Single Shot Muzzleloading Rifles Blog

Although a dominant buck is the prize for which most CVA muzzleloader deer hunters search long and hard, what do we really know about the dominant buck? Is it only by right of combat that he has claimed the most-favored status? Is there a dominant buck in every section of the woods? Do all dominant bucks sport heavy racks and carry heavy body weights? Is the dominant buck always a certain age or older? Dr. Larry Marchinton, a retired professor of wildlife biology at the University of Georgia’s School of Forest Resources, is a widely-recognized authority on deer behavior. Marchinton believes if older bucks are present in a herd, one buck will rise to the position of dominance when he is 5- or 6-years old. “A buck rises to dominance through maturity and sparring. Immediately after the velvet is removed from the deer’s antlers, bucks will spar to test each other’s physical prowess and strength. Although this sparring is not an all-out fight, the bucks will learn their positions among the other bucks in the area. The bucks that prove to be the strongest are the ones that will assume positions of dominance by the time breeding season arrives.”

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.”

Editor’s Note: Michael McMichael of Idaho, president of PowerBelt Bullets, helped design, create and develop the PowerBelt Bullet. Here’s what CVA has learned about why and how the PowerBelt Bullet has been developed, and what makes it a superior bullet for muzzleloader hunters.

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.

Editor’s Note: Allen Treadwell of Seligman, Missouri, is the co-host of Bass Pro Shops’ “100% Real Hunting” TV show and Winchester’s “Whitetail Revolution” TV show, both airing on the Versus Network. Besides being on CVA’s Professional Hunt Team, he’s also a member of Hunter’s Specialties professional hunt team.

Question: Allen, tell us about the Iowa white-tailed buck you took this year.

Treadwell: I took a beautiful, 20-inch wide, 153-inch, 10-point buck with split brow tines with my CVA Accura. The Accura put this buck down in his tracks. The buck was standing at 149-1/2-yards, and I put the second crosshair of my Leupold UltimateSlam riflescope on the buck’s shoulder. He went down like a case of bricks. That 245-grain PowerBelt bullet delivered all the energy necessary to efficiently take down that buck.

Question: Tell us about the hunt. Where and with whom did you hunt?

Treadwell: I hunted in Van Buren County, Iowa, with my friend, Nick Boley, who owns Windy Ridge Outfitters. Most hunters don’t think of southern Iowa when they think of Iowa deer hunting. Van Buren County has rolling terrain with hills and valleys. The crop fields are tucked-down in some bottoms, with big timber draw leading to them. When you hunt during Iowa’s late muzzleloader season, you pray for snow on the ground and bitter cold temperatures. If you can get that type of weather, the deer have to get-up and start moving to find something to eat, just to survive those extreme winter conditions. Nick plants winter food plots every year, and he leaves beans, corn and turnips in the food plots. Then the deer will have something to eat in the late season. When you get that cold weather and snow, the deer have to come to these types of food sources.

The day I took this deer, we had 6 inches of snow on the ground, and the temperature was 8-degrees Fahrenheit. The snow had been there for several days, and the deer had bedded-down but finally had to move. When hunting in extreme-weather conditions, from first shooting light until 8:00 am or 9:00 am, the deer are at their most active. After 9:00 am, you can return to camp, eat, take a nap and wait for the afternoon hunt, so you don’t have to stay in that horrible weather too long. In the afternoon, we prefer to get in the stand 4 to 5 hours before dark. Then we don’t spook the young bucks and does that come in to feed in the food plots first. If they’re not on the food plot when the older does come in to feed, those does will know that something spooked those young deer. That last hour of daylight, when the older bucks come in, if they don’t see the young bucks and does and the older does, they won’t move into the field. So, you need to get to the stand early in the afternoon. I like to hunt the late season. It’s better than hunting the rut in Iowa, because deer will come from everywhere to get food, and you’ll see the bucks you may never see before and during the rut.

