Tuesday’s Take Your Best Shot: Muzzleloader Pronghorn
OutdoorHub Staff 09.20.16
Scenario: Pronghorn buck, quartering away; stalked by hunter carrying a muzzleloader
Muzzleloader: CVA Accura .50 cal.
Range: 175 yards
Conditions: Sunny; 60 degrees; calm wind
It’s been a hard hunt for your New Mexico pronghorn, and now you’re staring at a good buck 175 yards away. He’s been pushing the smaller buck around in the distance, and you don’t know if his next rush will send him over a hill and out of sight. Do you make smoke now? Check out the possible aiming points A, B or C shown below, then take your best shot.
A. It’s tempting. Aim high where the back and neck join and the buck should drop like a sack of cement in a truck bed. Of course, any miscalculation could deflect the bullet off the scapula or even a high vertebrae bone.
B. Give yourself plenty of room and aim just ahead of the rear hip. This gives your saboted bullet plenty of plowing room, but what if the bullet runs out of energy before it hits the engine room?
C. Do you see the far front leg? Aim for that on the near side of the body. Your Hornady MonoFlex ML bullet has the energy to smack through the lungs and destroy the far shoulder.
Use the third circle on your Nikon BDC reticle to compensate for trajectory and go with option C. Your New Mexico dream hunt is about to end with a cooler full of fresh pronghorn venison.
