Tips for backcountry with a muzzleloader

[Thisisme2828]

So I love packing in to public land to do 5-8 day hunting trips with my center fire for deer and elk out west, but at home in Ohio I love to deer hunt with a muzzleloader. In a perfect world I could combine the two passions.

However, I’m skeptical to take a muzzleloader on a backcountry elk hunt in the west because I am not sure how it will fare on a trip like that. So I am asking all of you: What are your tips and tricks for backcountry hunting with a muzzleloader?

How do you ensure your powder stays dry enough? Do you unload at night and reload with fresh powder every morning? What do you put primers in to keep them as dry as possible? Is it worth even trying to take a muzzleloader unless the season requires it?

Thanks in advance

 

[croben]

We have a seven day muzzleloader season at the beginning of October for elk. I generally just tape the end of the barrel like I do with my rifle if it’s going to be wet. We run the same powder all week unless someone hasn’t taped and it gets wet. We can run the 209 primers so I just pull that out when not hunting. We sometimes catch the end of the rut, depending on when it hits, but not often. Still a fun time to get out and not quite as hot as archery season.

 

[Thisisme2828]

I’ve got a cow tag this year in Wyoming and we are going out November 1 until we get one or the wife tells me I have to come home. Realistically I have plenty of time to bring a muzzy, try it and if need be hike back to the truck and grab my 308 if it isn’t working out.

There is something about shooting an elk with a muzzleloader that fascinates me

 

[JRay]

On one particular trip we took muzzleloaders over 12 miles into the back country. 4 shots were fired with zero problems. We loaded plastic vials with pre-measured powder, bullets and primers. I think we packed 8 charges apiece. We loaded our first charge once camp was made. We kept them dry by using gun slickers. Never had a problem.

 

[mtnbound]

So I love packing in to public land to do 5-8 day hunting trips with my center fire for deer and elk out west, but at home in Ohio I love to deer hunt with a muzzleloader. In a perfect world I could combine the two passions.

However, I’m skeptical to take a muzzleloader on a backcountry elk hunt in the west because I am not sure how it will fare on a trip like that. So I am asking all of you: What are your tips and tricks for backcountry hunting with a muzzleloader?

How do you ensure your powder stays dry enough? Do you unload at night and reload with fresh powder every morning? What do you put primers in to keep them as dry as possible? Is it worth even trying to take a muzzleloader unless the season requires it?

Thanks in advance

My muzz season runs from the end of November to December, and keeping things dry can be difficult. All my speed loaders are carried in a plastic bag inside my bino harness; I have two musket cap holders, one around my neck but tucked between layers. The other is in a plastic bag stashed in the bino harness. Once loaded, I have a muzzle condom on. I don't put a musket cap on until I see fresh sign, an animal, etc., and I keep a piece of waterproof fabric covering my nipple under the hammer. My biggest issue has been caps not going off, but depending on how much moisture I have been in, I may use a CO2 unloader to push the bullet out at the end of the day so I can reuse it.

 

[Felix40]

I barely have any experience but I had a fairly miserable hunt last December with my flintlock. White out for the first two days. Fired successful shot on day three. I left it loaded the whole time. Carried everything I needed to clean the gun and all my reloads in ziplocks. And I made a gun sock out of sylnylon that covered down just past the action. It had a draw cord to keep it tight but was pretty quick to slide off if needed.