Question: Did you know this buck was coming to the food source before you hunted?

Treadwell: Yes, I did. That’s a big advantage a hunter can have, if he uses trail cameras. Whether you see the big buck or not, if you can get pictures of him on a trail camera, you’ll hunt more effectively, because you know at any time, the buck you want to that may appear. If you see two or three quality bucks on your trail cameras, you’ll have more confidence and be more attentive and alert. Too, your chances of seeing a buck you’ve seen on the trail-camera pictures are much greater.

Question: What type of trail cameras do you use?

Treadwell: I use Cuddeback trail cameras. There’s a big debate among hunters about whether a camera with a flash spooks deer. In my opinion, a flash doesn’t bother a big buck too much. You may only get one or two pictures of him before he leaves, but that flash won’t spook him out of the area. However, it’s probably better to use a no-flash camera, since an infrared camera with no flash will give you more pictures of more bucks than a flash camera will. Too, with an infrared camera, you may get four to five pictures of the same buck and be able to tell more about his antlers and body weight than if you only get one or two pictures. So, having the cameras set-up, knowing the quality of deer I’d have the opportunity to take and having the CVA rifle I knew was effective out to 250 yards all combined to make me successful on this hunt. When that buck appeared at 150 yards, there was no question that when I took the shot, I could put him down.

Late-season Iowa hunting is cold and tough, and when I go up there to hunt for monster bucks, I want to know that if I have the chance to take one, I’ve got the rifle, the powder charge, the scope and the rangefinder that will make that shot possible.

To hunt with Windy Ridge Outfitters, visit www.nicholsboley.com, or call (641) 919-2801.

Have you ever wondered why some Muzzleloader hunters consistently take big bucks every year, and you don’t? Have you ever thought, “What’s that guy doing that I’m not doing?” To learn the answer, you have to remember that deer hunting is a sport just like football, baseball or any other sport. The ingredients required to be great at these sports are the same ingredients required to be a consistently-successful deer hunter.

The University of Alabama won the BCS National Championship Game this past season. But before the arrival of Coach Nick Saban, the U of A’s football program hadn’t been successful in a number of years. Nick Saban had been a successful coach for many years and won a national championship at LSU. What did he do to change the U of A football team to winners? Have you ever thought about what makes Peyton Manning one of the most-consistently-successful quarterbacks in the NFL? His success is due to the same thing that makes the teams coached by Nick Saban consistent winners. Saban requires extreme discipline from his players and a work ethic that the previous losing Alabama teams didn’t have. Manning is a great quarterback. I’m sure he has a lot of natural talent, but he also works harder than many other quarterbacks.

To consistently take big bucks with your Muzzleloader, the formula is simple. All you have to do is work harder at the sport of deer hunting than you have when you haven’t been consistently taking bucks. But the philosophy of hard work as the key is only half-right. The reason these people can work harder than the people who aren’t as successful is because they are passionate about their sport. They love the practice and the work as much, if not more than they do the game day and the victories. Here’s how this winning philosophy breaks-down into deer-hunting success.

1)  The Muzzleloader hunters who are successful during opening week of Muzzleloader season already have found the bucks they want to take. They not only know where these bucks live but also what time these bucks travel, where they travel, and how often they travel. Don’t worry. You haven’t waited too late to be successful. Use trail cameras, deer attractants, feeding stations and mineral stations right now to begin to attract deer. Then you can identify the bucks you want to hunt. Even if you live in a state that doesn’t permit baiting, most states allow hunters to feed, put-out mineral blocks and attract deer during the off-season. So, by using these techniques now along with trail cameras, you can watch your bucks throughout the summer months and learn where they live and where they travel. Most importantly, you can watch their antlers grow.

2)  Successful Muzzleloader hunters also know what the deer’s preferred food sources are during the early deer season, the mid-season and the late season. They’ll set-up deer attractants, feeding stations and mineral blocks near these preferred food sources. Even when all the baits and attractants have to be removed, the deer will continue to walk the same routes they’ve been traveling. However, instead of eating the bait or the attractant, they’ll begin to feed on native foods.

