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New with all necessary accessories to start shooting today ! $1,000.00 The Encore line receiver is scope ready and accepts multiple T/C barrels . Text 928-606-6101

Traditions Deer Hunter percussion 50 Caliber Muzzleloader. Has fiber optic sights and uses percussion caps. Legal in a lot of states that require more primitive muzzleloaders to be used. If interested text Dave 480-849-0609

Got 8 oz containers of Blackhorn 209 muzzleloader powder for sale. Unopened brand new. $60 per container. Text or call 4805324033

Another from my Uncle's estate. It appears to have never been fired (almost all of his weapons have not been). I tried to get a pic of the bore and even as dusty as it is, it is shiny all the way down to and including the breech plug. No evidence of the lock or surrounding wood having been subjected to firing. It has a removable choke tube marked as improved, I don't have any others. Face to face sale only, won't send out of state. $280.00

This was in my late Uncle's collection still in the Styrofoam packing. It has never been fired (even though I really want to shoot it). It is in pristine condition with the exception of some years of dust on it from being stored in a closet. The kits for these cost $245 and you cannot get them from a vendor right now. So this is the opportunity to get one in great condition. Contact me here for more info and/or pictures. $280.00

Based on the 1863 Remington. It was my father's gun so I know a lot about it's history. We bought these as kits back in the late 1970's. He put a great deal of care into his and it shows. Made by Italian gun manufacturer Antonio Zoli. It has been in storage for the last 15 years or so. We fired Minie balls and Lee R.E.A.L. bullets that were 400 to 550 grains of weight being propelled by 60gr of FFg black powder. When that bullet hit something, a lot of energy was transferred to that target. We had a lot of fun with these and really set me to shooting BP to this day. Contact me for more details. Cash only. $350.00

This was one of my Uncle's favorite guns. He was a southpaw and when he saw it, had to have it. It is well used but kept in good condition. I cannot get a picture of the bore but I have inspected it and it is in great shape. The barrel is 28" long and the gun is 44" long overall. It has a hook breach which makes it much easier to clean. Has double set triggers. Made by Connecticut Valley Arms. No trades, cash only please. $XXX.XX

Can anyone clue me in where I can get supplies for muzzle loading guns in the Phoenix AZ area? Forget about Cabelas or Basspro, I checked.

Hey guys new here. I am in search of a used Optima v2 muzzle loader 50 caliber. Does anyone have one they are trying to sell by any chance? Thanks!!

My wife has a hang up with recoil and noise. I have tried numerous things with her centerfire but haven't had much luck getting by the severe flinching and jerking the trigger in anticipation of the shot. She has drawn an elk muzzy tag and now I need to start her on a muzzleloader. I was thinking of starting her on the lowest safe load of Pyrodex and working up to a heavier load over the next few months but haven't found much on the www about minimum safe load. Anyone have any suggestions? If I can't move her past this I think I need to talk to her about turning in the tag.

Most likely antlerless in 3B in October. I've spent a lot of time in 3A/3C, but this will be the first time in 3B. Figured we had to branch out a bit since it's getting so hard to draw anything in 3A/3C.

Selling my Thompson Center Omega X7. Comes with everything needed to go hunting today. This gun has killed a bull elk in the White Mountains and a buck on the Kaibab in 12A East. The gun has a couple of scuffs from use. All scuffs can be seen in the photos. I didnt draw my muzzleloader tag this year so the wife says if I want to get my long rage set up I gotta sell a gun or two. Laminate Stock 24 inch barrel (lightweight design for hiking or backpacking in) 79 primers 109 preformed pellets 41 sabots Cleaning patches, cleaning gel and cleaning gear Nikon Buckmaster 3-9 x 40 BDC Call or text 480-773-5577 Chris $500.00 obo I live up in the White Mountains. That is where the gun is located.

Hey All.. My card got hit yesterday morning for the cost of an elk tag! I put in for 3A/3C rifle rut first and 22S muzzleloader rut second. Given that I only had 6 pts Im assuming its the muzzleloader hunt. I live in Mesa and hunt 22 a lot for quail, pig and deer, but Im not terribly familiar with elk south of the 260. If anybody has any recommendations on camp grounds and places to consider I would appreciate it.

