Editor’s Note: Allen Treadwell from southwest Missouri is a professional hunter and videographer. He films TV shows for Bass Pro Shops, Hunter’s Specialties and “Winchester Whitetail Revolution.” 

 Treadwell: I was filming a show for “Bass Pro Shops 100% Real Hunting TV,” which airs on the Versus Network. I was hunting the early-season muzzleloader and shotgun seasons in Iowa, and I took my CVA Accura with me. The weather was perfect for deer hunting – miserable, cold, snowy with below-zero temperatures at night and never above 20 degrees during the day. There were 6-7 inches of snow on the ground, which is the best time for me to hunt, because the deer at that time of year have to go to the food sources and primarily to agriculture to survive. I was hunting with Nick Boley of Windy Ridge Outfitters in Van Buren County in southeast Iowa. 

Question: Why did you decide to hunt with this outfitter?
Treadwell: I’ve hunted with him in the past. I filmed a bowhunting show for Hunter’s Specialties’ “Primetime Bucks” video series there. This was an early December hunt. Nick had been scouting this area before my hunt. With the fresh snow we’d had the night before my hunt, Nick and I went out and did a little scouting around a soybean field that had been left unharvested for the deer, and there were tracks coming into that bean field from all directions. Nick had put a shooting house out in the middle of this field. That morning, we spotted a couple of nice bucks, but they were staying back in the timber. However, several does came out into the field. We were about a week past the full moon, so the moon was still bright at night. I try to plan my hunts around a moon calendar, because I really believe that the moon plays an important role in when deer feed. By 7 or 8 am, the deer activity was dying down on this day. I’d learned from hunting Iowa in the past that when these really-cold days occurred, deer wouldn’t move much in the middle of the day. I generally would hunt for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening, because those times were when deer seemed to move the most. That afternoon, we got in the shooting house early and saw 30 or 40 does and several small bucks. An hour before dark, a big main-framed 10 pointer white-tail buck with split brow tines and a 22-inch-wide rack that would score in the 150s came out and presented the shot.

Question: Why did you take the Accura on the hunt?
Treadwell:  The CVA Accura is absolutely the best-shooting blackpowder rifle I’ve ever hunted with in my life. I’ve been shooting muzzleloaders and taking deer with them since I was 10-years old. I’ve shot every muzzleloader on the market. CVA has always produced the most-accurate, well-balanced muzzleloaders that I’ve ever shot. With the CVA Accura, I know that I can take any deer that I see from 200 yards out to right in front of me.

 
Treadwell: I shoot 150 grains of Pyrodex Pellets and a 245-grain PowerBelt bullet.

Question: How far away was this buck when you took the shot?
Treadwell: I ranged him at 145 yards. I used the Leupold Ultimate Slam riflescope with my first crosshair dead-on at 150 yards, my second crosshair dead-on at 200 and my third crosshair dead-on at 300.

Question: Where did you hit the deer?
Treadwell: The PowerBelt bullet hit him right behind the shoulders. The buck ran to the edge of the field and tipped over. There were so many deer in the field when I shot that they all took off running. I was 99% sure that I’d hit the buck. He fell down behind a tree. I could see his rack, and I saw him kick snow when he tipped over. But in my mind’s eye I didn’t know for a fact that he was down. So, I stayed in my shooting house and let things calm down in the field. Then I slipped out of the shooting house as quietly as possible, went back to the lodge, ate supper and waited a few hours before returning to find the buck.

I think one of the reasons many hunters lose the bucks they take is they go running after them after the shot. Sure, I had just shot a big deer, and I wanted to get my hands on him. But, I’ve learned over the years unless I’m 100% positive that the deer’s down, I’d much rather back-out, let the deer lie-down and go back in a few hours. I’ve learned that you can recover more deer using this tactic than if you get excited, go chasing after the deer and spook him so bad he runs out of the county.

After supper, we returned and recovered my buck, and he was lying exactly where I thought he would be. The buck scored 145 points on the Boone & Crockett scale, and he weighed over 300 pounds. The real secret to hunting with black powder is to know when you squeeze the trigger that the bullet will go where you intend it to go. When I’m shooting the CVA Accura, I know for a fact that out to 300 yards, when I put the crosshairs on the deer where I want the bullet to land, the Accura will deliver the PowerBelt bullet to that place.

To hunt with Windy Ridge Outfitters, visit www.huntiowawhitetails.com or call (641) 919-2801.

with Mark Hendricks

Editor’s Note: Mark Hendricks, vice president of Technical Development for CVA, helps with product design, manufacturing, production, quality control and bringing new products to the market for CVA. This week, Hendricks will tell us what to expect from some of CVA’s new 2010 products.

