but it quickly stopped after he got up. He disappeared, and with no snow, I lost the trail after a couple of hundred yards. There have been no ravens or magpies in the area, so I assume he survived.
This isn't the first time I have had deer escape with a round ball in them. Years ago, I had 2 others run off, but the ravens eventually led me to them the next day. Part of the problem appears to be the lack of blood loss, making trailing very difficult in the absence of snow. Round balls leave a very small entry wound, like most bullets, and either no exit wound, or a similarly small one. The ball doesn't expand, or have the energy to blow out a big exit wound. The ball passes through, and the elasticity of the skin closes the wound like an arsehole (sorry about the metaphore) shutting off any further external blood loss. Also, the ball doesn't have sufficient muzzle energy to cause massive instant trauma, so internal hemorrhage is the only likely cause of death. It is pretty lethal, but not instant, and hard to track.
Sooooo, my question for the communal knowledge is this; does a conical bullet have enough extra stopping power to justify the expense of re-tooling? A logical alternative rifle might be a Great Plains Hunter, with a more rapid rate of twist. Another possibility might be re-barrel. As mentioned, I am pretty damn fond of my rifle, happy with how it shoots, but I can't keep wounding deer. I am sure lots of you have experience with both, so please share your knowledge. OBTW, I am thinking of something like Buffalo Bullets, rather than sabots. I'm a bit of a traditionalist....I'm sure most of you understand.
inline and sabot pistol bullet, that they claim will kill deer to 300 yards, both got a rude awaking this year and and both got very luckey with the magpies. One has a wife that likes to walk and kept looking, one was a few days later and one more than a week. Both found heads ( nice 4x5 and 5x5) and ribcage only so not much venison. Coyotes were happy. These were both shot under a hundred yards . In the heavy willows along the river and blood just ran out or couldn,t be found. No way of telling for sure shot placement but both thought good solid rib cage hits. BP hunting is so much fun mostley because you can hunt when it is warm and nice (in sask anyway) but NO SNOW for tracking. Having hunted deer for 50 or so years now, I have seen some deer lost with solid hits from many calibers. One that bothers my wife to this day was a huge double drop tine WT she shot facing her at about 75 yds with a 25-06 , he went down like a tub of you know what. We patted each other on the back and started talking about the cost of a head mount, she unloaded her rifle, he got up staggered off though the bush , There was lots of fresh snow, so we waited a bit, Where he went down there was chunks of brisket fat, bone, gobs of blood and hair all over. We tracked that deer all the rest of that day round and round through the bush, just saw a flash once. he kept going better all the time. Gave up thought ok he will be dead in the morning. His bed was full of blood more fat, bone chips too. Tracked him the next day till there was too many deer tracks and no sign. In deer heavan now. The 25-06 is long gone, when she decided to hunt again it was a 270 Husky and 150 gr. just a silly little story to try to make you feel better. Ol flinter says through the shoulders maybe the best, Vega says: QUOTE if my experience is any indicator, the prb is not the problem. I've shot at least 30 dear over the years with prb's in .50's and .54's and never lost a one. Most recovered balls are flat and laying against the opposite hide. I always shoot thru the front shoulder when possible, but front-on shots thru the chest are just as lethal.------ I think good solid advice but not with an exploding hot 25-06 that penetrates about an inch or so. 
