doulos

yea when i see the amount of time i spend on my bows before and during each season i just know theres no way any pro shop can be doing that and still turning a profit..they will set up the basics for you but to really maintain a bow over an entire season i do beleive you gotta become your own bowtech... the pro shop i use the owner sets up the bow and uses a Hooter shooter until the bow will shoot arrows in the same hole at 25 yards. Not close to each other or a good group BUT the same hole. ive allways tuned my own stuff but he takes it to a level I cant because of his equipment. Ive learned alot just watching him work on stuff while we're talking.

Seasoning is nothing but a market ploy. Yes, you can use that stuff for roundball patch lubricant. But ill tell you MODERN BARREL STEELS NEED NO SEASONING. Its a MYTH. Ive been muzzloading for almost 30 years and know many guys who are custom builders. They wouldnt put that stuff in their barrels. Beware of this It can also build up and destroy accuracy. Its fine for a patch lubricant but dont trust it for a rust preservative. There are lot better things out there for that to protect your investment. Clean any gun that doesent use a smokeless powder or Black horn 209 with a water based cleaner. ( I use room temp water mixed with nothing) When its clean make sure you dry it very well and then use a water displacing gun oil in the barrel to make sure all water is gone . Then oil it with something like Rem oil or Break free. More muzzleloading barrels are ruined trying to protect them with these seasoning agents. I found out the hard way. DONT ASK

Since i hunt in the Southern zone our season starts aroud the 15th . ive allways seen alot of bucks the first week and i believe its the best time to rattle.

Ive had good luck with calls. I have rattled in quite a few bucks and have killed 2 with a rattling bag. I have killed at least 5 bucks I brought in with a grunt tube. All them I spotted first and then brought them in for a shot. And Ive killed 3 including my best buck ever last year with a bleat can. I have noticed this over the years ---Rattling is most effective the very beginning of bow season and then I get little or no reaction after that. Grunting allways seemed to be most effective for me with a certain call (old Quaker Boy) and Ive had many that dont seem to work as well. Larger older deer allways seem to circle down wind . I think too deep of a tone sends any deer but the boss in the area packing. I think if it mimics the most dominant buck smaller bucks wont come in. The Quaker boy I lost had 2 different tubes and I used the one that mimiced a younger deer. It seemed to get a reaction out of almost any deer. And the doe in bleat seems to work later in the season. Nothing seems to work that good in the firearms season. Only one of the above deer was called in during the gun season ( bleat can). Also the hunting area is definitely a factor. A good buck to doe ratio seems important. One area I hunt seems to have alot of 1.5 year old bucks and competition and the running of does is sometimes heavy. I have seen 3 bucks chasing one doe around my tree stand once. Another area the bucks seem to ignore calls. I just think the competition there isnt as fierce and there are many more does than bucks. The only deer to respond last season was a lrge buck with a bleat can. And i saw him first and brought him in with the can for a shot. It was Nov 11 and he was going through the woods nose to the ground looking for does. All thee other bucks i saw in bow season didnt react at all to any call. Its not an exact science so dont give up keep trying stuff and you might be surprised.

triple 7 is a good powder and it is easy to clean. It gives good velocity and is less corrosive than pyrodex . Pyrodex is just as corrosive as black in my opinion . Some people say its more corrosive but Im not sure. I just know that it is corrosive period. It is made with a lot of the same things but other additives to get it to burn cleaner. I now fellas who build custom muzzleloaders and guys who shoot very expensive Black powder Cartridge guns that wont let pyrodex near their guns. The point is this just because it leaves less fouling doesent mean you can delay the cleaning. To me it has other properties i dont like. One being a short shelf life. Ive had more hangfires with Pyrodex than anything. And I 've never achieved the accuracy with it that i can with black powder and that includes inlines not just traditional styles sidelocks. The only Pyrodex close to real black for accuracy to me was Pyrodex Select. 777 cleans easy and leaves little fouling but i dont think they claim its non corrosive.

Ive used NO Excuses conicals in both my white 98 in .451 and my Knight Mk-85. I shot a buck with the 460 grain .503 conical out of the Knight at 110 yards. The bullet broke both front shoulders and exited. He did one short leap and was down. I was using 95 grains of FFG Goex. The .451 shot real well out of my White in both 460 grain and 385. I shot a deer with the 385 and it polaxed her. You can also use the .451 385 grainer in a sabot out of .50 cal guns. The bullets are high quality stuff.

Right now shooting a Bowtech Tomkat but ordered a Matthews Z7 after shooting one yesterday.

