“You missed,” said Dale Yonkin, owner of Central Montana Outfitters. But I knew I’d seen the puff of smoke right at the base of the big mule deer’s shoulder. “I can’t believe that,” I whispered. “I held dead-on, I squeezed the trigger, I didn’t jerk it – well, I can’t believe I missed that deer.” “Forget it,” Yonkin explained. “Reload, and take a second shot.” The mule deer hadn’t budged. Because he was on one side of a canyon, and we were on the other, he didn’t know from where the report of my CVA muzzleloader had come. Using a CVA speed loader, I quickly reloaded with Pyrodex pellets and a PowerBelt bullet, rammed the charge home, put-on another primer and readied for the shot again. “Aim about 3-inches above the deer’s back, right on top of the shoulder,” Yonkin suggested. “The deer’s at 150 yards, the gun’s sighted-in for 150 yards. I’m sure you’ll get him this time.” I took my time, I had a steady rest, and I was sure of where I was aiming. I squeezed the trigger, but the big mule deer never moved.
“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: As a customer-service representative for CVA, Dave Meredith of Norcross, Georgia, talks to blackpowder hunters and enthusiasts from all over the country daily.
One customer called the customer-service line because he couldn’t get his CVA muzzleloader sighted-in. I gave suggestions and advice that would help him get the type of accuracy he wanted out of the CVA rifle he’d purchased.
Finally, the gentleman said, “Look, I know all about sighting-in a rifle. I was trained to shoot in the military.” I told him, “CVA Muzzleloaders are a little different from the rifles you use in the military. In the past, legendary blackpowder hunters, like Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone and the early fur traders who opened-up the West, always gave their muzzleloading rifles female names. Now, I’m not trying to insult women because many of them shoot better than men. But women can be particular, and so can blackpowder rifles. Each rifle is an individual, just like each woman, and you have to determine the rifle’s likes and dislikes. Once you know what that rifle prefers, don’t try to change it.
Another guy called and told me, “Last year, I shot 1-1/2-inch groups, but since I’ve changed bullets and powder, my gun’s not shooting the same way any more. What’s wrong with it?” My answer was quite simple, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Shoot the same bullet and powder you’ve used when you shot 1-1/2-inch groups, and more than likely you’ll start shooting that way again.” I always remember what my daddy used to say, “Stay out from under the hood of the car. If there’s nothing wrong with it, leave it alone.”
Question: What’s one of the most-popular questions you get from customers?
Meredith: One of the questions I get most often on the CVA customer-service line is, “Where can I get parts and accessories for my CVA rifle, and why do those same parts and accessories cost more if I buy them directly from CVA than if I buy them from a local dealer?”
Question: Okay, Dave, what’s the answer?
Meredith: We prefer that you purchase parts and accessories from a dealer rather than from us. If we sell parts and accessories cheaper than our dealers, that’s not fair to them. Our dealers all across the nation carry CVA rifles, parts and accessories to take care of the customers in their areas. We’re here to take care of our customers’ problems, and I tell people when they call in, “You can go to one of our dealers and buy these parts and accessories cheaper than I can sell them to you. I’ll even give you the name and the number of the dealer closest to you.” But some people don’t want to go out of their houses to get a part or an accessory. So, if our customers don’t choose to go to a dealer to save money, we still will supply them with the parts and the accessories they need. I want customers to know that I’m not trying to jack-up the prices on him on a part or an accessory and that he can get that part or accessory cheaper somewhere else. But if you need a part today or tomorrow, we have a large number of dealers all over the country who can get those products to you more quickly and less expensively than we can. If you don’t know where a dealer’s located near your home, you can visit our website and click on “Dealers.” Most of the big-box stores and mail-order houses also carry CVA rifle parts and accessories.
Question: If my CVA rifle isn’t performing as it should, what should I do?
Meredith: Call the CVA customer-service line at 770-449-4687. Many times the problem can be fixed with a small adjustment on your rifle that we can help you do over the phone. If we can’t solve the problem over the phone, we may suggest you box-up the rifle, fill out the CVA Repair Form to tell us what the problem is, and mail the gun and the repair form directly to CVA. We’ll be more than happy to look at the rifle and determine the problem. If there’s a charge, we’ll let you know the price before we repair it. If there’s not a charge, we’ll repair the gun and return it to you. Once you get the gun back, take it out, load it properly and ensure we’ve fixed it to your satisfaction. The worst thing you can do is take that gun out of the box, put it in a closet or a gun safe and not shoot it until the day you’re ready to hunt. If we haven’t solved your problem, the sooner we know about it, the quicker we can tell you what to do to make your CVA muzzleloading rifle all you’ve hoped it will be. We always try to repair the gun when we get it. However, we may not have clearly understood the problem, or maybe the gun has two problems, and you’ve just told us about one. We want you to be happy and satisfied with your CVA rifle for as long as you own it, and we want to do everything we can to help you and that gun perform an optimal level. So, if you have a problem, call the CVA customer-service line. Any of the service technicians can help you, because they shoot CVA muzzleloading rifles and hunt with them.
