Flatlander

Great bull. Congrats.

Good read. Congrats.

I hate this post. I especially hate the part where you said "again". I hope you shoot a spike. Good Luck Be sure to post some pics.

Ok, I have been trying not to hyper-ventilate all week long and I think I am about to have an anxiety attack. Last week I slipped out to Rio Salado for some practice with the muzzleloader in preparation for my upcoming antelope hunt. I had a good group at 100 yds and moved out to 200 and was having trouble getting the hold points for my Leupold Ultimate Slam to line up at that range so I decided to re zero with a 150 grain load instead of the 100 grains I had been shooting. I went through the normal process and after a few shots I lost the ability to shoot any kind of group. I was getting frustrated and decided to hang it up for the day, and come back and work on it when I was fresh. Fast forward one week to this morning. I was out at Rio Salado thinking positive thoughts aout how I was going to be able to get dialed in and be in good shape. I brought lots of powder and sabot's and was ready for the long haul. I started at 100 yards, the first shot was 6 inches high of the X. The barrel was clean and I have learned that a fouling shot is a must with my CVA Magbolt 150. Second shot was 6 inches right of the X. I never hit the paper again at 100 yds. I was frustarted and worried that might be the problem, I switched over to my .300 win mag and shot a 1-1/2" group with very little effort. So I moved it into 25 yards. First shot was right 6"+, second shot was low and left, third shot was right, fourth shot was high, fifth shot was low. There was literally 0 pattern and after 2-1/2 hours I put the ML away and took out my frustration on the 300 yd plate with my Win Mag. I never missed. The muzzleloader I am shooting has always been a tack driver and shot well with these same loads earlier in the summer. Today was the third time I shot this load. I think that it must be a problem with the bases/rings/scope due to the complete randomness of the shots, could I be wrong? It doesn't seem like anything in the load could have that drastic of an effect could it? This is my second year muzzleloader hunting, I am self taught and almost everything I have learned has been from youtube, so if any of you guys who have been doing it longer have good advice I am all ears. Here is my load: 3 - 50 gr Triple 7 Pellets Hornady 250 grain SST Sabot Winchester 209 shotshell primers Rifle: CVA MAgbolt 150 I run a dry swab after every shot, a wet swab with a water soluble solvent every third shot or so, and clean with a copper brush every 10 shots. I have never cleaned the breach because this model is a giant pain in the butt to get the bolt out of. I do not have any problems with primers feeding in to the breech. My plan was to soak it with a solvent after the hunt and work to get the breech out and cleaned up. I have had an occasional hang fire that requires a second primer, or sometimes there is a slight hangfire and then ignition with significantly reduced recoil and less smoke, leading me to believe that perhaps not all the powder is burning. This is very rare and I would say in 100 or so round is have shot this summer I have had maybe two hangfires that required a second primer and two delayed ignition type events. Even though I do think I need to change primers, I have a hard time believing that could be leading to the amount of incosistency I am seeing even at close range. I changed scopes this summer after my cheap o Simmons 2x failed during my HAM hunt (reticle broke loose). I am now shooting a Leupold Ultimate Slam SABR. I would be very surprised if the problem was in the scope itself, instead I am more inclined to believe it is a rings and bases issue. My thoughts are to have it remounted (I did it the first time), get some new primers and give it another run next Saturday. But with only 3 weeks until my hunt and some desperately needed scouting still on the agenda I am getting very short on time. Obviously if I don't get the problem corrected I can axe the scouting and work on the gun, because without that I have nothing. I do not have another muzzleloader nor do I have access to another so I am in a bit of a bad spot. Even if I scrapped the whole rig and bought a new gun it doesn't leave a lot of time for getting dialed in. Ok, sorry for the LONG thread, I am starting to freak out a little bit. 150 grains

What were you hoping to accomplish with that comment??? Congrats to the hunter on a great bull. That smile says it all. Looks like some little ones in two too, love seeing the kids involved.

That second to last bull is a beast. Great bulls, color me jealous.

I was on a flight to Denver with two fellas headed to Casper on leftover tags. Then I read this. I have to go to a meeting tomorrow. Life isn't fair.

Great buck Bob. That's a no brainer on any hunt, let alone one you drew with 0.

Buy the point. Totally worth it. I have 3, but I just don't have the vacation time to go for a couple of years.

Happy Birthday Sir. I hope its a most enjoyable one.

Here's the deal with 24b. It's a small unit for 450 tags. Access points or somewhat limited, so you will see the same 10 guys driving the same road over and over. The North side of the unit gets A LOT less pressure than the South. The biggest thing is to park the truck/side by side/atv and walk in a direction with no nearby roads. I have found that putting 1 canyon between you and a road will open up a ton of country. The hard part is that once you do that it's awfully tempting to go one more, and then one more. . . Every square inch of the unit is Couse habitat, so look for a vantage point that no one else wants to walk to and then go for it. Pickup a lion tag, there are plenty in there. Oh, and don't overlook the ocotillo's.

This site is awesome.

Awesome bull and a dream hunt. I have never listened to elk bugle with a rifle in my hands and I suspect I never will. Congrats on a great hunt and an excellent trophy!

Dude!!!

Happy birthday and good luck on your hunt

Wow that earhole shot is pretty impressive. Even at 32 yds I might not have had the stones to take it. Looks like a great adventure. You are the man!

Dude, awesome bull! Congratulations on a job well done.

Right at closing time no doubt. Pretty much. It's like last day hunting and you will settle for whatever walks into the crosshairs Pics or it didn't happen

Taxidermist could also rebuild the dog. . . Just saying.

The same way you fight anyone else. . . Yell "I'm a hemophiliac!" And then kick him in the goods!

Awesome bull. Looks like you had a great trip. Tell us the story . . .

Very nice. Congrats on an awesome hunt.

Maybe it's just me, but I would have expected more from a #15, or wtf they were ranked, hence the over rated...... You are a U of A fan. How would you know what to expect from a top #15 team?

Ok, hijack alert, WHERE DID YOU GET AN 8' RATTLER? Oh yeah, back to the topic at hand, kill the dang dog.

Casey what exactly are you looking for ASU fans to come on here and say? Oh man we got our butts whooped on national TV and we weren't expecting it? ASU was a 6 pt dog at home, that sounds the opposite of over-rated to me. What's there to talk about?