Been busy helping folks achieve their dreams thru SirRoyal's not for profit guide service! LoL! I did 10 hunts with 8 of the hunts wrapping tags around the antlers of antelope,deer,and elk. And the wrapping of a young mans deer and elk tags around a juniper tree with an admonishment that hopefully next year he can shoot straighter. 😆 Here is #7 Kill. Shot by Lisa with a Muzzleloader at 330 yards . This bull was shot standing using a Primos tripod.

SOLD

Just got back from unit 10 muzzleloader! We should of tagged out the first day. Never try to guide the guide , LoL! But the 2nd day turned out to be killer! I glassed a lot of elk and only saw one really good bull. They are ruining this unit . They are killing off a lot of the older age class bulls. Way too many tags!!!!

Like a lot of other people, this is my first time trying to post a picture and I have no idea if it will work. This is my wife's 2nd bull in 4 years. She has had quite the run the last few years. Drew her first bull tag in 2011, shot a 6x5 and got her picture on the 2012 Elk and Antelope reg. booklet. Drew the same tag the next year and again this year. 3 bull tags in 4 years...must be nice. Proud of her, she came through and filled the freezer so I don't have to eat beef this winter. Went to my favorite spot the 2nd morning and spotted this bull down the hill before we even sat down. He was just standing there looking around. My wife sat down and got ready to shoot. He was facing up the hill and didn't provide a great shot so I told her we would just be patient and wait for a good shot. He finally moved, but moved behind some trees. I couldn't see him but my wife could...barely. After what seemed to be an eternity, another bull steps into the opening the 1st bull was in at the beginning. I start telling my wife there is another bull now but she can't see him. She is focused on the first bull. Eventually the first, and bigger, bull takes a few steps and is standing broadside in an opening. I am going back and forth looking at both bulls trying to figure out which provides the better shot and BOOM, she decided, and shot this bull straight through the heart at about 100 yards. He went 40-50 yards and crashed. Great job Zandora!!

I leave tomorrow for my muzzleloader coues hunt. I have a full week off! (Thanks Julie!) The hunt doesn't start until Saturday, so I have plenty of time to get set up and do some scouting. This is the first of 3 coues hunts for me this year 😊.

I drew a muzzleloader any antlered deer tag on Ft. Huachuca for mid November this year. Having hunted there several times before I knew the area. The first couple days were hard to find deer with the rain and wind and then with several days of wind. The deer were staying down in the draws and hard to see. The first evening I got to 135 yards of a very nice buck but could not hold the crosshairs on him. He laid down and when I tried to move closer he busted out without me being able to get a shot. Mid week I passed on a buck with a weak G-3 on the left side. By the second Saturday I decided it was time to go get him if I could. He had crossed a ridge into a draw about 11 in the morning and not come out. I worked up the side of the draw without seeing the bedded deer. When he did move it was on a run and I got no shot. Just before dark I got a second chance. I found him feeding on the side of another draw and this time I closed the deal just before dark. The most interesting thing was that when I cleaned the hide off the head the next day I found a broadhead imbedded in the back of the skull. It appeared to have been there from a prior year.

