Dr. Harry Jacobson, a retired wildlife researcher and professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at Mississippi State University, is another of the nation’s leading deer researchers and explains, “For most bucks, the process of dominance probably starts well before the rutting season. In our section of the country, a sorting-out takes place within age groups that may begin as early as the fawn-age class. Dominance relates to early encounters between bucks as much as anything else. If a young buck is whipped one time, he’s less likely to challenge again the buck that’s whipped him. Probably dominance is determined psychologically as well as by the actual physical size and antler size of an animal. Also, dominance sometimes may be expressed because of the territory imperative theory of behavior. For instance, if you’re on your home turf, you have the advantage over someone who’s not. Familiarity with your surroundings and being in your own place of residence has much to do with how you defend that territory. Some parallels in human psychology may help us to understand a deer’s psychological makeup, since most anyone is more willing to defend something that belongs to him.” Once a buck begins to exert dominance over his peers through sparring matches, establishes a home territory and possibly outlives the other bucks in his age class in that region, he may defend his home range and his right to be sultan of his harem, until his position in the herd is changed.

Can More Than One Dominant Buck Exist in the Same Area?

Many of us believe only-one dominant buck exists at one time in a particular hunting area, and once someone bags him, that’s the only dominant buck likely to be seen during the entire season. However, Dr. Marchinton says more than one dominant buck can exist in the same region. “Deer are not generally territorial in the sense that only one dominant buck occupies a specific site,” Marchinton mentions. “Several dominant bucks at various times may use the same area. Usually the highest buck in the hierarchy at a particular point in time and in a specific place will be the dominant buck for that region.” Dr. Jacobson comments, “A buck will generally tolerate other bucks within his territory. Most often a pecking order of dominance exists. Occasionally animals that seem to be buddies or pals won’t challenge each other but may challenge another buck of equal size in their region. Much of what we know about deer behavior is based on what has been observed from confined, tame animals, which may not be representative of the behavior exhibited in the wild.”

Question:

Hendricks: I’m not in the sales department, so I don’t have the exact numbers, but my impression is that for smaller game, the most popular is the Bergara .223 barrel for the smaller-caliber rifle, since the ammunition is inexpensive and plentiful, and it’s a very-versatile cartridge. For larger game, the most-popular add-on Bergara barrel is the .308, because the ammunition is reasonably priced, it’s very versatile, and it has a recoil that most shooters can tolerate well. The .308 is getting a lot of publicity from the tactical shooters in the military, and people have a lot of confidence in it. For big game, we sell a number of the .300 Bergara Win Mag barrels. All three barrels are interchangeable with the CVA Apex and the Thompson/Center Encore. I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention the .243 barrel, which is excellent for centerfire rifles and for shooting deer at close range. It’s a great caliber for a young deer hunter to start with, because of low recoil, inexpensive shells and accuracy. A hunter can use the .243 for modern rifle season, if he or she is a two-season hunter (blackpowder season and modern-gun season).

Question: Don’t most muzzleloader hunters hunt two seasons to get a longer season and be able to take more deer. Hasn’t this caused much of the demand for the interchangeable centerfire rifle barrels?

Hendricks: Yes. By using an interchangeable barrel, the hunter can buy one frame and have a multitude of barrel choices for whatever game and season he wants to hunt. The scopes attach to the barrels, so when the hunter changes from blackpowder season, he can remove the scope off his blackpowder rifle, put that same scope on his centerfire rifle and, in most cases, have the same aim. Bergara has a variety of barrels for the hunter to choose from for any type of rifle hunting he wants to do, from the blackpowder barrels to the .300 Win Mag and many calibers and barrels in-between. A growing number of hunters are choosing the rifles that can accommodate additional barrels. With this system, a hunter can take one gun with a Bergara barrel in place for hunting and a second Bergara barrel with him or her to hunt other game.

Question: Mike why did you decide to put the barrels made by Bergara, on Thompson/Center frames?