Question: Mark, how has the CVA Wolf been redesigned this year?
Hendricks: The CVA Wolf always has been an inexpensive starter gun for most muzzleloading hunters, and it’s the rifle most blackpowder hunters purchase first. Too, the Wolf always has been our bestselling muzzleloading rifle. We’ve redesigned it in many of the same ways we’ve redesigned the CVA Optima. We wanted to build into the Wolf all the features our customers requested at a price they could afford. However, the newly-redesigned Wolf only is available with the blued finish. We’ve gone back to the more-traditional stock design for the Wolf, but it now has the CVA Quick Release Breech Plug (QRBP) and Delrin-lined thimbles. The receiver design is very similar to the new Optima in that there are no visible pins and screws, giving the gun a more-clean look. Last year’s price for the Wolf was $180.95, and the price for the new Wolf, even with all the new features we’ve added, is $220.95. So, you get a better rifle with more new features for only $40 more. We’ve listened to our consumers and built the features into the new guns that our customers wanted at an affordable price. The changes we’ve made throughout our lines of guns have been consumer driven. We try to respond to the muzzleloading public’s rifle wants and needs. We then incorporate these suggestions in the next generation of muzzleloading rifles we introduce.

Question: Did your company redesign the CVA Accura?
Hendricks: Yes, we did, even though it’s the most-popular muzzleloader in the CVA line. The Accura is more or less the flagship for the muzzleloaders. In the past, the Accura has been available as a blued gun, but this year, all the new 2010 Accuras will be stainless steel. You’ll also see them with longer, 27-inch fluted barrels. We’ve learned that our consumer tends to want longer barrels with their more-expensive blackpowder rifles. The Wolf, our introductory gun, has a 24-inch barrel. The Optima has a 26-inch fluted barrel. The Accura has a 27-inch fluted Bergara barrel, which is a premium barrel. Ed Shilling, one of the nation’s leading benchrest shooters, set-up our quality-control inspections and tolerances. The Accura is available in either .45 or .50 caliber.

Question: CVA introduced the .45 caliber a few years ago. Is the .45-caliber blackpowder rifle still as popular as it was when you first introduced it?
Hendricks: It’s extremely popular with the blackpowder shooters who understand the ballistics of the .45 caliber and know why it’s superior in many applications. However, the average muzzleloading hunter still prefers the .50 caliber, mainly because Jeremiah Johnson shot a .50 caliber. That movie probably promoted blackpowder hunting as much as any other promotional device ever. The movie “Jeremiah Johnson” entrenched the .50-caliber rifle in the minds of blackpowder shooters. The suggested retail for the .50-caliber Accura with a black FiberGrip thumbhole stock is $486.95. The .45-caliber Accura is only available in stainless steel with a Realtree APG HD thumbhole camo stock and is priced at $547.95. The .50-caliber with Realtree APG HD thumbhole camo stock also is priced at $547.95. Too, we’ve upgraded the stock, so the checkering pattern on the stock is rubberized, making the rifle more comfortable to hold.

For information on the CVA Optima Muzzleloader, Mark did an interview over at CVA Single Shot Rifles.

with Mark Hendricks

Mark Hendricks, the vice president of Technical Development for CVA, helps with product design, manufacturing, production, quality control and bringing new products to the market for CVA.

This year, the most-exciting new product to come from CVA is the Scout, an entry-level, single-shot, centerfire muzzleloading rifle. It has a very-simple barrel catch in front of the trigger guard. This back-to-basics gun will retail for around $300 and will be available with a black stock and either a blued or a stainless-steel barrel. The Scout will be offered in .243, .7mm-08, .270, .30-06 and .35 Whelen calibers. I’ve been asked, “Why did CVA come out with a basic single-shot, break-open rifle in the $300 range?” The answer is simple. Our customers demanded it. In states like Mississippi and Louisiana, there’s a huge demand for the single-shot, break-open rifle due to the new primitive-weapons’ seasons. Mississippi, in particular, is allowing any single-shot rifle in the .35 caliber or larger to be used during the primitive-weapons seasons, which formerly was a blackpowder-only season. This primitive-weapons’ season has created a tremendous demand for cartridge rifles, because they’re easier to load and care for than CVA’s muzzleloading rifles.

