Award for pain...

[USAFpj]

I missed a big bodied blacktail yesterday at 60yds.  I then crept through the timber for 3.5 hours, to then get on a logging road at the final moments of daylight.  Come around the corner on foot, 4x bull standing next to the road.  Pulled the hammer, them trigger.  Nothing but cap!  Went back to the truck, replaced the cap and toothpicked the nipple.  WABOOM!  Dang muzzleloaders...

[bobcat]

Sorry to hear that!   

[BOWHUNTER45]

tHAT STINKS  this happened to me a few times back in Pa where you have to use a Flintlock ...I can still see a couple of those bucks still running off in my sleep

[BluMtHunter]

Man i feel your pain. 18 yrs i have muzzle load hunted and i have had tons of bad stuff happin,  my advice for powder ,777 lose and CCI musket caps. with that combo my rifle has not once not gone BOOOOM.

[Labs07]

Man that sucks! 

[USAFpj]

And the saga continues...  So after heading the advice you guys gave, I returned to the campsite with a flawless rifle.  The next day, I stalked to within 25 yards of a young bull chowing down on clover with his head down the entire time.  It was lightly raining, but heavy fog at 2,500ft elevation.  His (2) snaps of deadfall limbs gave him away and allowed me to hone in on where he may be.  I had to leave the safety of the big timber, cross a bulldozer track littered with limbs, to get to the small drainage that he was in.  We all know that if there's one, there's probably a lot more; ready to bust you in a heartbeat.  A sweep with by 8x42 Gold Rings showed none around... so it's probably a bull.  With that thought- my heart dropped, breathing quickened, and thoughts raced about how the stars might aline to make this happen.  "Lord, be with me on this" is what I always mutter before I go in on a situation like this.  Each step in between deadfall was silent, and I was making ground quickly, almost too quickly.  With each step, I would glass him.  Is he legal?  Oh yeah, ugly.  But legal.  Probably a 2 year old, maybe 3 at the most.  There are a line of mature firs that allow me to hide behind with each step.  I'm now at 25 yards and his head is still down, he's trying to put that weight back on that he lost during the rut; it's going to cost him his life.  This is working out too well.  Unfortunately, he's in a head on direction and this is no good.  I'm a stickler for shot placement, as I have hunted and killed (7) bulls with my longbow, and shot placement has made me let twice as many walk.  He turns sightly quartering to me, and I get anxious and decide to take the shot.  I even have a limb to place the .54 TC Hawken on and I place the front sight on his front left shoulder.  With a good exhalation, I pull the hammer back on the muzzy and with the 'click', he jerks his head up, but it's too late.  With the shot, he slams the ground like a 500lb sack of potatoes and flails his legs wildly.  I don't dare move as  I know it's just a matter of time before he expires.  He flails some more but manages to get to his feet and just stand.  Oh yeah, the death wobble.  He's either going to lay down, or fall down from the lack of blood and oxygen.  Do I reload?  No, if he sees the threat, he's high tailing it outta there, and you'll never see him again with this fog.  All I could do was sit there and watch.  This goes on for 20 minutes as he takes a cautious and painful step, then looks back in my direction.  He had me hostage.  I should re-load, but no young elk takes a patched .54 round ball to the shoulder at 20 yards and doesn't die.  The fog was heavy as he stepped away, and I never saw him again.  I dedicated the next (3) days to the area, looking to crows and coyotes to help find him, to no avail.  Where did I go so wrong?  Shot placement, grains, lack of patience?  I love hunting, but this hurts my gut.

[Sabotloader]

I do not even know what to say!!! I know you feel terrible - even I feel terrible for both of you...

Question... is it your choice to use a PRB?

Also if you pull the trigger back on the 54 - then pull the hammer back - when it is back carefully release the hammer - This way there will be no click

It was an awesome story non-the-less...

[USAFpj]

Thanks, Sabot.  Yes, it was my choice to use the PRB as I am a complete novice to using the muzzleloader and 90% of what I learned came from you guys, and a small dose from the teammate who let me use his rifle.  I have seen the data on sabots and round balls, and knew what I was getting into.  But with the differences on opinions of the two types, you would still think that at that limited distance, and 100g of powder, the round ball is plenty of energy to put that bull on his azz.  I feel that I should have waited for the optimal broadside shot and instead of the shoulder, went with the combo heart/lung, only 2 inches further back.  It's a decision I regret as I really thought the prb would blast through the shoulder and get what I needed done.

[Sabotloader]

Thanks, Sabot.  Yes, it was my choice to use the PRB as I am a complete novice to using the muzzleloader and 90% of what I learned came from you guys, and a small dose from the teammate who let me use his rifle.  I have seen the data on sabots and round balls, and knew what I was getting into.  But with the differences on opinions of the two types, you would still think that at that limited distance, and 100g of powder, the round ball is plenty of energy to put that bull on his azz.   I feel that I should have waited for the optimal broadside shot and instead of the shoulder, went with the combo heart/lung, only 2 inches further back.  It's a decision I regret as I really thought the prb would blast through the shoulder and get what I needed done.

I agree that at the distance and the load - what should have happen is exactly what you expected, only problem is are the varibles that you have no control over and never know when one might catch up with you...

I have no way to prove what I am about to say to you, but with the PRB and the load I am thinking the ball passing through the tick hide of a bull started to flatten, then if you hit a major bone on the way in the ball probably pancaked or actually blew up, especially at 25 yards and the velocity that probably was on the ball. Pure lead is really pretty fragile.

I would bet the energy imparted on that shoulder probably really put the hurt on him, in fact sounds like it knocked him over... but with out penetration you may have never reached the vitals.

If I am going to shoot lead at an elk especially a bull  - I normally shoot shoot a 460 grain lead bullet so I know it will stay intact and penetrate.

And you are probably right could you have waited for the broadside and shot behind the the shoulder to get the ball into the chest cavity - you would have got your animal... of course this is all speculation on my part.  I am not a archery hunter but I am thinking you would have not made that shot placement with an arrow.  And as a matter fact at that distance I am not sure you would be that far behind on the energy curve with your bow...

And again all of this is speculation on my part...

[USAFpj]

I would take your speculations as facts, and I appreciate your reply.  During this season, I chose a hoop of shortcuts that came back to bite me in the butt.  I enjoy the experiences that I had this season, but they came at a high cost, and a lack of meat.  However, if anyone needs a guide to get you on endless herds of cows, blacktail does (one I kept encountering had a radio collar) and yearling calfs and fawns, I'm your man!  Just don't ask me to shoot, cause I ain't guaranteeing nothing!

[Sabotloader]

Wish Vancouver were closer to Kennewick or even better yet closer to Moscow, ID - we could go go do some shooting...

[MountainDevil54]

I wouldnt put a PRB into an elks shoulder, always treat PRB like an arrow and go for the lungs.