Please don't shoot deer with a 110 grain round ball.
My .45 balls weigh about 138 gr and I have never had to track any deer. Deer shot with the cap and ball .45 have never gone anywhere, the last one made one jump over my fence and fell dead when it landed.
99% of deer I hit with the .54 round ball fall in place.
I shot a running deer at 125 yards with my TC .50 and a Maxi ball by pulling the right lead and raising a foot high. She was down in 25 yards because of her speed. Perfect shot behind the shoulder. I have dropped many deer on a full out run with my muzzle loaders.
Only a bad hit will cause a problem with any gun. I know a guy that shot a small doe with a 12 gauge slug, made a bad hit and had to track her in the snow. He shot again every time he caught up and it took 11 shots to stop her. There might have been 4# of edible meat left, the poor thing was a rag.
I help guys here every year find deer they shoot with 7mm and .300 mags, some we never find. One 9 point went a mile and quit bleeding in 100 yards. I knew where he was going and we found him. There was a hole in him so large you could stick your head in him.
Nothing will replace a good hit and a bad hit will not drop a deer. They are very easy to kill with the proper hit and even a small gun will work.
Yes, I have lost a few deer and it was never with a muzzle loader. It was either a poor hit with a bow or the wrong bullet for the velocity in a modern rifle or revolver.
I never lost a deer with a shotgun and slugs.
You are going to lose a deer now and then, if you don't you are not hunting enough, it WILL happen. You have to get over it.