3)  One of the best ways to take your buck next season with your Muzzleloader rifle is to concentrate deer in an area where no one hunts. Prepare that region now for hunting in the fall. For instance, find a briar patch or a thicket that’s so dense that nobody will want to hunt it. Try to crawl into that thicket at least 5 to 10 yards, and cut a trail. Once you get inside the thicket, you can walk to the center of the thicket. Ideally, the foliage will be 10-feet high or higher to keep anyone from seeing that you’ve cut a trail into the center of the thicket. When you arrive at the center of the thicket, cut a circle a little bigger than a ground blind. Then cut lanes 2- to 3-feet wide, spoking-out from where you’ll set-up your ground blind, in three different directions for about 50 to 60 yards, if the thicket’s big enough. Use a deer attractant, bait and mineral licks to draw the deer into the end of each one of these spokes. If you live in a state that permits baiting, start baiting now at the ends of these spokes, and continue baiting well into deer season. If you live in a state that doesn’t permit hunting over bait, make sure you remove baits, attractants and mineral licks the number of days required before you hunt over this area. Deer like to bed in thick cover. If they have food and minerals in the region where they bed, well away from hunting pressure, then when Muzzleloader season starts, let the hunting pressure build. Go to the area that you’ve set-up in thick cover, take a ground blind, put it in the spot you’ve created for it, and plan to hunt there all day. If you don’t over-hunt this site, you may be able to take more than one buck from this thick-cover sanctuary. The good news is that no one else will know where you’re hunting, and you can use this same land in future years. If you take one more step and set-up trail cameras near the three spots where you’re baiting, you can tell before you hunt there if you’ve got a wall-hanger buck coming there. Yes, I’m talking about quite a bit of work and preparation before the season, but those who work the most before the season usually take the biggest bucks during the season.

Editor’s Note: An avid outdoorsmen, John Vaca works for Bushnell and Final Approach and enjoyed hunting with a Muzzleloader and taking his first blackpowder turkeys in the spring of 2010.

Question: John, I understand you had a good hunt with the CVA Optima Pro.

Vaca: I was taking a couple of dealers who never had before been hunting on a turkey hunt in central Kansas. The weather was super windy. The first day we hunted, we only hunted half a day, because we had 40-mile-per-hour sustained winds, which weren’t conducive to turkey hunting. When we got up the next morning, I put out hen decoys and a Primos B-Mobile strutting tom decoy with a real turkey fan in it. We were set-up within 80 yards of the roost of a flock of Rio Grande turkeys. I was almost in a ditch, but I could look over the edge and see the field where I expected the turkeys to fly-down. A fence ran along the edge of the ditch. At first light, 7 mature toms and 11 jakes (1-year-old gobblers) flew-down to the field. The turkeys started fighting each other, so I called them. Those birds all decided to come over at one time and try to whip the strutting decoy that I’d set up. Finally, the biggest gobbler in the flock separated himself from the other turkeys, giving me a clear shot. I took that gobbler at 12 yards with the CVA Optima Pro, and he didn’t even flinch.

Question: What barrel did you have on the Optima Pro?

Vaca: I had a 12-gauge shotgun barrel with a turkey choke on it.

Question: How did you load?

Vaca: I used 90 grains of Triple Se7en powder and 1-1/8 ounces of No. 5 shot.

Question: Why do you like No. 5s for turkeys?

Vaca: No. 5 shot is a happy medium between the large numbers of pellets you get when you shoot No. 6 shot and the heavier pellets when you shoot No. 4 shot. So, I prefer No. 5s. I think it’s probably a mental thing that I have. I’m sure No. 4s or No. 6s are just as good – but I like No. 5s.

Question: How long have you been hunting turkeys with the CVA Optima Pro?

