Muzzleloading: Best of Both Worlds?

[CoHiCntry]

If I'd had a ML tag this year I'd have either one of two 350+ bulls on the ground that I chased with the bow.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard this from a bow hunter! Lol! For the record... I hunt with a bow too. I think the best of both worlds is hunting with all weapons in as many seasons as you can from mid August to the end of November! Or longer...

 

[COlineman78]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard this from a bow hunter! Lol! For the record... I hunt with a bow too. I think the best of both worlds is hunting with all weapons in as many seasons as you can from mid August to the end of November! Or longer...

Yeah, my buddy got sick of saying this and spent all summer a couple years ago working on his long range shots. That following hunting season he dropped a huge bull with a heart shot at 79 yards. Completely agree with your sentiment here. Why do people need to be snobs about these things, same goes for fishing. Dry Fly fishing is harder yes, but I'm out there to catch fish and while it is more fun to catch a fish on a dry, if I'm not hitting them I'll toss a spinner or a san juan worm out there and it doesn't bother me.

 

[dotman]

I wouldn't discount T/C altogether, although the QLA does make it a challenge to find a conical that works good. My Omega really liked the 250 grain Thor. Very accurate! What I like about T/C is what's been mentioned... drop down or break action and easily removed breech plug. What I don't like about Knights is the hard to remove and clean breech plug, the bolt, and the double safety thing. If Knight would dump the bolt and go to a break or drop down action along with an easy hand removable breech plug, I would be sold! Knight is still a solid choice though and I was actually just talking to sabotloader about getting a new spider web black ultra light with the bare 209 and open sites!

I must be too new to the ML world but I don't think the breech plug on the knight is hard to remove at all. I don't trust the side safety on mine though, ever since I had knight work on the trigger it hasn't worked, super crisp trigger though, but I just use the firing pin safety as that to me is the main safety anyway.

 

[COlineman78]

I must be too new to the ML world but I don't think the breech plug on the knight is hard to remove at all. I don't trust the side safety on mine though, ever since I had knight work on the trigger it hasn't worked, super crisp trigger though, but I just use the firing pin safety as that to me is the main safety anyway.

It isn't that it's hard to remove, just that it requires a tool to do so. On top of that, at least with the Knights I have seen the breach hole is smaller than the inner diameter of the barrel making it impossible to simply use a bore snake in the field. Not sure if that's true of the new models, but the older models breach plugs were only slightly larger than a 209. The other added advantage of having a large breach plug is that if you need to remove a bullet you can just push it through with the ramrod. The break action isn't important if they figured out a tool-less breach that was bigger than the inner diameter of the barrel. CVA and T/C both have it, so why not join the party?

The safety system is my biggest gripe with Knights and I know sabotloader and others disagree, but a quick safety is important to me when hunting. When I used the Knight I just used the trigger safety, but on more than one occasion over the course of the days spent hunting the firing pin safety would work its way in just enough to prevent a shot causing missed elk. I have a bolt Remington that is my primary backup ML, it weighs a ton but has a single solid trigger safety.

 

[dotman]

The breech on my knight is larger then the vote and a bore snake could easily be used. I found that the firing pin saftey is very quick to unscrew quietly with a quick spin of a finger.

We all have our likes and dislikes which is why it's good we don't all have to have the same thing

 

[CoHiCntry]

We all have our likes and dislikes which is why it's good we don't all have to have the same thing

This is the most important thing. What one guy likes, another guy may not. Even though there are a few areas I don't care for with the Knight, there a a bunch of pluses too. Hard to find a better built with as many quality parts production muzzleloader in my opinion. Buy what you like and shoot what you like. They will all put down big game.

 

[5MilesBack]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard this from a bow hunter! Lol!

Ya, but I have pics to back it up.

Just at different stages in life I guess. I've killed a gob of elk over the years (a gob is 25+) so now my priority is #1 method, and #2 the amount of time I get to spend in the mountains. However, if just killing something was the goal.......I passed on a few dozen bulls and 100+ cows I could have shot at this year. In fact, had a cow at 20 yards less than 1/4 mile from the truck this past weekend and I passed. But I hunted a limited entry unit so I'm OK with eating the tag and holding out for one of the trophy bulls. Especially when I'm seeing them every day.

Another part of methodology is sitting on water, or in a stand. Sure, that's a lot easier to do and most likely much more consistently productive for BIG bulls, but that's not something I'm going to do. I just can't sit. I have to be in their face, aggressive, and bugling like a fool.

And for the record, I am also a fly fisherman. But my dad had me fly fishing from the time I could walk. So that's all I know for fresh water fishing. There are a lot of similarities between flyfishing and bowhunting. And from my experience, from just a success standpoint, I find them both more effective than other methods. ML could be the only exception to that just because of the timing of the season.

 

[chindits]

Does anyone know what the overall success ratio is between muzzleloader, archery, and rifle hunters?

That information is available every year from CPW. So for 76 you would want the 2014 Big Game Huntin in Southwest Colorado. It's the little green book. It breaks last years success by unit and by season.

 

[chindits]

[QUOTE I just can't sit. I have to be in their face, aggressive, and bugling like a fool.
][/QUOTE]

I hear you. I had a buddy show up one weekend on my bow hunt and he wanted to set up blind calling in the woods and start out with timid cow calls and spike bull bugles. I was more like, get out of my way, I know where they are, we are going to get in close and then start working it. Of course you never get the ideal set up that way since it is usually on the run and hard saying how many elk I pass on the way to the herds. But it's fun, its hard work, and I never fall asleep versus setting up on something.

 

[stevenm2]

I am hooked I shoot Knight MK-85s with peep sights full bore conicals. I did miss an elk this year but I was having a blast.

 

[sabotloader]

It isn't that it's hard to remove, just that it requires a tool to do so. On top of that, at least with the Knights I have seen the breach hole is smaller than the inner diameter of the barrel making it impossible to simply use a bore snake in the field. Not sure if that's true of the new models, but the older models breach plugs were only slightly larger than a 209. The other added advantage of having a large breach plug is that if you need to remove a bullet you can just push it through with the ramrod. The break action isn't important if they figured out a tool-less breach that was bigger than the inner diameter of the barrel. CVA and T/C both have it, so why not join the party?

The safety system is my biggest gripe with Knights and I know sabotloader and others disagree, but a quick safety is important to me when hunting. When I used the Knight I just used the trigger safety, but on more than one occasion over the course of the days spent hunting the firing pin safety would work its way in just enough to prevent a shot causing missed elk. I have a bolt Remington that is my primary backup ML, it weighs a ton but has a single solid trigger safety.

There is group of people that would totally agree with you on the secondary safety. You might try putting a dab liquid Teflon on the threads of the secondary safety. The Teflon will stop the vibrations forward. I also tighten mine to the rear to keep it in place. There only a few occasions when I use the secondary safety anyway other than taking the bolt apart. Tony Knight and Doc White both added these secondary safety aspects to their ML's.