Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Elk with PRB

Hi Folks,
I'm new here but I've spent most of my life shooting black powder. I'll admit to being a traditionalist. There's a flintlock Northwest Trade Gun in 20 gauge hanging on the wall above me as I type this. Never owned an inline in my life and highly unlikely to do so at this late date. On the other hand, I say to each his or her own. I just thought I'd point out a couple of things about elk and PRB. First, traditional archers harvest elk each season with with an arrow. Their average shot distance is less than 20 yards. A properly placed PRB will be at least as effective as a broadhead. Second, while I've never been fortunate enough to hunt elk, my father was. He took five over the years and did so with a "measly" .45 caliber percussion long rifle shooting PRB. The range averaged about 50 yards. Three fell where they stood and none made it beyond 40 yards before piling up. I'll note that all were heart shots.

Hunting with muzzleloaders is all about accepting limitations. Put the bullet, be it round or conical, where it needs to go and you will have success.

Regards,
John

Which state allows 45cals for Elk?

This was back in the 1960's in Colorado.

Regards,
John

new mexico doesnt have caliber restriction for elk.

Well said.

Me too. But if you're referring to my earlier post, I will admit to having a hard time following a bloodless trail a couple hundred yards through an eastern hardwood forest carpeted with new leaves after dark.

A golden oldie and a truism, right up until the point where it doesn't work. For me it wasn't an elk, but a 160 lb deer. And it wasn't a .45 caliber round ball, it was a .50. And not at 50 yards but 30. I did put the ball where it needed to go though.

Another truism you hear a lot from people who hunt elk is, if you're going to use a round ball, it's best to go with something bigger than .50 caliber.

Morning folks , been a while .
I have killed a lot of elk with PRB in calibers from 50-62.. Until the last few years where I just have not been able to get out , I took one near every year . But not every year was with a PRB . My wife also hunts and shoots PRB. So some years we took 2 elk with PRB ..
I also hunt mule deer with PRB . .
As others have said . Shot placement is key . But that holds true not mater what your shooting . IMO range is also a big player . Know your range and know the effective range of your load .
In the end people lose big game every year shooting high caliber cartridge , muzzleloaders and archery. It happens we just try to not let it happen ..

Now what im about to say isn’t aimed at anyone specific . Just a general statement .
Not very often do you hear someone say; ya I got a bad shot of and lost it . OR ; I just pulled the gun and I missed .
In stead what we here is , and again doesn’t matter the system they chose to use
But what we hare is ; I went right behind the shoulder . I took out both shoulders . I was a hart or head shoot but ??????? I never found the animal . Track it for 2 miles and nothing .
that’s usually followed by , This caliber , bow , rifle , brand ……… is worthless .
I always have to wonder about that because if they never found the animal , how is it they know exactly where the they hit it ?
I been there and I have been one of those very people .
I shot at a 6X6 bull on fall with a 30.06 . The bull want 35 yards from me walking broad side .I had him dead to rights , squeezed off and he dropped and got up all in one move . I got another round off just as he entered the treeline . There was no doubt in my mind that he was down . Perfect shot .
A minute or so later a hear a couple shots just down the ridge from me where my hunting partner was setting .. Im thinking cool , we got to this morning .
Well to make a long story short . Nope I didn’t get him . My partner did . My shot did noting by graze him high across the shoulder .
How that happened , I still don’t know to this day ..
IF , I had put the round where I thought I put it . He would have been mine . Simple fact was I didn’t . I would have bet with every least penny I had that I did ..

Anyway , get in effective range , place your shot . If you put the PRB where it needs to be , it will do the job just fine

Not aimed at anybody specifically, but I recovered my deer.

As did I, along with the PRBs I shot them with.

I once shot a deer with a .270 at 40 yards which went down, got up and ran off, never found her. Had the same happen with 45cal maxi balls my first year muzzleloading. My brother with his .270 shot a buck, again, under 50 yards, went down, got up and never seen again.

Well, that solves that riddle. Captchee must've been talking about you.

as Forest Gump would say. 'Ye neva know whucha gunna get.