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Yes, you're right. I just read the bottle of the black powder and it states not to use lubrication with it. It makes sense to me that anything that might add dampness or water to the powder would not be the best idea.

In the bowhunting room we've been discussing the use of lighted nocks. Pope and Young will not allow animals harvested via electronic devices to be entered so lighted nocks mean no Pope and Young. I'm not sure how Pope and Young feels about trail cameras or video cameras. How do you all feel about this? I see the trail camera as as a device used to locate, but I'm not sure how a video recorder would be against the rule. Perhaps reviewing the tape would help one figure out where the hit was and if it should be pursued that night or the next? The rule states: "By the use of electronic devices for attracting, locating or pursuing game or guiding the hunter to such game, or by the use of a bow or arrow to which any electronic device is attached."

William, I never thought of a cam corder as being a means of disqualifying a deer from the record books. I wonder what the pro's think of this. A good question for the pro-staff room. I'll post it.

Wow! I new muzzleloaders were accurate, but this morning I was in awe. Using 100 grains I sighted in at 50 yards. Once I made the scope corrections I was center bullseye. My second shot was in the same hole as the first! The third shot was less than 1/2 inch from center. Not bad considering I was just using a lawn chair for a rest. I went to 75 yards and still center bullseye and at 35 yards the same. All shots were within 1 inch groups. On the negative side: I did have one cap not go off???? (cocked the hammer a second time and boom) I also has one cap go off an no boom????? The second cap did the trick. I'm a little concerned about pulling the trigger and no boom when it really counts. I'm sold on the accuracy though. Do you find certain caps better than others? I'm using Winchester triple 7.

My previous guess was 154 gross, I'll stick with that. Net 143&2/8. Thanks for posting again Chris, I was wondering what the official score was going to be.

The bullets are 250 grain Shockwave Sabots. My first outing went well. I was really just getting used to shooting. I started with 100 grains of the American Pioneer Powder and the kick was a little much for my daughter. Eighty grains seemed much better. I did not clean the barrel between shots which may be why my groups were not as good as I hoped. The last three shots were within a 4 inch circle at 50 yards. I'm going to try again and swab the barrel after each shot and see if I have improvement. My cousin suggested using bore butter for each shot as well. Do you all use bore butter?

Looks like a nice deer there. I'm going to try mule deer hunting one day.

Not many believe this story, but here it is and it is NOT an exageration. Many of my friends tell me I should send it in to a hunting magazine. I'm not proud of my being il-prepared, but it is unique. I'll present the shorter version below: In 2000 I shot a deer (7-point) and hit it low (the front leg). The deer ran into a draw and layed down. I thought it was dead and walked down to take pictures. The deer jumped and ran off. As it ran I used my last 3 shotgun slugs and missed all three times. With the help of my dad (also out of shells) we tracked it in the snow (decent blood trail) and it kept running ahaead of us. I circled around and got in front of it. As my dad walked up to the wounded deer it again jumped and ran towards me. I took off running after it and jumped in front of it. The buck lowered his head and got ready to charge me. I got my knife out and prepared for battle. As I inched closer, the deer charged and knocked me back about 3 feet. It continued to gore me as I stabbed it in the neck and finally got it into a head lock and flipped him on his side. About that time my dad showed up and jumped on it and knifed it in the lung ending the battle. I have some pictures, but I'd have to scan them because I didn't have a digital camera back then.

I think he'll make P&Y (barely). Gross: 139 Net: 127 Great deer! Congratulations!

Good luck to ya!

Well Tom, get your shotgun ready Tim, Bill, and Eddie will be picking you up this April for some long beard action! Of course they don't know about it yet. Atta boy Tom! (only 1 inch off!) The official Net score was 162 and 2/8 inches. The Gross was 171 and 2/8 inches. This will be my first Boone and Crockett!

Very nice! I had a possum walk under me a couple nights ago. I don't eat possum so there was no need to shoot it, but I did have fun dropping small things on his tail. He kept looking around wondering what kept falling out of the tree and hitting his tail. I told my wife and she gave me the .

It might be nice to have something for you and her to remember the hunt. Having the skull might be a cool thing. I think a photo of you, your daughter, and the skull would be better than nothing. Always nice to hear about parents introducing their kids to the great sport of hunting.

Seems like an out dated rule. The main goal is to harvest the animal. I don't see a lighted knock giving the hunter an unfair advantage of shooting the animal, only helping with the harvest. What do you all think?

Depends on how much hunting pressure the place has had. If you can hunt the yellow spots with the stands you might want to consider it if there hasn't been a lot of pressure. There's generally a reason others place stands in certain locations. If there has been a lot of pressure you may want to go to the far right (the deer may be pushed back there). I like the line of timber that seperates the fields in the far right.

So your first shot (with a clean barrel) is generally off a bit from shots 2-5 (with a dirty barrel)?

Someone is only a couple inches off. The main beams were both right at 25 inches.

I was filling out my fair chase affidavit and read the part that states no electronic equipment was used. I was going to use an Illuminock next year, but now I will not. I haven't asked Pope & Young, but I Googled it and found others stating the same. Anyone else know more about this?

Very nice! I may have to get serious about hunting coyotes soon. Looks like a blast.

I gotta add that the Lacrosse Alpha Burly just made the top of my list! I went out hunting tonight and the fields were the muddiest I've seen them this year. I was thinking I was going to lose a boot in the mud, but they never came close to coming off in shin deep mud. The mud comes off much easier than my snake boots and best off all WATERPROOF! My lace up Cabela's snake boots claim to be waterproof, but they are not.

I use the WB. The guys at the pro shop recommended I use feathers with the WB. They dropped arrows through the WB and found that arrows with vanes would not pass through, but feathers would. Seems like an easy test to try if you want to see for yourself. I took their word for it and use feathers.

I hear ya Tim. Just today I took some deer sausage to the farmers who let me hunt their property. I asked one if I could bring my daughter for the youth weekend in 09. He said that would be fine with him. I then asked the other if I could hunt during the black powder season, he was fine with that as well. Things are looking good for 09. I'm still hunting hard. I had to take a little break there around Christmas for some home improvement. I'm back at it until mid-January. Went out tonight and only saw a possum. Where are you planning to hunt in 09 Tim? Coming back to Illinois?

I like the Cabela's Dangerous Hunts Game.

Welcome to the MAN ROOM CLUB Randy. Your member number ... Looks great!