Shotgun or Muzzleloader

[magicofmt]

Going to Iowa for deer season (hopefully) and only shotguns or muzzeloaders are allowed in gun season. What do or would you shoot for deer to 150yds or further. Any help on muzzleloader cal , etc would help, I'm a real rookie here. I have a Striker in 7mm-08 but thet is an illegal pistol.

Thanks!

[James Jones]

I personaly would use a muzzel loader , my Encore is just over MOA accurate at 250yds with 250gr SSt bullets and a magnum charge. I woulden't chance a slug that far , maybe with a custom built slug gun and ammo that it realy liked but doubtfull. If 150yds is gonna be the max then a well put together slug gun wil do that but I woulden't push it much past that but then again i have't seen any custom slug guns.

The TC Omega is a good deal , all the ones I'v seen were pretty accurate once you found what they like to eat.

[edge]

I do not see anything in the regs concerning smokeless powder. I would look into a smokeless muzzleloader.

Obviously you would be new to ML hunting, and smokeless offers the opportunity to not worry about cleaning. IMO, this increases the enjoyment immensely.

Smokeless also can increase your range in some cases, but this generally requires a lot of experimentation.

I started with a plain jane Savage and upgraded, but the starter Savage will get you to 200 yards easily without the mess of BP or the various substitute powders. Some States do not allow smokeless, some require open ignition, and some outlaw scopes and 209 primers. If IA is your only place you will be using this rifle then you are OK, but if you will be hunting various States, do some homework because not all ML's are legal!

edge.