ORIGINAL: CBourgeois

Hello all,
I amnew to thisforum and would like to thank QUACKER WACKER for directing me here!

I just purchased a TC Encore last year, and my goal this year was to kill a LEGAL deer with the black powder rifle. I have killed MANY MANY deer with my conventional rifles and shot guns and a few with archery equipment but NEVER one with a blackpowder!

Well since Black Powder opened and until this past Wednesday I have carried NOTHING but the T/C while deer hunting.
A few weeks back my son and I hunted Catahoula for the 3 day rifle season, that Friday morning I had two small bucks walk within 50 yards of me in very thick brush as they disappeared a third buck entered a very small opening, he was a BRUTE! Well after the smoke cleared and about 30 minutes passed I climbed down to find NOTHING! Nadda hair no meat no blood! After looking for about 2-3 hours I finally decided I missed the deer. After the next morning hunt I returned and look another hour or two and still nothing!

Well this past Wednesday while back at my lease in Abita Springs I had 3 deer enter a food plot within 125 yards of my stand, two does and a small 6 pointer. Needing to fill DMAP doe tags I zeroed in on the largest doe well again when the smoke cleared she ran off and the other doe and buck stood looking at each other, gave me time to reload (assuming I missed her)I shot AT the second doe, well she too bolted off, YES the buck remained so after reolading the encore a second time I then zeroed in on him!
Now the long narrow food plot looks like a civil war battle just took place with smoke filling the air!
After gathering my back pack and goodies from the stand I headed to the spots where the deer once stood. Much to my surprise I found NOTHING! NO hair, no blood, no meat!!!

I returned to the neighboring camp to shoot the rifle thinking I must have knocked the scope off, well at 100 yards the bullets both hit about an inch high and within 1 inch of each other side by side. I returned to the plot and looked for deer for about 3 hours, I did find the buck about 300 yards from the plot with both lungs looking like ground meat, the only blood I found was where he laid! I looked another 2 hours for the does and again 3 to 4 hours the next day and never found a single speck of blood!
The entrance and exit wound on this deer were IDENTICAL, no bullet expansion at all!And NO BLOOD to be found!
What 50 cal. bullets have you had the best and worst luck with as far as expansion?

Needless to say the encore is back in the case and the 7mm Mag is back on duty!!

Thanks for all positive feedback!

Good Safe Hunting to you all!

CB

OH and on the Monday night a Coyote entered a plot chasing two deer and after they was long gone I shot the Coyote at about 60 yards and she dropped like a BAD HABIT, but I had to dig through her hide to find the entrance and exit on her as well, I just assumed that was due to her being such a small animal, she only weighed between 45 and 50 lbs.

Also I use 100 grains (2 pellets)Triple Sevenand WAS shooting the 245 grain hollow point PowerBelts.