hunter4life

Muzzleloaders can be finicky about what bullets and powders they shoot well. My brother had a TC omega that would only shoot black powder and maxi-balls with any accuracy. It would spread sabots with pyrodex or 777 all over the paper. He returned it to the company and got a new barrel and it now shoots 777 and TC shockwave sabots well. I shoot a .45 cal Knight and have been using 777 pellets. I started out using 2 50 grain pellets and then moved up to 3 pellets. I found that this barely flattened the trajectory and that the accuracy was slightly worse, so I have since gone back to 2 pellets and this seems to work just fine. I have had good luck with the Hornady SST sabots on deer and elk.

Nice pictures and great write-up!! I love backpack hunting.

Congrats on the dry ground lion! I went out with my brother last week hunting the dirt and we rode about a 14 mile loop on the horse and mule and didn't get anything started. The conditions were not very good, dry and windy, but it beats sitting at home or at work.

Congratulations on the bulls!! That looks like a really awesome trip. I was fortunate enough to hunt Zimbabwe back in 1992 and it was my favorite african hunt. If I am remembering correctly, my dad hunted Cape Buffalo in the Chirisa area in 1990.

I am selling this rangefinder for my brother. He was given it as a tip after guiding a hunt, but he doesn't need a rangefinder because he has a pair of Leica geovids. New in box. Only used in the backyard a few times just to see if it worked. I have it posted on E-bay. Leupold RX-IV Rangefinder

I use Sno-Seal beeswax leather treatment and have found that it works well.

You all had an awesome January. Congrats to everyone on their archery coues bucks.

I think trapping is WAY more humane than bowhunting in general. Scottyboy, I agree with you 100%. My brother and I did a bit of trapping for grey fox when we were kids and it was fun and challenging.

Sounds like you have some awesome hunts lined up. I am definitely jealous of the ibex hunt. I have been pondering the whole Asian hunting experience for quite a while and really want to hunt tur and ibex. The only problem is that I will probably have to finish my residency before I can take off enough time to do one of those hunts.

Here is a buck as a wall pedestal with a euro coues below. Another one in a sneak position with an aoudad mount to keep him company. I really need to move the TV antenna.

Congratulations, that is a great experience!! I had a depredation hunt on the Jornada Experimental Range and following a fresh track was a fun way to hunt them out in the flat mesquite/sand country.

If you are from NM or just like hunting stories from the old days then the following books are must reads. Elliott S. Barker wrote the following two books. When the dogs bark treed: A year on the trail of the longtails Beatty's Cabin: Adventures in the Pecos High Country Montague Stevens wrote the following book about hunting grizzlies in SW NM. Meet Mr. Grizzly Frank Dobie wrote the following book about a hunter that spent a lot of time hunting lions and bears in the Southwest. The Ben Lilly Legend

Very nice New Mexico oryx!!

My brother hunted it a few years ago in October and saw some coues does, but no bucks. I will ask him where he was at.

Congrats Jim, that buck is awesome!! I think that I too would have a case of buck fever looking at that buck through my scope.

Congrats on a nice NM buck!!

Awesome buck, congratulations!!

If it was just about the taste of the meat, I would shoot a lion before I shot a deer. I have never eaten a coyote, so I couldn't tell you about them. I do see where you are coming from with not wanting to shoot them if you aren't going to use some part of them. I would just shoot the coyotes in the winter when the fur is good and then sell the furs.

Great pictures as always!! Congratulations to the young hunter on his buck. That is definitely too bad about the lion, because you ended up losing some good meat. I think as far as wild game in North America it is hard to beat mountain lion meat in the taste category.

Congratulations, it is good to see girls getting out and going hunting!!

Congratulations, those are 2 very nice bucks!! I know all about the getting into camp late from school/work thing. I have done it for the past several years on most of my hunts.

I shot my 2nd biggest coues buck this past weekend with my muzzleloader. I went with my brother and we had a pretty tough hunt with warm weather and not much deer activity. We only saw 2 decent bucks during the weekend. We kicked this buck up at about 10 yards and I shot him at about 40 yards. This is my second biggest buck to date. He is fairly unique with a very narrow fairly tall rack and was always within 1/2 a mile of one particular spot.. He is a buck that I am pretty sure I saw 3 years ago and is the same one I got pictures of 2 years ago when my brother stalked to within 30 yards but couldn't get a shot. My brother saw him again last year and said he had longer tines but wasn't quite as heavy. This year he seemed to regress a bit with shorter tines, but heavier mass measurements. He scored 95" with a 10" inside spread. Pictures from 2 years ago taken from about 600 yards as my brother stalked in. He was a real big bodied buck.

congratulations to your son!! That is a giant buck.

I have a friend who is an official scorer for SCI, and I already have one buck entered with a muzzleloader that scored 109 6/8. I really liked this buck because of the mass and having seen him for several years in a row before I finally killed him.

Thanks for all the congrats. This is the first time I have killed a buck with that much history of seeing him for years. I have used a Knight Disc Elite .45cal for all 4 of my muzzy coues and an elk as well.