Bellm: One of the reasons that I put the Bergara Barrels on the Thompson/Center frames is because the Bergara Barrels have a more-favorable price point than other barrels made for the T/C Encore. I’ve been doing barrel work on rifles for 33 years and making firearm systems as a whole function the way they are supposed to function. I really like the fact that the Bergara Barrels on average are much straighter than other barrels. I think they’re straighter than the T/C barrels, and I also like that the uniformity of the group diameter is much-more consistent. I think the Bergara Barrels address these issues much better than the T/C barrels do.

Question: How much more accurately can you make a Thompson/Center Encore shoot by replacing the factory barrel with a Bergara Barrel?

Bellm: I’m not saying that the T/C barrels can’t be made to shoot straighter. But regardless of how well manufactured a barrel is, if you put that barrel in an imperfect system that’s loose at the hinge, or the lock-up’s not good and tight – the gun’s won’t be as accurate as it can be.

I have a continuing and ongoing relationship with the BPI (Blackpowder Products, Inc.) engineers in Spain. The folks at BPI here in the States, is very experienced, knowledgeable and technically oriented in all aspects of guns and how they should function properly. When I point-out to him a change that will make the Bergara Barrels fit better on the T/C Encores, he’ll listen and work with me to incorporate those changes into the Bergara Barrels. The simple answer to your question, “Why did I start putting Bergara Barrels on the T/ C Encore?” is that the people at BPI work with me to make their Bergara Barrels fit the very best they possibly can fit on the T/C Encore frame. I’ve found BPI to be very diligent in trying to make the very-best product they can for what the consumers are willing to spend.

The very-first version of the Bergara Barrel for the T/C Encores was produced in 2006. BPI started with Ed Shilen as the company’s first adviser, which I thought was very smart on BPI’s part. One of the most-renowned rifle barrel makers in this country, Ed focused on bolt-action guns. Due to Ed’s experience and knowledge, BPI was able to blend the best of what’s been done in the fixed-barrel rifles and brought that knowledge and experience to the break-open interchangeable barrel systems. I told the folks at BPI that, “You can make a perfect barrel as perfect as manufacturing will allow you to, but that barrel’s not going to be any better than a reject barrel, if the entire rifle system that you put it on has problems. This is what my years of experience working with T/C break-open rifles have shown me – certain inherent problems with a system will keep a barrel from shooting well, such as the hinge pins. My company provides oversized hinge pins to give a tighter fit. To tighten-up the barrel, you’ve got to have good lock-up at the back of the gun and good trigger pull and be conscious of head space. Then you have to be extremely conscious of how these systems are bedded- especially how the forearm attaches to the barrel. Often if you take a stock forehand and screw it on, it may bend or tweak the barrel. That one screw can cause a rifle that’s capable of shooting sub-MOA groups to maybe shoot 3- or 4-inch groups, instead of grouping nice and tightly. With all of the emphasis being put on high velocity, Ultra mags and short mags that hunters are starting to choose, they’re hoping to place a shot that ranges from 400 to 500  yards. However, if you can’t place the shot in the animal, all your bullet will do is dig a deeper furrow when you miss.

Therefore, focusing the attention of the rifle on accuracy rather than distance is very important. If the rifle’s not shooting accurately, then how far the bullet will travel when you pull the trigger and how much knock-down power the bullet has doesn’t matter. Regardless of the caliber you shoot, the forehand of the gun and how it attaches to the barrel can play a major role in accuracy. To sum up, I like the Bergara Barrel on a Thompson/Center Encore, because I believe that the Bergara Barrel is the best factory-made interchangeable barrel I can put on the T/C Encore. However, if we don’t address the other small details on the Encore platform, the Bergara Barrel can’t perform as well as it’s been designed to perform. Bottom line is if you put a perfect barrel on an imperfect system, you still won’t get good results.

For those of you who don’t hunt with your wives you are missing out on a lot of fun and camaraderie.  Being the gentlemen that I am I though I would let my wife shoot first on camera while filming our Tennessee turkey hunt.   Some may say that was awful kind of me, but in all actuality it was for selfish motives. This way I knew how big of a turkey I had to get to win our longest beard competition.  Oh, and I forgot to tell her the competition was on until after she shot.  The weather forecast called for rain, however we were on a limited schedule and decided to hunt anyway.  Our good buddy, Ted Bratcher had set up a ground blind close to a roosting area and we felt that was the best option with weather conditions we were dealing with. 

