It depends a lot on what you hunt for. I hunt primarily because I need the meat. I am a cancer surviver and I do not eat commercial meat. I hunt secondary as a means of enjoyment. Since the meat is critical to me I use the most efficient means of getting that which in Arizona is with a muzzleloader as the chance of getting drawn for a tag is better. Arizona allows inlines and scopes and any powder other than smokeless and any type of bullet so I use an Omega with a scope and synthetic powder (Black Mag'3) and Hornady SST bullets. So far this has worked for me. If I lived where you can hunt without having to draw for the tag and can shoot multiple animals deer etc. I would probably hunt with a sidelock and patched round balls after I got enough meat to carry me through the year. At that point it is more for fun. What it really boils down to is "why are you hunting and what do you expect to get out of it?".