my expience with a muzzleloader is to reload as quickly as possible & hold the gun on him. if you see it move any put a second shot it in . that shot be with any weapon or bow. saves time by having to deal with chasing a wounded animal. it's best to waste a pound of meat than to have to deal with losing a animal. i lost 1 deer in my lifetime & it's still haunts me .because a day later i found it & the coyotes had a field day with it. my me sick & disgusted that i made a deer suffer like that. i almost quite hunting at that time. but promised myself never shoot until it is the perfect shot. & DUDE you should of never went hunting without aleast 5 rounds . not saying it should take you 5 rounds to kill it . but for 100% back up.also i believe any shot hitting a deer is fatal because if it does'nt die from the shot it most likely to die from infection or will suffer in pain the rest of it's life. it's like when i was t boned on a motorcycle people told me aleast you weren't killed but let me tell you my hips & shoulders are always in some kind of pain. period