Editor’s Note: As a customer-service representative for CVA, Dave Meredith of Norcross, Georgia, talks to blackpowder hunters and enthusiasts from all over the country daily.
One customer called the customer-service line because he couldn’t get his CVA muzzleloader sighted-in. I gave suggestions and advice that would help him get the type of accuracy he wanted out of the CVA rifle he’d purchased.
Finally, the gentleman said, “Look, I know all about sighting-in a rifle. I was trained to shoot in the military.” I told him, “Muzzleloaders are a little different from the rifles you use in the military. In the past, legendary blackpowder hunters, like Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone and the early fur traders who opened-up the West, always gave their muzzleloading rifles female names. Now, I’m not trying to insult women because many of them shoot better than men. But women can be particular, and so can blackpowder rifles. Each rifle is an individual, just like each woman, and you have to determine the rifle’s likes and dislikes. Once you know what that rifle prefers, don’t try to change it.
Another guy called and told me, “Last year, I shot 1-1/2-inch groups, but since I’ve changed bullets and powder, my gun’s not shooting the same way any more. What’s wrong with it?” My answer was quite simple, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Shoot the same bullet and powder you’ve used when you shot 1-1/2-inch groups, and more than likely you’ll start shooting that way again.” I always remember what my daddy used to say, “Stay out from under the hood of the car. If there’s nothing wrong with it, leave it alone.”
Question: What’s one of the most-popular questions you get from customers?
Meredith: One of the questions I get most often on the CVA customer-service line is, “Where can I get parts and accessories for my CVA rifle, and why do those same parts and accessories cost more if I buy them directly from CVA than if I buy them from a local dealer?”
Question: Okay, Dave, what’s the answer?
Meredith: We prefer that you purchase parts and accessories from a dealer rather than from us. If we sell parts and accessories cheaper than our dealers, that’s not fair to them. Our dealers all across the nation carry CVA rifles, parts and accessories to take care of the customers in their areas. We’re here to take care of our customers’ problems, and I tell people when they call in, “You can go to one of our dealers and buy these parts and accessories cheaper than I can sell them to you. I’ll even give you the name and the number of the dealer closest to you.” But some people don’t want to go out of their houses to get a part or an accessory. So, if our customers don’t choose to go to a dealer to save money, we still will supply them with the parts and the accessories they need. I want customers to know that I’m not trying to jack-up the prices on him on a part or an accessory and that he can get that part or accessory cheaper somewhere else. But if you need a part today or tomorrow, we have a large number of dealers all over the country who can get those products to you more quickly and less expensively than we can. If you don’t know where a dealer’s located near your home, you can visit our website and click on “Dealers.” Most of the big-box stores and mail-order houses also carry CVA parts and accessories.
Question: If my CVA rifle isn’t performing as it should, what should I do?
Meredith: Call the CVA customer-service line at 770-449-4687. Many times the problem can be fixed with a small adjustment on your rifle that we can help you do over the phone. If we can’t solve the problem over the phone, we may suggest you box-up the rifle, fill out the CVA Repair Form at www.cva.com/pdfs/CVA_Repair_Form.pdf (you can find this form by going to www.cva.com, clicking on the RESOURCES button at the top right-hand side of the page, choosing the REPAIRS option and then downloading the form and printing it) to tell us what the problem is, and mail the gun and the repair form directly to CVA. We’ll be more than happy to look at the rifle and determine the problem. If there’s a charge, we’ll let you know the price before we repair it. If there’s not a charge, we’ll repair the gun and return it to you. Once you get the gun back, take it out, load it properly and ensure we’ve fixed it to your satisfaction. The worst thing you can do is take that gun out of the box, put it in a closet or a gun safe and not shoot it until the day you’re ready to hunt. If we haven’t solved your problem, the sooner we know about it, the quicker we can tell you what to do to make your CVA rifle all you’ve hoped it will be. We always try to repair the gun when we get it. However, we may not have clearly understood the problem, or maybe the gun has two problems, and you’ve just told us about one. We want you to be happy and satisfied with your CVA rifle for as long as you own it, and we want to do everything we can to help you and that gun perform an optimal level. So, if you have a problem, call the CVA customer-service line. Any of the service technicians can help you, because they shoot blackpowder rifles and hunt with them.