Vaca: This was my first blackpowder turkey season and my first hunt with this gun.

Question: Why did you decide to hunt the turkeys with black powder?

Vaca: Chad Schearer, Nate Treadaway and Terry Eby – all with CVA – are all good friends of mine, and they kept encouraging me to try blackpowder turkey hunting.

Question: What did you think about the performance of the Optima Pro?

Vaca: The gun was unbelievable. It patterned as good as any conventional 12 gauge I’d ever shot. When I patterned it out to 35 yards and still got an excellent pattern, I patterned the gun from 12 to 35 yards, and it held such a tight pattern that at 12 yards I shot one of the turkeys’ beaks off.

Question: Wait a minute, what do you mean, “one of the turkeys?”

Vaca: As soon as my turkey went down, the other turkeys started to flog him. They didn’t know what had happened, so they started kicking him and beating him with their wings. I was lying on my side, and I thought to myself, “I can kill two turkeys in the same day here in Kansas. If I can get this muzzleloader reloaded, I can go ahead and get my second bird right now.” Then I thought, “This strategy is never going to work.” But I decided I had nothing to lose by trying to reload while lying on the ground.

I pulled-out a CVA speed loader, poured my powder down the barrel, put the over-powder patch in and rammed it home with my rod. Then I put my shot cup down the barrel, filled it up with No. 5s, put my over shot card on top of the shot and got it all stuffed down the barrel. I put a primer on the Optima Pro and started calling to the turkeys again. They came right back to my decoys. The second longbeard separated from the flock, and I took him at 9 yards. I took two gobblers with the Optima Pro that day, after reloading in-between the first and second gobblers. My first gobbler went down at 6:20 am, and I took the second tom at 6:40 am.

Question: So you limited-out with two turkeys in 20 minutes on the first day you hunted with the CVA Optima Pro. Is that right?

Vaca: That’s right. But we had arrived where we planned to hunt well before daylight and set-up, because we knew we’d be hunting close to the roost tree. Within 20 minutes after the turkeys flew to the ground, I had taken both of my birds.

Question: What did the friends you were hunting with think of the CVA Optima Pro?

Vaca: They couldn’t believe how accurate it was. The landowner, who’d accompanied me on the hunt, said, “I’ve never seen the like of the fireball that came out of the end of that barrel when you pulled the trigger.” We had guides to take my other hunters who’d never been hunting before to places where they could call them up turkeys. However, since I’d hunted this property before, knew the land, the guides and the landowner, the landowner decided that he’d take me to a place where I could hunt by myself. But, when we got to the spot I was to hunt, the landowner decided to go with me, just to see what was going to happen when I pulled the trigger on that blackpowder shotgun. He said, “John, when I saw you bring-up that gun to shoot at that first turkey, I knew you meant business. But when that gun barked, fire came out of the end of the barrel, and feathers flew.” He kept telling everyone at the lodge over and over about how the CVA Optima Pro barked, spit fire and blew feathers.

I am sold on the Optima Pro with a 12-gauge barrel. I had a Bushnell Trophy Red Dot scope on the gun. At that close range and with the gun shooting that tight of a pattern, it would have been easier to miss a turkey, than if the bird had been at 30 yards. But because of the accuracy of the scope and the rifle, both those two birds took almost the whole pattern. I had an absolutely-awesome hunt. The first turkey had a 10-inch beard and 7/8-inch spurs and weighed 19-1/2-pounds. The second bird had a 10-1/2-inch beard and 1-inch spurs and weighed 20.8 pounds.

Question: Why would you recommend that other hunters try the CVA Optima Pro with a 12-gauge barrel for hunting next season?