Even while still dark we could hear birds all around us within minutes as the sun was coming up we saw some turkeys pitching down. Making some soft hen yelps the turkeys got even closer to the blind.  But unfortunately they were all jakes, all 7 of them. They came right in to the blind by next season they would make for some even better hunting.  As the rain started to let up we decided to run and gun looking for a longbeard. 

We drove into another area and used a crow call immediately we had a gobbler answer us 300 yards away.  At that moment the sky turned dark, thunder rolled and lightening flashed we knew a bad storm was close and about to hit.  The bird was gobbling at not only our calls but at the sounds from the storm.  As much as we hated to pull back we had to take cover to protect ourselves and our camera gear.  The next morning we came back to the same area hoping to catch him on the roost.  With Marsha running camera Ted and I had planned on doing some buddy calling if we could locate this bird.  And locate this bird we did, right away he answered to my owl call.  He was within 100 yards of where we heard him the night before.  We moved quiet and quickly to get set up before he pitched down.  I was thankful to have my Cabela’s Couch Potato turkey vest as there were no trees to lean against. We were within 50 yards of his roost tree and I thought he was going to get laryngitis from the amount of gobbling he was doing.  I felt this was a done deal.  However, he pitched down and went the opposite direction.  Ted and I began our buddy calling with soft yelps.  He answered a few times and then became silent.  We quit calling in hopes he would come looking for us.  Ten minutes later with my CVA Optima Elite lying on my lap I heard Marsha say, “Left!”  This gobbler was 10 yards off my shoulder.  He started to cluck and I knew it was now or never. I slowly cocked the hammer and beat my wife.  I had just put the smack down on a 22 lb. 11 inch beard and 1 ¼” spur Eastern gobbler.  Yes, I beat my wife by 1 inch.  Next time, I was informed that I shoot first! 

The season had been open for a week or so, but I was looking forward to taking my CVA Optima elite (www.cva.com) in pursuit of a big ole’ tom. 

Chad and I headed out early morning and set up in a blind that our good friend Ted Bratcher had all ready for us.  We had the birds fired up and were sure this was going to happen quickly, but the turkeys didn’t get my memo and had other plans.  They pitched down on the back side of the blind and went down behind us out of range. 

With the hens nesting early we decided to change tactics and become mobile.  We waited until it was safe to move out of the blind not to mess it up for another early morning hunt, since we knew the turkeys were in the area.  It was great to have Matt Sloan with Sloans Super Center out of Murefreesboro, TN (www.sloansmotercycle.com) set us up with an electric Polaris Ranger to make our move quick and quiet.

It wasn’t long before we found a very vocal tom.  We knew we had better set up quick.  Just as we were picking the area to hunker down and get ready there he was a nice tom strutting right towards us.  I was so thankful I had my Couch Potatoe Cabela’s turkey vest (www.Cabelas.com) and was able to get comfortable immediately.  Chad began calling and I turned on my Konus Atomic sight (www.Konus.com ) so I was ready to make my shot.  Oh, I failed to mention my nephew Adam, from Montana was with us on this hunt.  He was staying back and lying low but wanting to see this hunt unfold.  But boy was I glad he was there, because the tom started to hang up on us and just out of range at about 90 yards.  Then I spotted 2 hens and knew we had some competition.  It’s hard to compete with the real thing .  We had a decoy with us but didn’t put it out because the tom was already in sight.  But after the scenario was changing we decided we had better try to ease it out there.  Adam belly crawled up to me with the decoy and when the turkey was fanned with his tail to me I lied down to ease the decoy out in view.  But I didn’t plan on the turkey turning and locking in right on the decoy.  But that is exactly what happened.  I was caught lying on my side with my gun down.  This tom was in love with this decoy!  He instantly started strutting and moving right towards me.  I heard Chad say, “Marsha you’ve got to get your gun up fast!”  I knew I was going to have to make one quick motion and be ready to take my shot.  Chad told me he was at 65 yards but I had confidence in my CVA and was going to make my move.  As Chad was running the camera, I whispered to him, “you on him?”  He knew I was going for it.  With a “yes” reply I thought I had better do it now before I chickened out.  I cocked my hammer of my Optima Elite, set my sight on this long beard all in one motion and hammered him.  I jumped up so fast and just took my first Tennessee turkey!  I was pumped! My CVA did the job, again!  I took a 21 lb. turkey with a 10 inch beard and 1 inch spurs.  The celebration had begun! Oh, I was glad I had given Adam a Buck knife so he could dress his first turkey www.Buckknives.com what a great way to end an outstanding day in the woods.