I had just stepped out of my truck in a wide spot on the well traveled road to glass a burned ridge when a truck drove up and stopped. The occupants craned their necks out the passenger window towards that burned ridge, so I walked over to ask what they had seen. Friendly enough, as most people who share our passion tend to be, and it wasn't long before we realized that we knew some of the same people who also had the same tag as themselves. The frustrations of their hunt arose to the surface, and that they had been drawn for this unit for three consecutive years.The younger of the two remarked "four cows" and as the Super Duty rattled up the road the sound of a bugle floated across the canyon. The wind was howling that evening and spitting rain. The "four cows" was actually eight and a really great bull was pushing one hot cow in constant circles through a thicket of six foot aspen and locust. He was in a perfect spot for a stalk and with the heavy wind to boot, I laughed to myself about the situation. And that's how it went. For twelve days prior to the muzzleloader hunt my good friend Bryan and I would get up before light and go looking for bulls. We talked to other hunters, no bugling, the rain, people everywhere, 350, 360, 375 running the fence, 400 here 400 there. Really? Some afternoons a dozen or more vehicles including quads would drive up the two track past our camp only to drive back out an hour later. We counseled, tried to motivate, and told people what a great tag they had. Oh how badly we would have wanted their tag. But in the end it was their tag and how they chose to go about their hunt was their business. Everyone should be able to go on an elk hunt, at least once. Bryan and I took a few nature walks don't get me wrong, but we tried hard, and stayed positive and we found lot's of elk, and a handful of big, mature bull's. It was almost scripted. Or was it the homework? We slowly dropped in elevation peering over the shelves of rock below us and Bryan did one of his famous from two legs upright, to the belly crawl moves. I'm not nearly as agile, so when I see him doing that I usually just freeze. "I got a cow" Bryan whispered. My son Dane, and I eased through the burned timber keeping an eye on the few cows that were visible and picked apart the scene below us for the bull we knew was there. He had bugled once. When we see him will it be "him"? You just gotta appreciate good glass, his nose and brows at 120 yards, bedded and chewing his cud. We slid down the mountain and started side hilling trying to get a better look at at him, studying him, no breaks, great mass, mature face. He turned straight away, in his bed. I told Dane, "I think you should take this bull". No argument. I indicated to Bryan that we were going to shoot this bull and he nodded in affirmation. You give birth to them, you raise them, you love them. You send them on their way and you hope that they have listened to everything you had to tell them, and show them. They go out into the world and fight for their place. Making good decisions, and some a little questionable. Dane scratched his way closer looking for a decent opening. That log, that tree, take a rest with that rifle. From his knees and freehanded, fathers nightmare. The heavy smoke from 150 grains of black powder drifted away to reveal the bull still bedded. A few cows had stood up. Freehanded again, but somewhere all those conversations, those stories that you tell, those hunts that are behind you, take hold. Beautiful shot. Friends, Please watch the video on YouTube. Here is the link to Dane's Big Bull:

