mauser06

finally bought some maxi hunters today...i wanted something thats going to drop a deer quickly and leave a good blood trail and all you guys said these will do it.....and i remmebr some saying they are "too explosive" for deer...thats what i want.....i want em dead in their tracks or a river of blood for me to follow.....bought a box of 20 in 350gr......going to shoot them here in a bit......hope they shoot accurately and i dont have any tumbles......walmart didnt have bore buttons and i didnt go in the other direction of the shops i could have found them.....ill let you know how they shoot for me.....

bigcountry

I shot a few deer with them in my knight wolverine. I couldn't keep them seated on the powder. Kept backing off. Some guys on the muzzleloaderforum.com said to wrap them with zig zag paper or tephlon tape.

Once, I was coming out of my tree stand and lowered my gun muzzledown. And saw the maxihunter at the bore of the gun. Just watch out for it.

mauser06

well i went shooting.....sighted it in at 13yards(read if its dead on there it will be real close at 50 or somewhere like that i need to read it again)...first 2 shots touched....but low...higehr my sights and put it right where it needed to be.....ran the target out to 60ish(was 50 but couldnt see it because of the hay so i had to back off to a bit higher ground) and was hitting just low...didnt shoot a group because i didnt have a "target" i was shooting an old board i found with a dot on it i made with a marker.......i was on my buddys farm...usually we can scrounge up a box or something.....but i couldnt this time....i found an old coffee can and put it on a stick at 60ish and was nailing it every time....so i can hit a deer that far in the vitals....next time ill goto the REAL range and shoot paper....shoot groups and set up a deer sillouetee target up to build my confidance......i am really impressed at the holes they make.....i could put my thumb through the coffee can hole....i was shooting the bottom so there was no exit.....and the holes in the board were big......i think they will make a nice deer bullet.....and probably lay them flat or leave them with 2 big ole holes for the blood to pour out of.....another time or 2 at the range and ill be all set for october.....aobut them being loose i didnt have that problem....i heard a few guys having that....and tumbling because of gas blow by......i didnt have either........i have a nice tight bore......i couldnt get a second powerbelt down without cleaning....thats why i switched this year.....i only ran a patch through a few times...i shot 12 times.......i think i cleaned every 4 or so shots.......and didnt really NEED to....they are kinda hard to start but once started they slide right on down.....cant wait for october doe season.....im going to start scouting in september and have stands up by the middle of the month....so they will be up for a month or so before season....and ill leave them up for rifle and flintlock season.....man my shoulder aches.....350grs of lead packs a little more punch then the roundballs i shot all year....the power belts didnt even hurt this bad.....a brass buttplate dont help i dont guess.....but i like it.....its a fun gun to shot.....cant wait to get hunting again!

cayugad

Years ago when I first started out with muzzleloaders, friends and I all hunted with .54 caliber Renegades and Hawkins (believe this or not the .54 caliber was at one time very popular as compared to the .50). We all loaded the Thompson Center Maxi Balls because they were Thompson Center rifles and shot them very well.

I had a nice little six pointer pop up at about 50 yards one afternoon and cut loose at his shoulder with an angle towards the other shoulder. He dropped like a rock of course. When we cleaned and skinned that little buck you could have just about cut him in half and thrown the front half away. I have shot lots of different calibers and rifles but never saw that kind of damage to an animal. That maxi smashed both shoulders and the blood meat that was on those two shoulders, after we cut that off, we might as well have thrown them away.

After that we started shooting only roundball. Years later is when I settled using the REAL conical in 300 grain in the .54 caliber. Nice accurate shooter and no too much damage. After all we do want some sausage out of them shoulders....

mauser06

NICE! that gives me some hope.....thats exzactly what i want....i want a DEAD deer or blood all over and the deer not going far......the reason is i hit a doe with a 295 gr HPcopper plated powerbelt last year......perfect broadside shot i should dropped her.....but something went wrong....i know i didnt pull......i didnt have TIME to pull.....it was a quick shot becasue she was running, saw me and stopped.....and my gun went off QUICK.....but what i didnt notice was a bunch of little twigs in the way....the canopy of the trees were THICK.....and no light gets to the forest floor.....you cna tell because there barey ANYthing growing down there......and the twigs were from the big oak trees little branches i didnt see.....i may hit one....they were tiny but there.....that deer BARELY bleed AT all......there was a piece of hair that the bullet cut out........so i knew i hit her....so i had t odo my best......readining all the posts on deer not bleeding but dying in 50 yards kept my hopes up....i had maybe 30 yards of PIN pricks of blood......then nothing........circled and gridded for an hour.....nothing.....got frustrated....forogt my cell phone so was heading home to see what dad says even though he was going to work.....i get out to the atv trail and i saw fresh tracks and looked adn there was blood on the leaves.....not fresh but it was her blood.....from an hour ago.....tracked it 30yds down the hill...found 3 spots where she laid down....i didnt push her off her bed.....it was atleast an hour-2hrs old.....and the blood was starting to dry......i couldnt figure out where she went from there.....the beds were in a circle....like she was hurting and tried to walk and laid back down or something.....i couldnt find where she went....she probably licked herself and got to stop at that last bed and walked off.....i dont think she was hit hard at all....300+yds from where i shot her.....i really think shes fine....i searcehd for DAYS....never say another sign...looked all through the creek and in all the springs......busted the WHOLE thicket with my buddy for hours.....found dead deer in there from other people....but not mine....never smelled her...and hunted there all small game season......its my fault for not seeing the twigs......but dang....there should been a little blood or something........i think i just got a flesh shot infront of the leg and low...dont know for sure.....but i dont think it killed her.....so thats why i want a better bullet....iand they didnt load for poop...i couldnt get teh second shot down!!