Pluckit:

I beg to differ with you about the 50 cal round ball for deer. In my personal experience I have found them more than adequate for taking deer. Among my acquaintances I know at least 10 muzzle loader aficionados who will hunt with nothing else. In talking with them the consensus of opinion is that just by the limitations imposed on them by their choice to do so in and of itself makes them better hunters as a whole. Part of what I enjoy in hunting with round balls is the challenges it presents and find to being successful using them I pass up quite a few shots simply because I don't feel confident in taking them. My personal preference when using round balls is a gun with at least a 33 inch barrel and a 1 in 66 twist. I feel that they are much more accurate and give me a little more range. I could be wrong and probably am, but it works for me. Although I own several guns with shorter barrels and 1 in 48 twists I regulate them to using conicals.

I agree that the average weekend warrior does not posses the skills to hunt with round balls. But in saying that I must admit that I have a deep prejudice against weekend warriors as a whole no matter what they are trying to hunt; center fire, bow or black powder.