Muzzleloader Elk Question

[mpool]

I have a T/C Encore and my wife has a T/C Triumph. This is going to be our first Elk hunt with them. I have had mine for 5 years now and I have shot several big whitetails. I have always used 100 grains of triple 7 and a 240 grain Shockwave XTP Bullet. My question is, will that be combination be good enough to hunt Elk. My wife and I have primitive tags for unit 9 in New Mexico next month on a private ranch. Thanks in advance for any advise.

Mike

 

[azfisherman]

Hi Mike .
My self and my girl have shot several elk and deer with muzzleloaders and have always had good results. The thing with muzzleloaders is that they don't all shoot the same. I actually had to reduce the grains to 100 for ours to consistently shoot well. Its kind of like a bow , its not the poundage you pull but where the arrow hits that matters. I actually don't like the heavier bullets as they seem to do a lot of muscle damage and don;t always got completely thru. 100 grains and a good 240 bullet is fine, providing its a reasonable range and good placement. We use ours in replacement of our bows when the draws provide a better chance, but we still try to hunt them in similar fashion. I just came from unit 51 in NM and it took me 14 days to get mine with a bow as they just started the rut at the end. You should hopefully still hear things in Oct . Keep your distance down to a honest level and enjoy your hunt. By the way, I have used your powder but I now use American Pioneer powder, it so much cleaner burning and less work to clean up than triple 7. But use what your comfortable with. Good luck to the both of you.
AzFisherman

 

[mpool]

Thanks AZFisherman - I did read your post last night about your experience. Sounds like you had quite the adventure. We are going to start out with a bow and if we aren't getting anything in close, switch to the muzzleloader. The combination that I am currently using with my Encore is perfect for accuracy. Sometimes I can't believe how well I shoot with it. My wife's Triumph on the other hand is a different story. We just haven't shot it that much. She was going to primarily bow hunt, but she hurt her shoulder again while doing some painting. I guess I just need a vote of confidence that we don't need to use more powder and need a heavier bullet. My brother lives in Wyoming and his advise was to go up to 150 grains of powder, but he would take a 30/06 squirrel hunting. Thanks a lot for your reply and hopefully I can post some pictures. Mike