So miraculously, after only spending 1 bonus point on it, I drew a coveted Kaibab muzzy tag! What made it better was a bunch of friends and family had also drawn archery and rifle tags for the same unit as well so I would have a ton of scouting knowledge prior to my hunt! The bad thing with everyone drawing tags is they wouldn't have any vacation time to spend on my hunt, so I would be doing my hunt solo. The first couple hunts came and went and the outlook wasn't as good as I had hoped. The antler growth wasn't great, deer were scattered and there was very little activity. The only thing going for me for my hunt was a dark moon and several areas that supposedly held a big buck. What i didn't anticipate was 60mph winds!!! And to make it more interesting I planned to spend my first couple days in the burn with all those dead trees! I had my first camp set up in the middle transition to make travel easier while hunting between there and the top. I had been running cams for several days and was disappointed in the results. Even though it was a dark moon, most of the deer were nocturnal and I wasn't seeing the mature bucks at all. My first day started off with a huge hike planned in a roadless section of the burn. The winds were incredible and I heard later that they were around 60mph! What made it more fun was all the dead trees that were falling and it sounded like bombs going off! Anytime I stopped to glass I had to make sure I wasn't in line with a tree! My plan was to hike up and down all the fingers glassing tight into the un-windy sides and cuts. This turned a mile long section of rim into 5 miles because of the zig zagging but in theory it was the best way to find the giant that supposedly lived in there. I did this for the entire day and unbelievably found only 2 does!!! I couldn't believe it and that's when the frustrations of the hunt kicked into high gear! I did find a broken arrowhead on that hike so it was just a little highlight to the day.. My biggest problem with the wind, other than the crazy cold and falling trees, was that my camp consisted of only a Jumpin' Jack trailer and it's not exactly designed for high winds! I'd lay awake all night listening and watching as the beds lifted up and the frame twisted and creaked. I actually had to brace the inside with tripods and a walking stick in hopes it would take pressure off the beating it was getting. Plus, every morning I'd have to drop it down and put frozen 5 gallon water containers on it so I wouldn't have to worry about it all day! That's basically how the first handful of days went. I transitioned into less hiking and more glassing trying to cover more ground and still couldn't find a decent buck, actually, nothing bigger than a forkie! Most everyone else I saw or talked to road hunted and stayed warm and I heard most of them were seeing way more deer than I was! I just kept at it thinking any second I'm gonna find the giant buried up under a tree but that never happened. I did get to fully enjoy the upper elevations of the unit for the first half of my hunt. I have never spent much time up top so a lot of it was new to me and it's a beautiful place! So now, after a little bit of snow fell and still no sighting of any decent bucks, I decide it's time to move my camp for a 3rd time and hit the country that I'm familiar with. I was excited to hunt the low country and after making a mid day run down there I saw enough sign to know there were mature bucks down there and it would be my last move. The temps were in the low teens and it was crazy cold! I swear Jumpin' Jacks are the worst trailer to have in cold weather!!!! It's gotta be because of the air that circulates under them, but this is how I spent most of my time at night while outside of my coveted Butler Bag! If it was 15 degrees outside, I guarantee without the heater on, it was single digits IN the trailer!!! BUT, I was fine with it because the winds had finally subsided! First thing on the first morning of glassing down low I finally found a true Kaibab beast! This buck was moving and acting rutty which was bad because he was way up high in the wilderness area and I knew it would take me several hours to hike in there. I watched this buck walk nonstop up and over the highest peak and could only hope he stopped to bed. I could tell that he had a huge frame and possibly an extra inline on one side, a definite 190" plus deer even if he didn't have the inline! I sent a text out to my family and friends letting them know where I was headed and to come help if they didn't hear from me by nightfall. I spent several hours hiking up there and just like I'd expected he was nowhere to be found. The views were awesome and yet again I was seeing country I hadn't seen before so there was a silver lining to the adventure. So now it's the 5th day of the hunt and the 8th day of the adventure. I set up glassing the same country where the beast was the day before. I never found him but I did find a small group of does with a forkie and a small 4x4 in tow. I watched them feed for a while and then drop into a cut where i figured they would bed. These deer were yet again way up in the nasty stuff and it would be a long and difficult stalk. I texted my family and friends again and told them I've had an incredible experience but I'm tired of the cold and I'm sore from the previous days hike. I told them that if I could pull off this stalk, I'll be excited to smoke this 4x4. It would be a huge effort getting to him and an even bigger effort packing him out of there by myself! That effort, plus the fact I'm using a muzzleloader, would make this a great trophy in my book.. so off I went! It took me almost 2 hours to get where I planned to do the final stalk. I basically was just guessing that they had bedded in the cut and picked a tree out on the rim to sneak to. As I got closer I realized that my adrenaline was starting to get a little crazy! I kept laughing to myself because this wasn't a big buck but I was losing it!! I actually had to stop about 20 yards short of the rim to try and compose myself! I figured with all the planning, effort and frustrations leading up to and during this hunt, it had just built up to this point. I knew then that it didn't matter how big this buck was, I'm killin' em! So, after calming myself down I moved up to the tree. As soon as I rounded the tree deer started blowing out below me. I dropped the pack, threw the gun on it, found and ranged an opening ahead of the trotting buck at 135 yards, waited for him to get there and then I yelled to stop him.....Snap.......BOOM...Whop! I knew I hit him but for some reason my muzzleloader delay fired and I knew I pulled the crosshairs off him a little. I noticed he was humped up and still standing and that's when I REALLY lost it!!! I had reloading stuff flying EVERYWHERE! My primers went flying, I spilled half the first speedloader that i used, it was crazy! I finally got the gun loaded again, ranged the buck and lined up....Snap.......BOOM...Whop! I hit him again and he went down but again there was a delay fire and I pulled the crosshairs off. I saw he needed another round and this time, after frantically getting it loaded again, I shoved shooting sticks under the butt of the gun and made sure to get much steadier in case of another delay but finally the last shot was a BOOM..WHOP! Here's where the circus took place.... And here's my hard earned trophy!! I completely boned him out and was able to get it all into the Outdoorsmans frame pack. I don't know what that pack weighed but carrying it out physically sucked while emotionally it was very gratifying and I kept thinking the whole time that it will always be one of my most memorable hunts and cherished trophies! No doubt, the harder you work for something, the more it'll mean to you! My favorite part was realizing that I still get all worked up like when I was a kid, even when it's not a giant! I had cell service right where I shot from so the first thing I did was call my dad and he thought it was just as funny that I lost my composure and was having to pick up reloading items that had flown all over the place! Great times! Thanks if you read thru it all! JIM> .

