Why do I hunt... well I guess the easy answer is, I grew up hunting and it always seemed like the thing to do. It put fresh mean on the table and was a change from beef and pork. I do like to hunt but admit, if there is no game in the area, I will not mind sleeping in either.

Why I hunt with a muzzle loader is kind of strange. I hunted with center fire rifles for many years. I shot and practiced with them just as I do with muzzleloaders. And where I used to hunt with friends, there were lots of deer. And then deer hunting lost some of its charm for me. I went to my stand and usually with in two hours, a deer came into range and my hunting was over.

Then I met a person who later began a best friend. He hunted with muzzleloaders. And got me shooting them. And the bug hit, I purchased my first rifle. I hunted deer that year and it was really fun to have to work close to the animals. As my effective range with the open sights was about 75 yards. But I still hunted hard and got my deer.

The more I hunted with the muzzleloader the more I enjoyed the challenge. No more 500 yard shots. No more shoot and if you miss the next one was on its way. It made me a better hunter to have a black powder gun. And as my collection grew so did the animals I pursued. Like John mentioned, now with age, and injuries, I find it harder and harder to hunt. And so I decided target shooting was a fine way to enjoy my sport and collection.