I’ll second what Larry302 said about Phil Race at Indian Mountain Archery in Hamlin. Ive use most of the shops in the are over the years and Phil takes the customer service to a level I havent seen before. Yep I can concur the stories about the grumpy pro shop owners and those that ignore you on their cell phone. But that’s not the case here. Case in point---Last year I accidently cut a string on my Bowtech. I called around and even called Indian Mountain in desperation even though their web site said they were closed. Well Phil answered and said he did have one but he was closed and the shop wasn’t open until Wednesday( it was Monday). He paused and said “I suppose you want to hunt this week” I said “YES! So he said come on down and I’ll fix it. On my way down I thought I have to go back to owning 2 bows like I used to to have a backup. So I determined I would look at what he had there. While he was fixing my bow I told him I wanted to buy another he answered that he rather not sell me one now because the new ones were coming out soon and I would be happier waiting. HOW MANY GUYS WOULD REFUSE A SALE? HOW MANY GUYS WOULD OPEN WHEN THEY ARE CLOSED? His philosophy is he wants you to walk out totally satisfied. Well he fixed my and 3 days later I killed the best buck of my life. When you buy a bow from him He’ll set up a couple different bows for you and let you alone on the range to decide. Then he’ll bring you in when the place is closed and make sure the bow fits perfect. He will spend a lot of time with you. How much is that worth? Ive never had so much personal attention when buying a bow and Ive always bought from pro shops. Phil at Indian Mountain is the best Ive used so far. PS Im waiting for my new Matthews Z7 to come in.

Yep , ive been using the white tape on an encore i take out a couple of times a season.

inlines---White model 98 in .451 cal TC Encore stainless and knight stainless MK-85 all are scoped with Leupolds or Nikon traditonal Custom Sam Hakwen .58 cal Pedersoli Rocky Mountain hawken in.54 cal TC Renegade with .58 cal Green mountain barrel

I stated muzzleloading to extend my deer season. At the time i was working 2 jobs and i just wanted to get out more. At the time you had to use patched round ball and open sights in the Ny muzzleloading season. When I saw how accurate the 1-66 twist .54 cal was with a patched round ball i decided to use it in the regular season. The second day out I killed a nice buck with it and was hooked. I started using inlines also and have owned a least 6 or 7 different inlines. I havent used any thing except muzzleloaders or a handgun or bow for deer hunting for a very long time now. The allure of my inlines has faded and the last 4 years I have went back to patched roundball and open sights. I use either a .58 or .54 calber for most of my hunting. I'm going to have a custom flintlock built. I just love shooting these guns.

I have a Browning Maxis 3.5. I havent had it all that long but I like it alot. it is the sofest shooting shotgun ive ever shot. Ive only shot 3 inch magnum turkey loads out of it but its a pussycat. It comes with a shim kit to adjust the stock Length of pull and cast off also. I bought when Browning was running their tax break program. I bought the gun and 5 weeks later got a check from browning for the sales tax it cost me. It is a great handling firearm. I labored between that and a Beretta and chose the Browning. Dont think you can go wrong with either one.

For years I used Thunderheads. But the last 2 seasons I went to a cut on contact Magnus Stinger 4 blade. 2 shots 2 bucks. One down inside 30 yards the other down in 60. The impressive thing about them is the way they fly and they have a lifetime guarantee.

For years i have just covered the muzzle with black electrical tape. Try it at the range it affects nothing but keeping snow and rain out of the barrel. ive done this for more than 25 years with no ill effect

if papabear is shooting patched roundball blackpowder is the way to go Blackhorn 209 is made for guns that have certain styled breech plugs and 209 primers for ignition. Real black powder can be ordered through Graf's or Powder inc in 5-25 pound lots. Dont worry if you dont use it right away it has no shelf life if stored properly. It is THE powder for shooting patch round ball. Others do work but if you go to the national muzzleoading championships in Friendship Ind. The best muzzleloaders in country use real black in competition. There are so many misconceptions about real black powder many get steered away from it. Ive use it with great success in many inlines and it produced great accuracy. Yes its dirtier than Pyrodex and 777. But believe it or not Pyrodex is much more corrosive. Nothing else but room temperature water is needed for cleanup. For a rifle with #11 cap ignition real black is the way to go if you havent tried it. It has a much lower ignition temp. Ive used 777 out of my hawken rifles and it worked but not as well as real black powder. I use the 777 and blackhorn 209 in my inlines most of the time