We also are offering this rifle, since a number of our customers want to purchase rifles for their youngsters without having to miss a house payment. The .35 Whelen caliber gun will be extremely popular in Mississippi and Louisiana, but the other calibers will have nationwide appeal. You can’t find many deer rifles for young hunters in the .243 caliber at reasonable prices. This rifle is very simple and cost effective. The single-shot rifles have become more popular in recent years. Many hunters want a good quality, basic rifle they can use to take game. Too, because it’s a single-shot, the Scout’s a safe rifle for a young hunter’s first gun. Because the hammer is exposed, an adult easily can make sure the hammer isn’t cocked. The internal mechanism of this rifle also prevents the barrel from being closed, if the hammer’s cocked, which adds to the safety of the rifle.

CVA also offers the Scout Compact model in a .243 caliber that’s designed specifically for young hunters. The stock in the Compact version is an inch shorter than the Scout Standard, and the barrel is 2-inches shorter. You have the option of open sights or mounting a riflescope on it. The Scout Compact is lightweight and easy to handle, and you can purchase a sling for the Scout Compact, just like for the Scout Standard. The suggested retail for the Scout Compact with a blued finish with open sights is $331.95, and if you want the rails for a scope mounted on the rifle, the suggested retail is $340.95. We know there’s a large demand for this gun because it’s lightweight, simple to operate and extremely comfortable to shoot. Remember that the Scout Compact is only available in the .243 caliber. However, the Scout Standard is a full-sized gun and comes with the scope mounts already in place. We believe this gun will allow more hunters to purchase a rifle they can use to hunt deer and other big game at a reasonable price.

The Scout and the Scout Compact are available with a rifle/scope/case outfit that includes the gun, a KonusPro 3-9×40 scope mounted with DuraSight integral mounts and a CVA padded rifle case. This outfit, including a Scout Standard (7mm-08, .270, .30-06 or.35 Whelen) or Compact (.243) with black FiberGrip, is $470.95 in stainless steel or $430.95 in blued steel.

by Mark Hendricks

Editor’s Note: To learn why CVA began building the old .35 Whelen barrels for its Optima and Optima Elite rifles, we talked to Mark Hendricks, vice president of technical development for CVA. A movement is afoot to revive old calibers and allow modern hunters to hunt with them. When the State of Louisiana decided to allow primitive firearms hunters to use the .45-70 caliber, and the State of Mississippi allowed the use of the .45-70 and the .35 Whelen, a trend emerged that enables antique gun enthusiasts to use some of these old traditional rifles and calibers during primitive weapons season.

When asked if the .35 Whelen would be appropriate for hunting big game in Africa, besides hunting white-tailed deer in Mississippi, I explained that in the past, the Colorado Custom Bullet Company, which later became the Barnes Bullet Company, offered a solid-copper bullet for the .35 Whelen. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it on a buffalo. If an expanded bullet was used for the .35 Whelen, it would be appropriate for African big-game from the antelope to the lion. The .35 Whelen would put African big game down efficiently.

To successfully use antique rifles during primitive weapons season in Mississippi the rifle must be .35 caliber or bigger in a single shot, break-open type rifle like CVA’s Optima or Optima Elite. Other rounds that may be used are the .356 or the .375 Winchester. I hope to see the day when antique cartridges and calibers make a comeback to modern-day hunting. CVA muzzleloaders must remain clean and maintained by the owner. Most of the repairs that come into our customer-service department aren’t caused because the gun has failed, but rather are due to the hunters’ failing to keep the guns clean and use the proper accessories. So, bringing back the antique cartridges for primitive weapons season may solve many problems for hunters. I’d like to see some of the other true antique cartridges brought back for hunters to use during this season. Some of the pre-1900 cartridges were a lot of fun to shoot and extremely efficient at taking deer. Too, I’d like to see the .38-55, the .444 Marlin and several other antique cartridges reappear. There’s no disadvantage to shooting these antique cartridges, other than being able to find the ammunition and the gun with which to shoot them.

I’d pick the .45-70 against any modern cartridge for bringing down white-tailed deer. Another disadvantage to these antique cartridges would be the range, which might legitimize them to be used during a primitive weapons season. However, when you’re considering antique cartridges for a season that deals primarily with antique guns and primitive weapons, having a 300-yard shot isn’t necessarily the goal or the intent of that season. Therefore, the range at which these antique cartridges will be effective shouldn’t be a problem. The purpose of many primitive weapons seasons is to allow the rifle hunter to take game up close and personal, much like the bowhunter does, with weapons used by our forefathers.

If customers want more antique-caliber rifles, just let us know at CVA. CVA will respond to the customers’ needs, like we did when the hunters in Mississippi wanted the .35 Whelen barrel. To learn more about the .35 Whelen, call the CVA customer-service desk at 770-449-4687, or visit our webpage at www.CVA.com.