Editor’s Note:

Today is the first time in 14 years that I have been behind a center-fire rifle at my shooting range. Years ago I adopted muzzleloaders as my main hunting weapon, mainly because of the great seasons they allow me to participate in, but also I like the mechanics of building my own hunting load by picking the powder and bullet to make my next hunt a success. But now that the CVA Apex has been introduced in to the hunting world, I am going take the wrath of the 300 Winchester single shot to the Wyoming mountains for an elk hunt that in years past I have hunted only with a muzzleloader. The elk up in those mountains know my pretty well but they also know that they needed to stay only 250 yards away from me and my crew to stay safe. I got one thing to say to them starting next Monday…..Surprise boys! That 250 yard finishing point I had with my .50 caliber CVA’s has now turned into my starting point with my 300 Win. Apex.

One of my biggest fears when the guys at CVA and I talked at SHOT Show about this hunt and gun combo was the fact that I did not want to have my retinas knocked loose when I lit up the 300 Win. The response that I got from that was that CVA can now put on a custom muzzle break right in the CVA factory. “I’ll take one”, was my immediate response and I am glad I did. I put 25 rounds through it today with NO problem other than I wanted to shoot more but ran out of daylight.

I now have a killn’ machine that does not kick and I don’t have to swab after every shot like I have been doing for 14 years……… I might just be turning a new leaf.

“Reload,” Yonkin told me and asked, “How many speed loaders did you bring?” This time he was frowning more than smiling. Once again, I quickly used another speed loader, rammed the charge home and readied for the shot. “Aim about 6-inches over his back this time,” Yonkin coached. I thought to myself, “6-inches over the deer’s back is Never Never Land. How do you know what 6-inches really is at distance of 150 yards?” But I sighted-in on the deer’s shoulder, moved my reticule 6-inches above his back and fired again. The deer went down. “You’ve got him,” Yonkin announced. “But, go ahead, reload, give me your gun, and start walking out. When you reach the truck, the keys are behind the back front wheel. Drive to camp, get your gear packed-up, and be ready to go to the airport. Once you’ve got your gear and the other hunters’ gear loaded in the truck, come pick me up. I’ll have your deer out of the mountains and waiting beside the road.” Embarrassed at missing the deer twice, I simply answered, “Okay,” and followed Yonkin’s instructions.

I couldn’t understand how I’d missed so badly. The first thing you think about is hunter error, but I knew I hadn’t made any mistakes. The second thing you think about is, “I’ll just blame it on the gun.” But I couldn’t do that either, because this was Chad Schearer’s personal CVA rifle that he’d loaned me for the hunt. Schearer had sighted it in, and I had shot it and knew that it would drive tacks out to 200 yards. Schearer is the host of “Shoot Straight with Chad Schearer”. I was embarrassed and frustrated over my poor shooting demonstration. However, a week later, I got a call from Schearer, who said “Well, we figured-out why you missed that mule deer twice. The gun was 12 inches low at 150 yards. Apparently, the scope got jostled, either when y’all were riding around in the truck looking for a mule deer to hunt, or when you were walking and climbing. But we re-sighted the rifle in, and it’s shooting just as good as it did before you took it hunting.”

This time wasn’t the first time I’d missed a deer due to the scope’s moving from the time I sighted it in until the time I took the shot. On another hunt, several years earlier, I had had two back-to-back hunts. On the first hunt, I dropped a deer within 10 yards of where he stood with my CVA muzzleloader. After the hunt, I cleaned the gun, put it in my case, drove home, took the gun out of the case and put it in my gun safe. That weekend, I packed-up and went on a second hunt. The gun had been dead-on during the first hunt. So, on the second hunt, I didn’t bother to sight it in but concentrated on arriving at camp, since I was a little late for the afternoon hunt. My guide said, “If your gun was on last week, it should be okay now. We’ll sight it in tomorrow to make sure. We’ve got to get you in a stand quickly.” I climbed into the stand immediately, but I missed the white-tailed buck of a lifetime. The moral of the story is, regardless of how accurately your blackpowder gun has shot in the past, sight it in before every hunt. And one tip I’ve learned that’s critically important, almost as critically important as sighting-in before the hunt, is to sight your rifle in after the hunt. Many times, your scope can be off after you’ve made the shot, because you’ve climbed down a tree or come out of a ground blind, gone to your downed deer, loaded the deer up, put your gun in the vehicle and ridden back to camp.

