What have you Taken with your ML ?

[Win Mag]

Seems we have several Muzzleloaders here.Thats Great !!

Tell us what you hunt and what game you have taken hunting with your smokepole.And the story behind it.

[markwhiz]

I've been shooting my Knight USAK for over 5 years now. My 1st hunt with it was an exotic hunt in Indiana, were I took a Corsican Ram. And since then, I've used it to take several wild feral boars here in FLA.

Am planning on using it for some Deer hunting this fall in Indiana - since I'll be moving up there pretty soon.

[Win Mag]

Did you hunt BowGun ranch i think it's called ?

Got a pic you could share of the Ram ?
Never have done an Exotic hunt,thought long and hard about it,Still don't know what i would go after if i did.
I think i would lean more towards Sika or Fallow maybe Red stag.I'm told sika is some of the best tasting venision.

[markwhiz]

That's the place I went to ............ Dave Bowman's ranch near Richmond, IN.

It was a group hunt, about 7 of us from a preacher friend's church went out that day. We took Corsicans, Mouflon, a Painted Sheep, and a Sika deer. That Sika was GORGEOUS to watch prancing around while we were tracking it down. And almost everyone used muzzleloaders on that hunt too - it was a great trip and BOY did the summer sausage I had made from that ram taste great.

BTW Sika and Fallow are indeed great tasting meat, as my preacher friend has taken both and shared the meals with me. I have some pics from that hunt - I'll try to upload them or post a link to them.

[Win Mag]

What did you think of the place.I'm told that it was heavy brush thick timber.And it was a challanging hunt.From a guy that is a friend of Daves i guess.He was helping put the word out about the place when it first started and had hunted it.Your thoughts ??

Congrats on your Ram and are you having it Mounted ?

[markwhiz]

oh yeah, "Curly" was mounted - check the link in the Pellets or Powder thread for a pic.

The experience at Dave's was just fine. Me & another fellow tracked our rams (and the 3rd fella's Sika) for about 2 hours or so until we could get a reasonably clear shot - so yeah there was a challenge to it. Plus he had 2 Russian Boars in the same pasture that kept tracking us as we tracked the rams. This particular pasture was about 4 or 5 acres in size - well-wooded on the north & south ends, with a grassy area in-between which he used for pheasant hunting in the appropriate season. I had to take my shot across this open area into the southern wooded section.

The other guys hunted a pasture that was about the same size and was well wooded all across. This hunt was in early March, so most everything was still dormant - but I can imagine that a summer hunt through foliage would be even more of a challenge.

The only negative thing I could say about the ranch is the bunk room. Unless he has swapped out the bunks since 2001 - I would highly advise sleeping at the motel at the highway exit off of US 70. Those bunks really were just covered wood - so a sleeping bag or mattress to lay on top of would be a necessity to bring.................unless one likes to sleep on a bed of nails.

[smokepolehall]

I have harvested 14 deer, 3 coons, 1 bobcat, about 30 rabbits and 46 squirrels. I have had several ML's over the years and i love them. The one i have now is the T/C Black Diamond XR SS 50 cal. Well its 15 deer now just clobbered a nice 6pt. in Dec.

[gamegetter]

In the 13 years shooting a ML , I've taken many a game with mine.. Checkout my ML's in "what do you shoot?"

1-- .45 cal Flintlock , more than I can count of Squirrels and 2 deer, both does.

2-- .54 caL T/C Renegade, 9 deer ,3 bucks- 6 does

3-- 12 ga T/C New Englander Shotgun , Squirrel, rabbit, pheasants, turkey

4-- .50 cal. Knight DISC Extreme , 2 bucks

[JerseyHunter]

Have taken plenty of deer with it .Just use it for deer hunting.

[Scott]

I have taken several whitetails and one antelope with my muzzleloader over the years.
My biggest buck (9pt) was taken with a Knight Muzzleloader three yrs ago. I climbed up in my stand at 1pm.It was hot that day. No more than 5 min's had passed when i heard something running towards me along the side of the ridge i was sitting on. The buck ran directly up to me stopping about 15 yrds out facing me with a white oak tree between him and me. I remember seeing the horns sticking out on each side of the tree, so i knew he was a goodern. He took off running again and ran within 5yrds of my tree. I couldnt get him to stop so i took a running shot. When the muzzleloader went off he went down horns first into the ground and flipped over face first. I can remember vividly seeing his feet flying over his head and crashing into the ground. He got up and took off down the ridge crashing down two more times before going out of sight. I figured he was down by now so i got down and went looking for him. I tracked him about 100 yrds to the last place i saw him then lost the blood trail. I was surprised that he went any further. I went and got my buddy to help me track it. Finally we found another spot of blood 40 yrds from the last one and started back on the blood trail that was now pouring out good. The buck ended up in an old downfall about 300 yrds from where i shot it at. Turned out that the bullet hit him in the throat just below the white patch.One inch to the right and it would have missed completely!!
I shot the Antelope last yr near Douglas Wyoming. She came over a small hill along with several other does and a small buck.They were grazing along slowly so i had plently of time to pick out the one i wanted to shoot. I chose her because she was older than the rest and had 2-3" horns, typical for an older doe. The shot was 180yrds. She dropped as soon as the gun went off. My buddy was filming for me and did great until i shot and he flinched badly.

[jdickey]

OLD DEER....


AND

OLD ELK

[deerslayer173]

I use a Knight disc 50 cal. In 2002 I took this 173 0/8 non-typical. 100 yard neck shot. He dropped in his tracks.

[THE GOB-FATHER]

Now that buck has character! Great ML harvest!

[mrjbigfoot]

Hey DS173, I think I've seen you & this buck in the past!
Congrats again & thanks for posting it on our board! We're glad to have ya! Make yourself at home!

mrjbigfoot
aka: Mike Johnson

[deerslayer173]

Glad to be here MRJ. Here's a pic of the mount.