Mauser06...... nchawkeye is right on the money with his advise. Use the roundballs. Believe me, roundballs are one of the most underestimated projectiles shot out there. They think that because they are light weight and round that they do not do a lot of damage. Totally opposite truths. The light weight gives them a much faster speed at short ranges of 100 yards and under. They penetrate excellent. If they hit bone they not only flatten and smash, but will bounce around and no telling where they will end up. They just plain kill deer.

To give you an idea of the power of a roundball, I was shooting my .54 caliber T/C Renegade one year. I had 90 grains of Pyrodex RS under a .530 roundball. In walks a nice young buck (it was estimated by friends to be 70-80 yards or more). I scope him with my binoculars and as I take my eyes off him to put the glasses away, a doe walks in behind him and stands right directly behind him. I never counted legs..[&o] . I took my aim, shot right through the lungs of him and he dropped in his tracks, and the ball after passing through him penetrated the doe and broke her spine, knocking her flat to the ground also.



This is a .54 caliber roundball and the recovered ball which I keep at my desk, taken from under the skin after breaking her back, of the second deer....

This incident was not something I was proud of. I committed the sin of not looking past my target better. My only redeeming light was I had enough tags that I was able to fill all my tags that morning with a single shot. Needless to say the ribbing I got from local friends about being to cheap to fire two bullets, using cannons, waiting for them to line up was all fun, but it still told the story of the power of a black powder rifle and roundball. The next year four of my friends had purchased Thompson Center Hawkins .50 calibers and were deer hunting with them. They needed that extra thrill that we all get out of this sport.

You're a good shot. If you can hit them little groundhogs a deer is a peice of cake. You put that .50 caliber roundball where it belongs and you will not even be tracking. I have dropped them where they stood with 70 grains and a .490 ball out of my Tradition Woodsman.

Good luck to you this coming season and keep your powder dty there...