Vaca: I think this blackpowder gun takes turkey hunting to an altogether-different level. You don’t get a second shot usually. I was really lucky to be able to reload and take the second bird. Many blackpowder hunters are purists and prefer to hunt with primitive weapons, and that’s fine for the folks who enjoy that. But the CVA Optima Pro is right on the leading edge of blackpowder technology. What I like about black powder is I can completely control the ballistic chain, including the pattern, the velocity and the recoil. I can hunt with whatever combination of shot, shot cup, powder and size of shot that suits me. I found hunting with the CVA Optima Pro the most fun.

I just returned from an exciting muzzleloader hunt. Hog hunting with a muzzeloader and dogs is one of the biggest adventures still remaining in the sport of hunting. The good news and the bad news is the number of hogs is growing nationwide. More states are liberalizing seasons and bag limits for hunting feral pigs because they pose the biggest threat to wildlife and humans of any other game species. Each year, hogs destroy millions of dollars worth of crops, as well as infect crops, like we saw in California last year.

Hogs are carnivorous during this time of year, when deer, lamb, cattle and other livestock are dropping their young. Hogs have become such a nuisance that some states like Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Texas have no closed seasons or bag limits on hogs, and you can hunt hogs during daylight hours and after dark. Muzzleloader hunting is a fun way to get a fine array of pork chops, sausage, spareribs and pork shoulder at a low cost. There seems to be no relief from growing hog numbers. Hogs are very prolific and can have from two to three litters a year with an average of six to eight piglets per litter. So, even when we hunt and take hogs with a Muzzleloader in the spring and summer, we’re not making a huge impact on hog numbers.

Hunting hogs with dogs is one of the most-effective ways of ridding an area of hogs besides trapping. The advantages of hunting hogs with dogs are the dogs can find, bay and/or catch the hogs. Even in areas where hogs are trapped, hunting the hogs with dogs can effectively keep hogs out of your watermelon patches and fields of corn and vegetable garden and from rooting-up green fields you’ve planted for wildlife.

One of the big advantages of hunting hogs from now until deer season starts is you can hunt them early in the morning while the weather’s cool, late in the afternoon just before the sun sets or at night. Night hunting with a CVA rifle is really an exciting sport. To learn more about hunting hogs with dogs contact Terry Knight at Lifetime Hunts at (662) 361-1008, visit www.lifetimehuntsllc.com, or email lifetimehunt@tecinfo.com. When you’re not hog hunting at Lifetime Hunts, there are plenty of ponds there stocked with bass, bream and crappie.

Editor’s Note: Outdoor TV personality Chad Schearer of Great Falls, Montana, has guided clients to mule deer and elk each season as well as hunted on his own. Today, he’s the host of the “Shoot Straight with Chad Schearer” television show presented by CVA that airs on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports South, the Lonestar Network and CBS Montana.

Question: Chad, you hunt all over the West. When you owned Central Montana Outfitters, you guided hunters to elk, as well as mule deer. What gun and powder charge do you recommend for taking elk?

Schearer: I suggest using either the CVA Accura V2 or the CVA Apex. But if you’re looking for a less-expensive Muzzleloaders, you can take elk with a CVA Optima or even a CVA Wolf. One of the advantages CVA has over many other Muzzleloading-rifle companies is CVA has quality, accurate rifles to accommodate every hunter. The load I suggest for elk is 150 grains of powder. However, I once took a moose with only…

Like what you’re reading, click here to read the rest of the artilce.

http://elkhuntingblog.com/

Editor’s Note: Chad Schearer of Great Falls, Montana, former owner and operator of Central Montana Outfitters, guided clients to mule deer and elk each season as well as hunted on his own. Today, Schearer is host of the “Shoot Straight with Chad Schearer” television show presented by CVA that airs on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports South, the Lonestar Network and CBS Montana.

Question: Chad, which CVA rifle are you hunting with now, and how are you loading it?

