One Shot Kill

[thallub]

Every year since 2000 i've taken 2-8 deer. 95 percent of my deer since were taken with a muzzleloader at ranges of <60 yards. Shots are picked carefully and over 50 percent bang flopped. No deer i've shot has traveled more than 100 yards after being hit since 2008.

For many years i tracked wounded deer and elk for other hunters. Many hunters who called the dog and myself could not pinpoint the spot the animal was at when shot. While on a tracking job another hunter said he may have hit a trophy buck. i found a streak of blood and gore eight feet long where the bullet exited, we found that huge deer.

Most animals i tracked were shot behind the diaphragm.

Last season i took a deer to the local processor. i mentioned to a butcher that elk season would soon open. He hated to see the elk come because most were badly shot up.

My .50 caliber Encore rifle fires a .451 250 grain SST bullet set in a sabot. My powder charges are heavier than most muzzleloader hunters use; 120 or 140 grains of powder. Sometime the bullet exits, sometimes not. Typically the heart and lungs are reduced to mush by bullet fragments. Several years ago i started doing CNS shots whenever possible, bang flops.

 

[big al hunter]

While I don't want to talk you out of a rifle build if that's what you want, you stated that you already have enough gun for moose. You said you have a 300 mag. That's plenty of rifle for moose. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt them with a 30-06. Choose a well built bullet of 200 grains or more, intended for hunting. Several are available in bonded core. Nosler Partition is a good choice. Put the bullet in the proper place on the animal and it won't go far. The areas that moose inhabit in Washington will probably have you fairly close, but there is a possibility for a longer shot. Practice regularly and know your limits. If you have to get closer, do so. The terrain and flora should give you a way to get closer.

You have plenty of time to practice and or build that new rifle. On average it takes 18 years to draw a moose permit in Washington. We don't have many tags available.