I'm not used to this !!!

[equinoxbuilders]

well, it was the last day of muzzleloading season here in NH, and I was hunting with my .54 cal Scout Pistol...  80g7773Fg round ball out of treestand.
Called in a small 1 1/2 yr old 6 pointer 120lb dressed approx.
he was about 30 yrds away off my right shoulder, broadside, perfect shot, I put the reddot on him just behind the shoulder centerbody, and pulled the trigger...... :eek:
SNAP.  #11 cap went off, but no powder.  he jumped a few feet.
I slowly put on another cap, and now he is at 35yrds I again put the reddot on him...    pulled the trigger, and       SNAP...
UUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!  :x
now he runs a few more yrds... I have time to put on the 3rd cap. I grunt some more hopin to get him to come closer. he's about 45 yrds away, and is behind some trees. I grunt somemore, and he desides to start his way out in front of me....  nice open 45-50 yrd shot.  I put the reddot on him one more time, pull the trigger expecting a SNAP, but now KaBOOM.
 :shock:
He takes off.  I honestly don't think I hit him.  I'm checking for blood trail this morning.  Really hard to find spurts of blood in the Fall leaves.
I'm NOT used to this..  I haven't missed in 23yrs...
every deer I've hit with BP has dropped in its tracks...  first time I've hunted with this Pistol. and I sighted in for 25 yrds.  I could consistently hit center of paper at 25yrds.  I honestly think I blew this shot... I can't see how a deer of that size could have been hit buy a .54 round ball and jog off like that.
Anyone wanna buy a TC Scout Pistol  .54cal  with reddot??   :cry:

[Redhawk1]

That sounds depressing..

[jjrobo]

Have you ever shot a deer with a round ball before?

I have shot two does with a round ball in a TC Renegade. Both were double lung in the snow, and I didn't see more than 3 or 4 drops of blood in the snow and both ran for more than 100 yds. If there hadn't been fresh snow I could have never tracked them. One required a second shot. I could see it was laying down looking around and I had to belly crawl to within 50 yds to get a head shot.

It seemed to me that the wounds closed up on themselves as they would with a full metal jacket. That was the last season I used a round ball.

Good luck,

Jeff

[Graybeard]

All I can say is that if you really don't understand how a deer can be HIT and still run off you really don't have a lot of experience shooting deer under your belt. In nearly 40 years of hunting them I've had far far more run after being hit than not. In fact other than those shot in the head or spine I've had almost none fall to the shot rather than run.


Running off at the shot is most common with non CNS hits and should be the expected outcome. You follow the blood trail and recover the deer. That's just the way deer hunting is.

[jjrobo]

Either I did not make my point clear or you misunderstood.

I fully understand that deer do not just drop dead. I have only had one do that in my life, and that was because I hit a little far forward and connected with the shoulder with a 12ga. slug.

My point is in my experience (and my experience only because everyone I know uses new fancy muzzleloaders and sabots) round balls do not leave much of a blood trail. If there had not been snow I would have most likely not found the deer in the terrain that I was hunting. In both of my instances, there were a few drops of blood and hair where it was standing when I shot it and blood where they laid and died. However, there was nothing to be found other than hoof prints between those two locations on the fresh snow.

That is why I have switched to a flat-nosed solid cast bullet. Similar to why you would not use a pointed or round nose cast bullet out of a center fire pistol.

Jeff

[BrianU]

I have shot my last four whitetails with .490 caliber roundballs and they were just as effective as any centerfire I have ever used.  Two of the shots left a .50 caliber entrance and exit wound, both bled quite well.  One shot exited the off shoulder, leaving a fist size exit hole.  The last deer was shot almost coming straight at me and that ball ended up in the guts somewhere.  Only one of those four moved more than 10 yards after the shot and it left an impressive blood trail from both the exit and entrance holes.  None of the bullet holes looked like they closed in on themselves.
  As far as hitting a deer with a .54 roundball and not understanding how it kept going? First, I would consider 80 grains of blackpowder a light load even in a rifle.  Put this in a pistol and you can really take it down quite a few notches in power.  Remember that round balls dump velocity like nobody's business, add 50 yards and by the time you connected on that deer, you had a 230 grain pure lead ball going very, very slow.  You took a shot at twice the distance you practiced, not even sure if you hit him, and so if you did, there is no telling where that ball ended up.  I also bet your nerves were getting a little frazzled after 2 misfires.  What's up with that anyway?
   It looks like you found out what a good buddy of mine told me after I missed several times on a large pig down in Texas last December and wondered out loud, "How the hell did that happen?!!"  He smiled and said, "I guess that is why its called hunting and not killing".
  I can consistently punch holes in a playing card at 100 yards with my .50 flintlock.  The farthest distance I have yet to shoot a deer is 40 yards.  Get as close as possible, pick your shot very carefully and a patched .490 ball in front of 100 grains of FFG blackpowder will kill any whitetail like a bolt of the blue.  Puts the H in hunting.

