IdahoHntr
WKR
The guys that have responded above have forgot more about muzzleloading than I've ever known, but I thought I'd share what worked for me as a big buck hunter that occasionally picks up the muzzleloader when the tag gives me a chance at a good buck.
With my Idaho deer tag this past year I shot the 420 gr no excuses over 95 gr pyrodex with a veg fiber wad. I tested the load without the wad and impacts were very similar as far elevation, just not near as consistent of groups. My plan was to skip the wad if I was reloading in a huge hurry. For most loads I don't think it would be too big of an issue to just skip the wad in a quick reloading scenario, but I'd just test it out and see first. Having a wad really reigned my groups in and made this load much more consistent than I thought possible with a muzzleloader with open sights. I unfortunately didn't get to test this load on a buck, but it did shoot extremely accurately out to 150 yards with open sights, and I'm sure even further if I'd have spent more time on it.
With my Idaho deer tag this past year I shot the 420 gr no excuses over 95 gr pyrodex with a veg fiber wad. I tested the load without the wad and impacts were very similar as far elevation, just not near as consistent of groups. My plan was to skip the wad if I was reloading in a huge hurry. For most loads I don't think it would be too big of an issue to just skip the wad in a quick reloading scenario, but I'd just test it out and see first. Having a wad really reigned my groups in and made this load much more consistent than I thought possible with a muzzleloader with open sights. I unfortunately didn't get to test this load on a buck, but it did shoot extremely accurately out to 150 yards with open sights, and I'm sure even further if I'd have spent more time on it.