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- Jun 23, 2007
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I've had this Ultra-Hi .45 cal percussion rifle for 25 years or so, and have not hunted anything but rabbits with it and used it for some informal competitions. Since I drew a buck tag, but no elk tag this year, I decided to carry the .45 and leave the .54 home. It's about 4 pounds lighter, and I seem to feel the years more and more every season. Anyway, using information I got off this forum for a maximum load, this is the end result:
I took the week off from work for the Colorado ML season. I hunted hard the first three days, and all I saw were does and elk. My three sons were up hunting with me, depending on work or school schedules. Only one of us, Nelson, had an elk tag, but he was only seeing deer. The other two boys, John and Paul, were only seeing elk. Situation normal. Well, they all had to go back to work or school, and I was out by myself after a day off, and working some old clearcuts where I often see game. I glassed the last one pretty hard, there's a lot of rolling terrain and clumps of xmas tree size pines. Not seeing anything, I walked out into the edge of it to sit down on a log in the sun and snack and drink some water and rest and scratch my butt. Well, when I looked up, here was this muley buck from out of no where walking right towards me. We saw each other at the same time, but he just stood there staring at me trying to figure out what I was. My rifle was in my lap, so I just picked it up and shot him. He was angled slightly towards me and decided to take a step forward just as I squeezed off, and I was afraid I hit him too far back, but the way he ran off, I knew he was hit hard. He ran off over a little rise and disappeared. I paced off the distance to where he was standing, and it was 90 yards. I thought it was only 75 yards, I always seem to underestimate the distance out in big open spaces. There was no blood, but I could see his tracks in the dirt and followed them to where I last saw him. He was piled up just over the other side of the rise. I was really impressed by that .45 roundball when I field dressed him. The ball had hit further back than I wanted, but it still holed one lung, pulverized 1/2 his liver, went into his paunch, and exited out the far side. I was shooting a .433 Hornady roundball, .015 wonderlubed patch, and 60 grs. of Goex 3f. The rifle was a used kit gun made in Japan that I bought for $40 and reworked. Excuse the quality of the picture, I only had a cell phone for a camera.
I took the week off from work for the Colorado ML season. I hunted hard the first three days, and all I saw were does and elk. My three sons were up hunting with me, depending on work or school schedules. Only one of us, Nelson, had an elk tag, but he was only seeing deer. The other two boys, John and Paul, were only seeing elk. Situation normal. Well, they all had to go back to work or school, and I was out by myself after a day off, and working some old clearcuts where I often see game. I glassed the last one pretty hard, there's a lot of rolling terrain and clumps of xmas tree size pines. Not seeing anything, I walked out into the edge of it to sit down on a log in the sun and snack and drink some water and rest and scratch my butt. Well, when I looked up, here was this muley buck from out of no where walking right towards me. We saw each other at the same time, but he just stood there staring at me trying to figure out what I was. My rifle was in my lap, so I just picked it up and shot him. He was angled slightly towards me and decided to take a step forward just as I squeezed off, and I was afraid I hit him too far back, but the way he ran off, I knew he was hit hard. He ran off over a little rise and disappeared. I paced off the distance to where he was standing, and it was 90 yards. I thought it was only 75 yards, I always seem to underestimate the distance out in big open spaces. There was no blood, but I could see his tracks in the dirt and followed them to where I last saw him. He was piled up just over the other side of the rise. I was really impressed by that .45 roundball when I field dressed him. The ball had hit further back than I wanted, but it still holed one lung, pulverized 1/2 his liver, went into his paunch, and exited out the far side. I was shooting a .433 Hornady roundball, .015 wonderlubed patch, and 60 grs. of Goex 3f. The rifle was a used kit gun made in Japan that I bought for $40 and reworked. Excuse the quality of the picture, I only had a cell phone for a camera.