 Brian

[Flinch]

Anyone wanna buy a TC Scout Pistol  .54cal  with reddot??   :cry:

 It just so happens I have been looking for one for years, not sure why, I have better things to hunt with, but I just have always liked them, I think they are pretty cool and would be fun to have.
If you really want to get rid of it, let me know.
Flinch

[equinoxbuilders]

I looked allday yesterday, and I couldn't find anything.
shot was more like 35 yds.. I walked it off.
I don't think I hit it, not because it ran off, but how it ran off.
I WAS :evil:  frazzled after 2 misfires.  I honestly didn't expect it to go off on the third try, but it did.
It misfired because I was hunting for 1/2 hr in showers the day before.
I didn't expect there to be an issue, because I've fired my BPs after downpours.

Bill, you are right.  The two bucks I've shot with round ball, were hit in the lung/spine.  
one buck hit in heart with Conical, didn't go anywhere either.  I've only shot 5 deer, so I don't have the experience you have.  just commenting on what I've witnessed.

Flinch,
I am serious about selling...  Superstitious..  My dad missed/lost numerous deer with his .54 cal Hawkens(Ol Betsy) before giving it to me...  I've yet to miss with her.  I should have had her Tuesday, but the Scout was shooting better than her at the range earlier in the fall.
I'm selling the Scout and rebarrelling the Hawkens
.54 cal Scout with BSA 30mm reddot.  give me a realistic price.. it is a shooter..  email me..   scott@equinoxbuilders.com

[Graybeard]

This is a discussion forum not a classifieds. Please move the discussion on the sale of gun to PMs or to the Classfieds NOT here. Thanks.

[BlkHawk73]

Anyone wanna buy a TC Scout Pistol  .54cal  with reddot??   :cry:

  blackpowder with a red dot?  Sacrcalidge!

[Glanceblamm]

It Realllly sounds like you were abit rattled and simply pulled the shot.
I was going to suggest that you should always pop a couple caps on your clean gun before loading it but saw that you had some showers.

I too have been caught in the rain "more than once" and about the only thing you can do is to keep that barrel pointing down and keep the lock covered with a fold of your own clothing.
I would like to see you keep that scout but if your faith in it is gone, by all means sell it.

[equinoxbuilders]

Update,

I know this is handgun forum, but something is seriously wrong with me...
I called in a 200 lb. 8 pointer this morning, 10 minutes into the woods, and I missed an easy 40 yd shot with my scoped 870 as this Brute was heading for me... I took the shot earlier cuz I was wondering in the back of my mind when he was going to smell me...  If I had waited, I probably could have beat him over the head with my firearm...
This is strange...  the last time I experienced buck fever, I was 15 yrs old.... missed easy shot at a doe...  I've taken 4 bucks in that time, and I'm used of going through the list in my head before taking the shot..

"OK slow it down, relax....  take aim....  hammerback...  take a deep breath...  breath out slowly...  slower...  gently sqeeze.....  

alright   Venision Stew tonight....

But after those misfires from the Scout, I'm downright jittery...

HELP  ME...

would you goto the range and put 20 boxes of 3" Lightfields through your shoulder as punishment..  hoping to shock yourself out of this funk..

What would you do??

HELP..

I'm also taking Ol Betsy out of the closet and I loaded her with a conical in front of 100g..   Next deer will be in her sights....

I know I missed this Buck, cuz he didn't run away, he just stood there...
and I freaked out and didn't rack a new round correctly and jammed the 870..  I cleared it, put a fresh round in, and all the time this PUNK is 40yrds away watching me... I pick up on him and he takes off. I let 2 more bad shot go...all I see is the Flag... I follow him into the swamp, but he never gives me a good shot again.  But he is OK...  I hope to see him tomorrow...

[Graybeard]

Don't believe you have a shooting problem perse or a flinching problem. I think what you have is a target panic aka buck fever problem.

Call it what you will target panic or buck fever the cure is to put yourself in that situation more often and then talk yourself thru it. Seeing more deer will definitely help. Even if in off season or deer that are not legal. Force yourself to watch them and let them stay in your immediate area as long as possible. This allows your neverous system to get used to them being around you and in time calms the jitters seeing them causes.

Competition does the same thing and there it's called target panic. You want to do your best but let the pressure of the moment cause you to do your worse.

I've been hunting for over 50 years and shot competition with handgun, rifle and shotgun for close to 30 years before retiring. I've found the best thing to do if you feel it coming on is to stop, think, take a few deep breaths and try to just relax. Don't even think about the shot. Just think about getting your breathing and heart beat back toward normal. Force yourself to concentrate on the shot when it's time. Don't look at the entire animal. Look ONLY at the little spot you plan to shoot. Same applies to target competition.

[Redhawk1]

Got to agree with Graybeard here.  Also I have never seen a need for the 3 inch Magnum rounds, I have killed all my deer with the 2 3/4 inch shells, either 20 or 12 gauge.