From these lessons, I’ve learned to never assume that my gun will be as accurate as it can be, until I sight it in just before the hunt and just after the hunt. Even then, maybe it’s on, or perhaps it’s not. But at least you’ve done everything you know to do to make sure that you can shoot as accurately as possible with your muzzleloader. If you hunt long enough, sooner or later you will miss, either from operator error, equipment failure or the deer doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do when he’s supposed to do it. Misses happen – they’re part of hunting. Our job as ethical hunters is to try to keep those misses to a minimum. For more information on hunting mule deer in Montana, visit www.centralmontanaoutfitters.com, or contact Dale Yonkin at 406-781-9061 or info@centralmontanaoutfitters.com.

Editor’s note:

Question: Chad, how many-different animals have you taken in Africa?
Schearer: Over the years, with a muzzleloader, I’ve taken a Cape buffalo, a 2,000-pound eland, an impala, a duiker, a warthog and many other animals.

Question: Did you hunt with any of the new Bergara barrels other than the .50-caliber black-powder barrels in Africa?

 
Schearer: No, I didn’t take any of the modern Bergara barrels. I wanted to hunt this time with muzzleloader, so I chose a .50 caliber. However, I have hunted in Africa with modern Bergara barrels for wildebeests and a few other animals in years past.

Question: What bullet did you use when you hunted and took the Cape buffalo?
Schearer: I used a 510-grain PowerBelt Dangerous Game Bullet, which is a steel-tip bullet that PowerBelt no longer makes.

Question: How did that bullet perform, Chad?
Schearer: The CVA rifle and this bullet were life savers. The buffalo charged me. He was at 60 yards, coming straight at me. I shot him right above the brisket as he came straight for me, and the bullet lodged in his hindquarter.

Question: What did your guide say when you told him you wanted to use a CVA black-powder rifle to take a Cape buffalo?

Schearer: He said, “This hunt should be interesting.” And the hunt did get really interesting when the buffalo charged us. I shot, and for a few seconds, a big cloud of smoke was in front of us, making seeing the buffalo difficult. So, the guide didn’t know if I’d hit it. But we learned that as soon that PowerBelt Bullet hit the buffalo, he whirled and dropped 50 yards from us. When my professional hunter saw how efficiently the CVA rifle with the PowerBelt Bullet put-down that big buffalo, he was really impressed. That’s the only dangerous African game I’ve ever hunted.

Question: Chad, which rifle did you use?
Schearer: That hunt was 5-years ago, and I used the CVA Kodiak Pro. 

Question: So, what would you say is the main factor to ensuring a successful black-powder hunt in another country?
Schearer: Plan ahead. Make sure you have your blackpowder and percussion caps in camp before you arrive, and use a good travel agent, like Gracy Travels International, Inc., (www.gracytravel.com) out of San Antonio, Texas. Gracy Travel specializes in African travel, and they’re an expert at taking care of all the problems that can occur when hunting in Africa. They’re also a consolidator, which enables you to get good deals on airline travel, and they’ll send you all the information you need to make your hunt as problem free as possible. Next, make sure you have a good outfitter. In Africa, we hunt with Mafigeni Safaris (www.mafigeni.com).

Question: Michael, can you please look at each of the bullets PowerBelt offers and tell us what they’re designed to do, and how they’re different.

McMichael: The very-first PowerBelt bullet we made had no copper coating. It was a pure-lead bullet, which in a few western states is the only bullet you can use. The disadvantage to this bullet is if you’re shooting higher velocities, you’ll have some leading of the barrel. So, we developed the copper-coated bullet to eliminate the lead fouling. Our original copper-coated bullet is the most-popular PowerBelt bullet. It’s very reliable and accurate.