Schearer: The situation and the game I’m hunting dictate the rifle I use. I hunt with the CVA Apex quite a bit, because it allows me to change barrels and keep the same rifle frame. With the Apex, I can hunt for deer or varmints, just by using different barrels. But when I’m using the Apex as a muzzleloader, I’ll load with either 100- or 150-grain PowerBelt bullets. I like IMR White Hots pellets. If I’m doing a whitetail hunt, I’ll use either a 245- up to a 295-grain PowerBelt bullet. If I’m hunting elk and shooting a .45 barrel, I’ll use a 275-grain bullet. If I’m shooting the .50 barrel, I’ll use either a 295- to as large as a 348-grain bullet. I like either the PowerBelt or the PowerBelt Platinum bullets the best, and I really like the Winchester 777 Primer. I’ve experimented with all different types of primers, and the Winchester primers give me the most-consistent ignitions. I’ve been extremely successful using that primer the last several years.

Question: One of the selling points with the CVA rifles is the Bergara barrels and the accuracy they deliver, even out to extended ranges. What’s the longest shot you’ve ever taken successfully with a CVA rifle?

Schearer: The longest shot I’ve ever seen with a CVA rifle was made by….

Like what you’re reading, click here to read the rest of the artilce.

http://muzzleloadinghunter.com/

Editor’s Note: Tony Smotherman lives outside of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and has hunted only with black powder since 1994. Today Smotherman will tell us how and why he became a blackpowder-only hunter.

Question: Tony, why did you decide to hunt exclusively with black powder?
Smotherman: I started reading outdoor magazines from the Midwest, because that area seemed to be where some of the biggest whitetails were being taken. I began traveling to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, hunting and trying to learn all I could about taking trophy whitetails. I found out that many of the gun seasons in the Midwest were either shotgun or muzzleloading seasons. Back in the early 1990s, when I first started hunting these states, I quickly learned that blackpowder rifles were far-more accurate than the shotguns that shot slugs in those days. Soon I realized I was spending so-much time in these other states that I wasn’t at home in Tennessee during conventional rifle season. So, I just gravitated away from hunting with modern rifles, because I learned I could take more and bigger bucks in these midwestern states by hunting with black powder.

Question: You were once on the Knight Rifle Pro Staff, is that right?
Smotherman: That’s true. I hunted with Knight Rifles for more than a decade.

Question: Why did you decide to start shooting CVA muzzleloaders?
Smotherman: CVA’s Apex is the main reason I started shooting CVA rifles.

Question: What did you like about the Apex?
Smotherman: I really like its accuracy and adjustable trigger. The barrel on a rifle can be extremely accurate, but if the trigger isn’t smooth and crisp, the shooter will never be as accurate as his gun.

Question: How much pressure do you like to have on your trigger?
Smotherman: The Apex has a trigger that’s adjustable from approximately three to five pounds.  You can customize the trigger to suit your trigger-pull preference. All you need is a flathead screwdriver.

Question: Why do you like a light trigger pull on your muzzleloading rifle?
Smotherman: If your trigger pull is not crisp and clean, the hunter will have a tendency to jerk the trigger rather than squeeze it. When you jerk that trigger to make the gun fire, in most instances you’ll pull-off the target.

Question: How far out do you feel like you’re accurate when you’re shooting the CVA Apex?
Smotherman: I never hesitate to take a shot out to 200 yards. I use the Alpen Apex 3-9X42 riflescope on my CVA Apex rifle.

Question: Tony, why do you like that scope?
Smotherman: First of all, this scope is easy on the pocketbook. You don’t have to spend next month’s mortgage payment for your house to buy a quality riflescope. I’ve found that the Alpen riflescope has just as high a resolution, brightness and accuracy as much-more expensive riflescopes do. With the naked eye, you’ll never know any difference between the Alpen Apex and that riflescope that may seem as though it costs the same as your monthly mortgage.

Question: Tony, where are you headed this season?
Smotherman: We’re headed to Casper, Wyoming, for an elk hunt. We’ll be hunting during gun season. However, instead of using a conventional rifle I’ll use my CVA Apex.

