Free: Contests & Raffles.
I practiced a lot out at 150yds this past year, would have been very comfortable with that shot, then called my bull into about 10 ft. I'm like a sniper at that range
With the "open sights" rules in effect in Washington for muzzleloaders (i.e., no scopes!), I have found my effective range for a deer-sized animal to be about 100 yards. Using a peep sight has extended this to about 110-120 yards, but I am usually reluctant to shoot that far. I hope that helps!
I shoot a Traditions Evolution, can get 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards and 4" at 250. Not sure how much power it has out past 250 but at 200 it still has enough punch to kill and elk. I personally won't shoot at an elk or deer over 150 with it just to be safe. I much prefer under 100.
One other thought is that your maximum effective range will also depend on the position. For me, to keep bullets reliably within a 4-5" group (to fit comfortably within the vitals of a deer):-prone or tree stand with shooting rail: 100-110 yards-seated position (on ground): 75 yards-kneeling position: 60 yards-offhand: 45-50 yards
All good points to take into account, most often the more time one spends shooting muzzys at longer ranges will improve your skill of hitting and ethically killing your game animal. In addition eyesight will limit most shooters that wear glasses as it is harder to find the target in the lenses sweet spot. Myself I wear contacts now and am far sighted to begin with, so I use a peep sight and feel comfortable shooting beyond 100 yards. Another factor to take into account as stated above is finding that magic bullet your muzzy will shoot consistently out to those ranges and still carry energy. For a good read on those bullets here is a good starting point by a company called Precision Bullets. For those that want to learn and improve their chances at longer ranges start reading their test results with their products compared to the other offerings on the market. In no way am I promoting their products merely there is a wealth of information they present for the lay person who wants to know and learn long range muzzle loader shooting. I will however most likely try some of their products this next year as I would like to hunt modern with my muzzy, which will be carrying a scope and the 209 primer. Here is the link: https://www.prbullet.com/bal.htm https://www.prbullet.com/
I prefer 75 yards or closer. For elk if everything was perfect I could stretch that out to about 120. Deer I probably wouldn't shoot past 100.
I switched to a rear peep and a small fiber optic front bead many years ago and it greatly increased my accuracy. I like reactionary targets for my range time so balloons or water jugs are my go too. 200 yards is my comfort zone. I'm confident in my bullet at that distance. I've taken a couple deer at the 170 mark and one spike elk at the 160 line. I have seen on two different occassions, deer shot past 200 with the same load as mine. First was a mule deer at 225 yards. Perfect broadside shot, bullet was on the off side hide mushroomed perfectly. Second deer was actually a follow up shot. I was hunting with a friend on his late bald mountain buck tag. We rattled in a very respectable 3x3 for the area and he had a hang fire at 30 yards resulting in an upper leg hit. By the time we got to the top of the ridge, he was across the canyon and flat packing the mail! My buddy got prone and I started hammering the fawn distress on an open reed call I had. The buck stopped, I ranged him at 308 and he touched it off. Buck folded in his tracks! Bullet went in a bit high but blew through the scapula and lodged in the hide on the off side. Mushroomed out with two of the pedals slightly torn back.So I guess the answer is I am confident that a 300gr Speer Deepcurl pushed by 100grns of powder is plenty enough thump to take a mule deer at 300 yards (probably more) though that is out of my comfort range. I am of the mind set though that if an animal is already wounded I'm going to keep shooting until it is dead, so knowing the performance of my load is a nice little nugget of info to have logged away.