But as the industry began to go more toward the magnum charges, like 150 grains, we found in a few instances that the bullet didn’t seem to be tough enough or hold together well enough with the higher velocities, especially at close range, like shooting a deer or an elk at 35 yards. Hunters weren’t getting the penetration they wanted with those magnum charges. That’s when we developed the PowerBelt Platinum Series bullets, which were still copper-coated bullets but also had another proprietary coating that turned the outer surface of the bullet to silver. This extra coating lowers our variance between shots. This bullet gives us more accuracy and consistency. The bullet also has a much-tighter and smaller hollow point inside, so the nose of the bullet is tougher and will hold together better under the higher velocities produced by a magnum charge. We’ve designed a different gas check on the base of this bullet for the magnum charge. Instead of a gas check that stays fully intact as one piece as it comes out the end of the barrel, we’ve developed a gas check that under the super-high pressures of the magnum charge begins to disintegrate as it comes out of the barrel. Then you won’t have any uneven tears in the gas check under those extreme pressures. As the Muzzleloader market has begun to demand high pressures and magnum charges, we’ve started developing bullets to fit those new criteria – without giving up accuracy and/or weight. The Platinum Series bullet has been specifically designed to meet this new need of the blackpowder hunter.

Question: What are the advantages shooting of the AeroTip?

McMichael: As Muzzleloader hunters began to take longer shots with higher velocities, we created the AeroTip for a much-more stable bullet for downrange and longer shooting. When this bullet breaks through the sound barrier, it stays much-more stable and provides more accuracy at greater distances. The AeroTip also makes the bullet tougher, so the elk hunter in Colorado can use the AeroTip not only to take elk but also to take deer. If you’ll be shooting elk, you’ll get much-more penetration with the AeroTip than with other bullets.

Question: What’s the primary function of the PowerBelt AeroTip?

McMichael: It stabilizes the bullet at higher velocities, makes the bullet tougher on impact and gives the bullet much-more controlled expansion.

Question: Tell me when to use which bullet.

McMichael: If you’re hunting white-tailed deer, the 245-grain PowerBelt Bullet works great. Some hunters don’t want the bullet to create an exit wound. They want the deer to absorb all the energy of the bullet. If you’re one of these types of hunters, I’d suggest one of the Hollow Point bullets. Now, if you’re more intent on having an exit wound, which may make blood trailing easier, I suggest either the AeroTip or the Platinum bullet. Then there are different weights you can select. I personally am more in favor of the heavier-weighted bullets.

Question: What bullet do you prefer for elk?

McMichael: I like the 338-grain Platinum bullet for elk and bears. This bullet performs well under almost any conditions. It has more weight than the 245- or the 295-grain bullet, and it transfers more energy to the animal and gives more penetration when punching-through a shoulder.

Question: How many grains of powder do you usually shoot with this bullet?

McMichael: I generally shoot a magnum charge, which is 150 grains.

Question: What’s the biggest animal you’ve ever taken with a PowerBelt Bullet?

McMichael: In Zimbabwe, I took an elephant with 130 grains of Pyrodex Select loose powder, with a 530-grain Special Edition Dangerous Game bullet. We haven’t made this bullet for a while, because it wasn’t a big seller, but there a quite a few still around at some places. Not many people take muzzleloaders to Africa. The Dangerous Game bullet was specifically designed as a two-piece bullet with a special steel tip, which made the bullet extremely tough, allowing it to penetrate a great deal of bone. The bullet also had a lot of mass, which helped with penetration. The full-steel tip actually prevented the bullet from expanding on impact.

Question: Where did you hit the elephant, and how quickly did he go down?

McMichael: The elephant was charging, so I had to shoot him in the head. He went down instantly. The elephant was coming at me and was at about 125 yards when I squeezed the trigger. This hunt was very exciting, as you can imagine. When you’re in this type of a situation, you want to be able to know for sure that if you put the bullet where it’s supposed to be on the animal, the bullet will do its job and do it quickly. In this case, I couldn’t have asked for better performance out of a Dangerous Game PowerBelt bullet.