NEhomer

Can't thank you all enough for the info.

Same sentiments back to you Green Horn...good luck out there this year. Have you ever field dressed a deer before? THAT'S gonna be a new experience for you!

rockport, i've got a feeling that you're right and I may end up ditching the red dot thing but I think I'm going to be able to machine a rail for it in my shop today. If it shows promise on my smoothbore to to 60yds, I can reassess things.

Uncle....thanks for the ebay nod. Been checking things out there and by the end of six days of bidding, I'm sure that price will climb. They've been going for just about $300.00 by bid's end. I may go that route yet.

Kathwacckkk, my buddy went the muzzleloader option but damn if he wasn't pushing $600.00 by the time he had all the accessories and such.

I still have a few weeks to sort this all out.

My last question for you experienced hunters....how do you sleep with the enormous level of excitement and anticipation?! Lol....I've had obsessions before but I can barely concentrate on all the crap I have to do.

rockport

Ive been doing it for 20 years and I don't sleep the night before the opener.

Your red dot will absolutely work at 60 yards. There are just better options.

The good thing about ebay is its an auction. You know your only paying a couple bucks more than other people bid so you pretty much know you could buy it,try it,decide if its worth it, and if its not put it right back on ebay at a very minimal loss.(I do this a lot)

I will warn you though the big expense would be ammo. That price increases dramatically when you go from rifled slugs to sabot slugs.

NEhomer

Yeah, I noticed they were about three times as much as rifled slugs.

Seems as though after sighting in, the expense shouldn't be too much of a factor. It would be different if we were talking waterfowl loads!

I just about can't sleep now...I'll probably just stay up all night before the opener. Then of course, I'll miss a nice buck and swear off the sport for good!

The Green Horn Hunter

Thanks NEhomer, No I don't however my Mentor who is teaching me the basics of hunting does. He will be teaching me the field dressing techqnic as well

rockport

lol yeah the expense won't be bad after sighting in. It can get bad at first though as first you have to figure out which slugs your gun likes(maybe you get lucky maybe you don't)

Here is a little trick for ya. Take a buddy. Take one shot then aim at the hole you made and have your buddy move the sights to where you want to hit

Wilcam47

do you mean gunbroker? I thought ebay couldn't/didn't sell guns..

NEhomer

...they can sell barrels but not fully functioning firearms.

Kathwacckkk

The real expense of muzzleloading comes with the gun. Again, if you consider the sights (scope, red dot, rifle, etc...) a wash as you will buy them with a new gun or barrel or use the factory rifle sights...

You can pick up a bare bones rifle for ~ $175.00, Blackhorn 209 ~ $35.00, pack of 30 TC shockwave 250gr ~ $35.00, loading tubes ~$10.00 and a package of CCI 209M primers for ~$4.00. Assuming you have standard cleaning supplies you are in the sport with a new gun and all the supplies needed for ~ $260+tax.

Check out the Black Powder section of this forum to learn more as there is some great advice and options. It can really help keep the cost down and get you more accurate faster. They can be finicky with cleaning routine, but a lot of useful information.

I love my 11-87SP and still use this in thick brush or when we are doing drives, but a rifled barrel for the 11-87sp did not extend my season. Bottom line for me was that it extended my hunting season and allowed me to hunt more for the same cost as a rifled barrel.

NEhomer

Once again spot on advice and that's the very reason why my friend went with the muzzleloader.

I'm almost finished machining the scope mount for my 1187 so I'll try that before I decide further. If I happen to knock down a nice buck during shotgun season I may just sit out with my buddy in his two man ladder stand during primitive arms season. If not, I can buy a BP rig and keep at it. I'm also a pretty psycho waterfowl hunter and I may wish to find some time for that too.

NEhomer

After staying out of our woods for a week, me and my buddy went in yesterday. I had my trail cam looking over a convergence of trails downhill and South of the orchard where I've photographed several bucks and bears. I was getting the doubt from my friend but alas, the first pic is an eight point walking right past. Several other deer, does and horns, in multiple events confirmed the hot spot. Got a small spike during the daylight. I've caught him in night pics with one of the eight pointers so likely, the big guy was close by.

Southwest of this small orchard is what I'm certain is their bedding area. Southeast leads up a steep bank to the road so they ain't goin' that way. We made it down to the swampy area that borders this hardwood forest and the sign was literally everywhere. From that point due west about a hundred and fifty yards away, there's a steep drop off to the stream and beaver ponds. This makes a strong natural funnel that will force deer past our stands. My bud's now second guessing his two man tree stand northwest of this area where it's more open. He got the thing on sale cheap so he may just end up buyng a climber and pinching off that funnel near me. One stand on the corner of the swamp and one to the west short of the drop off and just about everything has to travel near one of us.

All that said, I think I'm gonna be ok with my smoothbore and red dot sight. The mount I made came out really nice and solid. I'm not going to get a shot longer than 50yds through the forest and I'm hitting some decent groups at that distance. The sight helps a lot. So for this year, I'm gonna see how it goes. I still have to practice from my stand.

I've hunted geese, ducks abd upland birds for many years and I'm a very good wingshooter. Shot several gobblers too but I'm learning that this aiming precisely and releasing the trigger without flinching or moving off target presents it's own challenge.