Question: Have you hunted in Casper, Wyo., before?
Smotherman: Yes, I have. I took a 320-inch 6×6 bull out here 2-years ago. I took that bull at 120 yards with a blackpowder rifle.

Question: Why do you choose to hunt elk with a muzzleloading rifle instead of a conventional rifle?
Smotherman: Because I’m a 100% blackpowder hunter.

Question: Tony, how are you loading your CVA Apex?
Smotherman: I’m shooting 110 grains of Blackhorn 209 powder, because this powder is extremely accurate, and it’s clean burning. This powder is not available in pellets and only comes in loose powder. Too, I just prefer to shoot loose powder. I believe that loose powder is always the most-accurate charge, because it’s always consistent when you compress it. Once you pack the bullet on top of the powder, there are no air pockets. This is not to say that pellets aren’t accurate, but I’ve found that to be the most accurate I can be, I prefer the loose powder. If you use pellets, you can get air pockets in the barrel between the powder charge and the bullet, because those pellets don’t always stack exactly perfectly in the barrel. But when you pour loose powder down a barrel and seat the bullet on top of that loose powder, you’ll have no air pockets in the barrel. And, the powder is always packed the same, and you can shoot more consistently.

Question: What primer are you using?
Smotherman: I prefer the Winchester 209 primers. Many primers on the market today are a weaker form of the 209 primers. But the 209 Blackhorn seems to have a higher-ignition point. I prefer a standard 209 primer to any other.

Question: Tony, you’ll be gone for 7-10 days. How will you clean and care for your CVA Apex?
Smotherman: The weatherman’s predicting 2 inches of snow for the area we plan to hunt. If that’s true, I’ll dump my powder charge every day. When you spend the time and money required to go from the East to the West to hunt elk, you want to put all of the odds in your favor when you get the opportunity to take a nice elk. That’s the reason I’m so meticulous about the rifle I choose and the powder charge, bullet and primer that I use. I’ve learned that the CVA Apex, loaded the way I’ve described and using the Alpen optics, gives me the best chance for success afield.

To learn more about Tony Smotherman and his hunting adventures, visit www.camospace.com/travelinhunter.

Editor’s Note: Rick Wood of Buford, Georgia, a CVA pro staffer, consistently takes deer and other game every season and has been shooting muzzleloading rifles for over 25 years. Wood isn’t satisfied with just shooting a good group of three shots at 100 yards with his CVA rifle. To consistently take game, Wood believes he needs to formulate a powder charge and select a bullet that will deliver the most accuracy from each of his CVA rifles.

Speed of bullet, knockdown power and other ballistic ingredients are not nearly as important as being able to place the bullet accurately

Wood says. This week, Wood will show us how to formulate a powder charge and choose a bullet that will deliver the most accuracy for your CVA deer rifle.

Every muzzleloader is different, even if they’re the same caliber and model from the same manufacturer. So, to deliver the most accuracy possible from each of your CVA muzzleloading rifles, you have to formulate a powder charge and select a bullet that can deliver the best accuracy possible. I begin by shooting a fouling shot to remove any oil or residue that may be in the barrel. After you clean your muzzleloader, you coat the inside of the barrel with oil to prevent the inside of the barrel from rusting. To get the oil and the grease out of the barrel, I shoot the fouling shot. You don’t even need a bullet in the gun. Just load the gun, and shoot the powder to burn the oil out of the barrel. Some people use a primer to accomplish the same goal, but shooting a primer won’t remove all the oil from the barrel.

