its legal, but ethical?

[Brent]

elk are 400-1500 pounds.

1500? Now that would be some elk!

 

[rawhide]

yep it was huge!!!!!! cusin shot it at 30 yards away. nice 5x5 rack. wish I still had the pics. biggest elk I seen taken. my biggest was 1100 ponder. shot at 10 yards. yes I admit those were above avridge elk. but hey I guess we were lucky that year. I wish that area was still open to hunting. I know there is a huge 6x7 bull in there seen him alot latly while heading to work.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

1500 lbs would have to be a world record.

1300 lbs is considered the limit.

 

[dyemaker]

I agree. Not to mention that the meat would not taste as good as it would if the deer was stopped dead in its tracks. .54 caliber would be about right in my opinion.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

This does show how weak black powder is.

A .243 CF will kill deer all day.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Lets rebank these coals.

. . . in my state it is legal to hunt with any primative firearm .36 and larger, but man that is a little ball. Admitidly our little swamp deer average about 100 to 120 pounds, and I'm a decent shot, but it looks like unless you put it through the heart itself or spine or brain, this little pea sized piece of lead would just annoy the deer. Thoughts?

It's legal. You're hunting 120 lb game. Presumably you don't have another rifle so it's this or stay home.

You're on the low end of killing power but IF you get close and limit yourself to ideal shots and IF you develop a stout load and place the ball accurately it should do.

This might be a case where you just ought to use a conical and then later do good deeds for orphans or widows to clear the blemish it leaves on your soul. ;-)

 

[Pete Gaimari]

What's wrong with conicals? I suggested it in the beginning of this thread. It's not the .36 cal that's small, but the weight of it.
Not modern conicals. I'm not sure they even make them in .36 cal, but the old style that was used in the days of the guns we shoot.

No shame with those. Not compared to Crapodex anyway. :grin:

 

[tg]

"1300 lbs is considered the limit."

That is a big Elk over the years I have been around when two a little over 1000lbs were taken, I believe the Roosevelt sub-species here on the west coast is the largest of any of the N. American Elk

If the gentleman witn the .38 finds a source for researched pre-civilwar or even pre 1870 conicals in the sub .40 cal other than the special target bullets made for specific rifles that would not likely be available at the local five and dime back then please post it for all to enjoy. the ball in that cal should be fine for the archery range shots as mentioned before but I would suggest practice on life sized deer targets so one can be very good at judging range by the relationship of the sight picture and size of deer to barrel width and any other reference which one finds helpfull, having said that if one has any doubt concerning the load,ball size or anything do not use it, even if the gun is a .62, confidence in ones skill and ones choice of gun/load is as important as the ballistics, range or any other thing or things.

 

[newtothis]

What's wrong with conicals? I suggested it in the beginning of this thread. It's not the .36 cal that's small, but the weight of it.
Not modern conicals. I'm not sure they even make them in .36 cal, but the old style that was used in the days of the guns we shoot.

No shame with those. Not compared to Crapodex anyway. :grin:

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF I SHOOT CRAPODEX! lol havnt been able to save up the cash to order some yet, cant find it instores around here, and the half pound i have is reserved for my flintlock pistol. im only eighteen and im a freakin bussboy, so money is always a problem lol. buuut, EVENTUALLY i will have everything i need.

no this aint my only gun, i have plenty centerfires and a .50 inli...inl :barf: ...in :hmm: ...inlin... :redface:
one of those.

 

[rkmeyer]

It might be legal but I would have to think very hard about using
less than a 45cal. IMHO
Dusty :wink:

 

[Bretwalda]

I have to support Spot, Micanopy and some of the others who have given you the "green light" for your hunt with a .38 cal ML. Please make sure that your old barrel groups an acceptable pattern for the range you will be shooting. As one who has had considerable experience shooting large game with a smallbore ML, ethical hunting is a personal & achievable goal that is truly contingent upon the choices that you make and not on the advice others tell you. I wish success and good fortune in all of your future endeavors. :hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

What's wrong with conicals? . . . No shame with those. Not compared to Crapodex anyway. :grin:

I don't draw much of a distinction between those choices. If you're in for a penny you're in for a pound. :haha:

But that's jusy my opinion. Your mileage may vary and void where prohibited.

 

[nchawkeye]

The problen with conicals is that they won't group in deep cut round ball barrels...

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Even at 50 yds?

 

[adirondack46r]

"Ethical" is defined by far more than the caliber of your gun. Yes, the gun is one of the variables in determining whether or not your are an ethical hunter, but there is so much more - do you know the limitations of your equipment? Do you know your personal limitations? Are you willing to let a buck walk if the conditions are not right? I have seen plenty of situations where a hunter behaved unethically with a sufficient firearm/load in his hands. And I've seen hunters who were always conservative when it came to the decision to pull the trigger. They didn't necessarily want a guarantee of a kill, but they wanted to know that they did everything they could to ensure a quick, clean harvest.

I'm biased. My father was the victim of a hunter who made a poor decision and took an unethical shot which resulted in a 12 gauge slug through the thigh and nearly left our family fatherless. A slightly different situation for sure - he had the right firearm but was not an ethical hunter.

So consider all the factors, know your range and shot limitations before you step into the woods and be willing to stick to them. You'll kill deer with that gun if you do.

46r

 

[123.DieselBenz]

The caliber is fine, but the weight of the ball is too light. Can you shoot a conical?

I got some conicals with my 36 cal that was part of the package when I bought it . . . they weigh 129gr . . . I haven't tried them yet . . . I will probably end up melting them into RB's!

I have a 1:48" twist . . . 28" barrel.