ORIGINAL: bowfisherman[*]Thanks Chap.[*]I'm in Pennsylvania but will mostly be hunting maryland.[*]tight woods in PA and wide open marsh in MD. I would like to see how comfortable I am with it and decide whether or not to buy a scope. To be honest I would be thrilled with an accurate 50 yard open sight weapon. I'm a bowhunter so double the range of my bow would be nice when muzzleloader overlaps bow season in MD.[*]not too interested in a traditional rifle[*]I will hunt and go to the range fairly often. I go to a gun club every few weeks.[*]Maybe 500 or less for the gun. I have leupolds on my rifles so I would probably go with one their muzzleloader scopes if I decide to use one.[*]I would mostly be hunting 40-100 lb sika deer in MD so I don't need much knockdown power. Less recoil the better. I normally shoot a 270 so something with recoil similar to that is comfortable. I have a 7mm mag that I can't stand shooting because of the recoil.
Your welcome. I grew up in Pa, and still hunt FL season up there in January, so I am familiar with the laws. MD I know they have an extensive bow season that opens Sept 15, but don't know their rules on MLer. I know in Penna, that the MLer season for 1 week in October is does only and you can use inlines.
MLers are a lot of fun especially during the rut, they are 1 shot like a bow, but you can shoot up to 100 yards or with a scope 150-175 is possible. Based on what you said, because of both open fields and woods I am gonna recommend a 3x9 scope for the gun, most deer are shot at less than 100 yards. As for recoil, most 100g loads with 250g bullets are like shooting a 270, and if you shoot a 195g Barnes MZ (plenty enought for Sitka), then it would drop down to about a 243, which is very mild shooting gun.I think you will enjoy MLing. Enjoy, Best Wishes,
Chap