After the fouling shot, I load my rifle with two, 50-grain Pyrodex or White Hots pellets and either a 250- or a 300-grain bullet. I prefer PowerBelt bullets because they’re easy to load and extremely accurate. I’ve been very successful using them. My favorite bullet is a 295-grain copper-plated, hollow-point PowerBelt bullet. I shoot three shots without cleaning the barrel to see how well the gun groups. I may be shooting a 1-1/2-inch group at 100 yards off the bench. Next, I’ll run a dry patch down the barrel between each of the next three shots to see how it affects my three-shot group. Then I’ll use this same load and clean the barrel with a wet patch (often called a spit patch) between each of the three shots to see how this will impact my three-shot group. I’m trying to learn if the gun groups best with a dirty barrel, using a dry patch or using a wet patch between each shot. Some rifles shoot best with a dirty barrel, while others group best with either a dry patch or a wet patch between each shot. If I discover that the particular gun I’m sighting-in shoots best with a dirty barrel, then I know that to deliver the best accuracy, I don’t need to clean the barrel after every shot.

I’ll also start testing different-sized bullets. I may drop down to a 295-grain bullet from a 300-grain bullet to see which bullet shoots the most tight pattern. Then, I’ll drop down from a 295-grain bullet to a 245-grain bullet and shoot a group of three shots to see if I can get the group any tighter. Now, if coming down in bullet size results in not shooting a tighter group each time, I’ll go up in bullet size. I’ll shoot a 338-grain bullet to see if the bigger bullet will deliver a more-tight pattern. After I know which bullet shoots the most-tight pattern with two, 50-grain pellets, I make a note. Then I’ll know the right bullet to shoot to deliver the best pattern with 100 grains of pellets. I’m still not satisfied that I’m getting the most accuracy possible. For instance, if I’m shooting in dense woods, 100 grains of powder may be sufficient. But if I’m hunting on a green field or a power line where I may have an opportunity for a 200-yard shot, more than likely I’ll shoot 150 grains of powder. So, I’ll go through the entire process of cleaning the gun with spit patches, dry patches and no patches between each shot, and I’ll test each bullet to see what-size bullet delivers the most accuracy at 200 yards with 150 grains. I’ve learned that with most CVA muzzleloaders shooting three pellets – 150 grains of powder – generally bigger bullets shoot more accurately than smaller bullets.

Once I’ve determined the bullet and the powder charge that consistently delivers the best group at 100 and 200 yards, then I’m ready to start fine-tuning my powder charge. So, I’ll start shooting loose powder. You’ll be surprised at how much difference 5 TO 10 grains of powder can make in the accuracy your CVA rifle can deliver. For instance, if I’m shooting 100 grains of powder and shooting 1-1/2-inch groups, I’ve learned that I often can change from two, 50-grain pellets to 80 grains of loose powder and bring my group of three shots to within 1 inch. Being able to increase your accuracy by 1/2-inch at 100 yards may help you shoot much-more accurately when you have the buck of a lifetime in your sights.

The biggest change I’ve ever made when I went from pellets to loose powder was when I moved to an elk load from 100 grains of powder (two pellets) to 120 grains of loose powder shooting a 300-grain bullet. The group I was shooting didn’t change much when I increased the powder at 100 yards, and I couldn’t see a significant difference. However, when I started shooting at 150 and 200 yards, the 120 grains of powder enabled me to shoot a much-tighter group than when I was using 100 grains of powder. For instance, at 150 yards, I was able to group three shots in a 2-1/2-inch circle shooting two, 50 grain pellets. When I started shooting 120 grains of loose powder, I was able to tighten my group to a 1-1/2-inch circle. This is the system I use to formulate any load for any type of game. I primarily concentrate on:

• what type of game I’ll be hunting
• what distance I want to be able to shoot to take that game
• what’s the best powder charge to deliver the most accuracy at the maximum range I plan to shoot
• what bullet combined with what powder charge will deliver the most accuracy.

I shoot both .45 and .50 caliber blackpowder rifles. If I’m shooting a .45-caliber bullet, more than likely I’ll want a .225-grain bullet.

Typically with a smaller bullet, I’ll shoot less powder. I like a 100-grain load most of the time when I’m shooting a .225-grain bullet in a .45-caliber rifle. At 100 yards with a .45-caliber rifle, I can shoot 1-1/2-inch groups.