Work has kept me busy all summer and I haven't had much time to check in here at CWT but I did find a few days last week to escape to the high country of Colorado for a solo, backpack, muzzleloader, mule deer hunt. I had never been to this unit or even attempted this type of hunt before so I really didn't know what to expect. I've spent more than a year loosing weight and working out to get in better shape so I could be ready to hit the 12,000+ peaks above timberline looking into alpine basins for big bucks. The hard work paid off as I hit the first trail into a wilderness area. After a short 2 mile hike and 700 vertical foot climb I found myself at 11,700 feet of elevation the day before the hunt looking into a large basin. It didn't take long to glass up several groups of does, a pack of coyotes, and a couple badgers chasing each other. After about an hour I finally saw my first buck about a mile away and he looked big! The only problem was that he was running across the mountain side like he was being chased. I never got a good look at the details of his rack but even from that distance I knew he was a shooter. A few seconds later and he was topped out over the ridge and gone from view. On the one hand I was happy there was a shooter buck in the area. On the other I was dissapointed that he was boogered. With this in mind I decided that I would back out of this spot and drive to a different area and spend a few days there while the first spot could settle down for a few days. So I packed back to the truck and drove to another mountain to see what I could turn up there. This area was a little higher in elevation and after about 2 miles in I found a clump of scrub pines at 12,200 foot elevation to make my spike camp. It was was within a couple hundred yards of two vantage points which gave me excellent views of two different basins one on the north and one on the south side of the ridge I was on. After setting up camp I went over to the edge to glass the north basin. It was still early in the afternoon and the hunt didn't start untill the next day. I glassed for an hour or so and was getting a little frusterated, I hadn't seen a thing! But all that changed when I moved my glasses to a small finger ridge a little over 300 yards in front of me that had a little string of scrub pines. Laying right on the edge right in the open was a buck... a good buck! It didn't take long to determine that this was exactly the type of buck I was looking for and I spent the rest of the evening watching him and never even attempted to find anything else. After an hour or so he did finally get up and fed but never moved more than 20-30 yards from his original bed. I kept my eyes on him till I couldn't see him anymore and I knew if he stayed put he would be in grave danger the next morning. Back at camp I downed a Mountain House meal and hit the sack. Sleep wasn't easy I was excited about finding this buck in the morning. About 4am it started to rain. Even as it started getting light it was still raining. I had to wait it out in the tent until about 7:30am when it finally stopped enough to go hunting. I quietly moved into my glassing position and set up the binos and tripod ready to pick apart the finger ridge this buck was on the night before. Fully expecting something of a challenge to relocate him I was somewhat surprised when not more than 5 or 6 seconds after starting to glass I found him bedded in the same scrub pine patch not 30 yards from where he was the night before! I couldn't believe it was that easy. After watching him for a half hour or so I worked my way up and around his position so I could set up from a boulder about a hundred yards above him. Everything went as planned and now the wait was on! I could see the tips of his velvet horns sticking up above the brush but had no shot. I waited for two hours through the drizzly rain and fog before he finally stood to stretch. He took a few steps and as he cleared a small pine he stopped and looked up towards me but it was too late, the 270 grain Powerbelt bullet from my TC Encore was on it's way! As the smoke cleared I wasn't sure what happened so I quietly looked and listened. I saw nothing and heard nothing. Being by myself I had no spotter to confirm a hit or miss. Not knowing what to do next I just watched and waited. After several agonizing minutes I caught movement at the edge of the trees. It was him... he was hit hard and hunched up walking down the steep mountain side. The shot looked to be in the back of the lungs and liver. He continued down the hill several hundred feet before bedding up. I watched through the binos and within several minutes he laid over and died. Getting down to him was going to be easy but getting him out was the most difficult pack out I've ever had to do. The steep mountain side was not going to let me out of there without a fight. In the end I was completely exhausted but I had done what I set out to do and now the buck, the experinece, and the memories were mine and I had accomplished what I set out to do! The view from my first glassing point at 11,700 foot elevation Where I saw the big buck running below the pointed peak in the top right This was my view on the hike in to the second area My spike camp at 12,200 foot elevation My buck when I first found him the night before the hunt Mine at last! Looking up from where the buck died to where I had to go (top far left rock point) Packed up and heading back to Prescott

Just got back from Colorado hunting with my muzzleloader. Got within 150 the first two days, but couldn't get a shot off. On the third day he made a mistake and let me get within 50 yards. The deer only ran 250 yards before he died, but those powerbelts didn't leave a good blood trail. I don't think I would have found it if Joe didn't come and help me find it. That guy can track!!!! Got a turkey during the middle of the day when the deer hunting was slow. Also found 9 sheds on the trip. Special thanks to Joe Keys of Keys Outfitting. He has several private land leases and does unguided hunts and will put you in areas that have tons of deer, if you want a guided hunt he is very affordable too. http://www.canyonguide.com/ Thanks for reading, Condor