Going to hang it up for a while

[bronko22000]

Centerfire rifle hunting that is. Over the past couple of years I've accquired a nice muzzleloading arsenal - mostly sidelocks. Now I believe it is time to utilize them and all I've learned on this site and through my own experiences. I've decided that rather than only using my MLs only during the special seasons, I am going to be using them exclusively. So for the next couple years I will only be bow hunting and for all rifle/ml seasons I will be toting one of my sidelocks. I think that will put more of a challenge on me. Looking back over my hunting career which started when I was 12 and harvested my first doe - and since I was 16 and able to hunt on my own I harvested at least one whitetail every year, going without a buck in only 2 or 3 seasons plus a handful of black bear. So the 'kill' isn't the reason I go any more. Just the thrill of the hunt.

[cayugad]

Basically that is my same story. For years I hunted with Center Fire rifles. I have a real nice selection of them actually. But it got boring. So I went to a muzzleloader and have never hunted with a center fire seriously... since.

[Semisane]

I'm pretty much of the same frame of mind Bronko. My two deer caliber cartridge guns have stayed in the closet for the last two seasons, and will probably stay there next season.

I've been carrying the sidelocks mostly, but did have the X7 in my hands for a few hunts. By pure chance, the three deer I killed in 2009/10 season and two in 2010/11 were all taken with sidelocks.

[builder459]

I am seriously considering doing the same thing and my friends say i am nuts! longest shot i have ever taken here is 300 yds with my 25-06, which is pretty much a dead on hold the way i have it sighted in.using a front stuffer just makes things more interesting ! Ray

[arcticap]

That's interesting but in my state using a muzzle loader during the firearms season is not an option. They are separate and distinct seasons. State land firearms is actually a shotgun only affair.
Before the popularity of rifled shotgun barrels, state land shotgun season was largely a smooth bore season which utilized a more primitive type of barrel than the rifled muzzle loading barrel.
Even today, hunting with a single shot smooth bore shotgun has a more limited range than most muzzle loaders.
I don't use a smooth bore shotgun for hunting deer anymore but shotgun hunting is a great form of hunting. It's much like shooting a muzzle loading conical bullet, especially when using a 20 gauge.
A .20 gauge saboted lead slug starts out at about .40 caliber before it expands on impact.
Why this state keeps the seasons distinct is mostly for game management reasons. The shotgunners get 2nd crack at the deer which is during the main rut and after the long bow season. Then the muzzle loaders hunt last when their longer range guns aren't impeded as much by the foliage, the deer are more wary and the woods aren't as crowded.
Centerfire rifle hunting in this state is only allowed on private land, and now pistol hunting is an option here on private land for the first time.

[Muley Hunter]

I've already done this.

[pluckit]

For the previous 10 years or so, right up untill last year, I did all of my deer hunting with a .50 cal. Thompson Center Hawkins. I would normally harvest an average of 3 deer every year. One year the total was 6, some time before that, 5. Those were my 2 best years. The reason was that I had knocked the open sights, on my 12 guage pump off target, and instead of resighting it in , I just started using the Hawkins all the time. The summer before last deer season I decided to mount a scope on the old 12 guage pump and give it a try. I wound up taking all three deer with it and took nothing home with a muzzleloader last year. Shooting a rifled barrel shotgun is close to equal to shooting a muzzleloader but you get 5 shots before reloading instead of 1. Anyway, I went with the muzzleloader handicap for about 10 years and it is quite challenging and very rewarding. But the advantages of using a modern firearm are great and I plan to use them. But be certain that I will still be out there when you can only use a muzzleloader. The challenge and thrill of a one shot kill will always keep me coming back for more. And if you have ever reloaded a muzzleloader and shot the other deer that was standing near by, before it was spooked away, wow, now that's the cat's meow. My next endeavor is to harvest a deer with a muzzleloading pistol.

[SuperKirby]

This is also pretty much the way I've gone. Since moving to MN where I don't have the option of using a center fire rifle, it's been muzzleloader only. Shotgun has no appeal. I've gone back and forth about if I ever have the opportunity to move back to WY what I would hunt with, but honestly I think it would still be muzzleloader only. The only other thing I would consider is using a handgun. Rifles just kind of lost their appeal to me. Even the AR I built isn't really all that fun to shoot.

[TNHagies]

I understand and share your throughts Bronco. I have almost the same story/past as you. I gave up my centerfires about 10 years ago. I can honestly say that I greatly enjoy hunting and my kills greater now.

[oldsmellhound]

In Ohio we can't use a centerfire. I used to use a shotgun w/slugs, but went over exclusively to muzzleloaders about 6 years ago and never looked back. I also bow hunt. I'm at the point where I consider scoped inlines to be a little too "easy" and am looking forward to purchasing a sidelock in the next year or two to increase the challenge again.