A few things
 

First, you may recall corey's post to hunt or not to hunt...well, I held out as long as I could, finally caved, and have been spending afternoons up a tree w/ my bow. Going "cold-turkey" proved impossible as I found my self "hunting" out the shop window far too often...
What I will do, though, is skip regular season here(rifle) as it's buck only where I hunt- this is not QDM as there are no antler restrictions.
So I'm preparing for the ML season which follows; I really enjoy the spot & stalk w/ some snow on the ground!

Now, in the motorcycling world this is referred to as an "Oil Thread", as in, what kind/type/brand do you use and in excruciating detail please-why?
Generally the answer boils down to: just use some kind of oil vs none!! With that in mind:

Perusing the Cabela's site, I noticed the Buffalo bullets are available currently as well as T/C maxiballs & hunters. Though the nostalgia of PRB is appealing & has always been my preference, conicals may be my choice this year.
I'll have the .50 T/C Hawken kit which iirc is 1:48(?).
Any suggestions or guidance?

Well you need to shot some of those boolits if you havent to see which does better in your rifle yes the Hawkens is 1/48

donjose,
true enough, though what I'm really curious about is the downrange performance vs PRB-"knock down" power,etc.

If your shots are going to be close, as normally in a spot and stalk, even the roundball is a deadly projectile. In your hawkins, try 80 grains of 2f powder and a patched roundball. Normally that is pretty accurate.

Maxiball shoot well out of my Hawkins. Maxi Hunters do not. Some other conicals that do good are REAL conicals, and Hornady Great Plains conicals. All of these are good projectiles.

A PRB of 54 caliber drops deer in there tracks more often when loaded to 2100+ FPS than an inline loaded with the best bullets available. I can not claim to understand why in detail but have taken over 100 big game with both mostly deer and this has been my experience.

To be honest, the T/C's are probably my last choice; both the Great Plains and the buffalo bullet are more appealing. Why? The maxis seem to rely an awful lot on lube to seal the bore.
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/compa...tityId=1222799

How far are your shots? Anything under 100yds the PRB will be the most accurate, and have plenty of power.

Millions of dead deer will agree.

Never shot roundballs, but did try a few conicals. My T/C's always shot best with MaxiBalls. The lube does not seal the bore.

Keep your powder dry!! If you can hunt with a bow, it'll be a piece of cake.