neweboarhunter

I was at my local gun shop this morning and some hunters mentioned they were heading to Colorado, Elk hunting for muzzleloader season. The question if pyrodex pellets (or any other pellets) could be used, legally in CO or not came up and there seemed to be confussion on this matter. Then they said you can' t use a scope on your muzzleloader?!? What' s up with that? It seem' s the powers that be in Denver are handicapping hunters by not letting them make the most accurate shot possible,also this does the Elk no justice either. What' s next no in-line muzzleloaders!![][:@][:' (].

bigbulls

Not to sound rude or anything but if you don' t like the laws then don' t hunt here. If you can' t put a bullet in an elks vitals inside 100 yards with iron sights then you don' t need to be hunting them with a ML.

In-lines are legal.

Pelletized powder is not legal. Must be in powder form.

Smokeless powder is not legal. Only BP and it' s substitutes.

Scopes are not legal. Must be open sights.

Sabots are not legal. Bullets must be full bore and not excede twice the diameter in length.

50 Caliber is minimum for elk.

neweboarhunter

bigbulls,

I have no plans to hunt Colorado, this year. I would like to some time and you can bet that I will follow ALL the rules. This question on pelletized poweder just doesn' t make sense to me. I can understand the smokeless powder ban, (might as well use a centerfire) kinda takes the FUN out of BLACK powder hunting. The sabot law I don' t like but would not complain too much about, since I would use the powerbelt bullets. As far as no scopes go. Must be the liberals in Denver.[:' (]

ColoradoElk

NBH: You would receive alot more responses if you had waited a week, as the muzzleloader guys are in the field now. In CO, you get to hunt almost prime rut for muzzleloading season, and, at least to me, makes sense to " limit" yourself to more traditional techniques.

neweboarhunter

ColoradoElk,

Yeah I blew the timing on this thread. These fellows I was talking with seemed to be at odds about the rules, I just wanted to see what was BS or not.
I will have to go along with what you say about the rut, from what I have read and heard them bulls loose a lot of their wits, which would make them easier to kill with a scope, centerfire rifle etc. They could allow scoped muzzleloaders during a late season hunt.

New thought: What about pistol hunters, do they get to hunt during the rut in Colorado?

Does Colorado have a website for their " game and fish dept" ?

Howler

You can elk hunt with a pistol during rifle season, of course there are plenty of rules that your pistol must meet to qualify it to be used too. You can go to the website at, wildlife.state.co.us and read all about it.

Dusty Dog

It seems to me that if you go " muzzleloading" with a scoped, inline gun that is accurate and effective at 200-plus yards [:@] you might as well go with a centerfire.
Whatever happened to learning/developing the hunting skills and techniques it takes to get within the effective range of the gun you are using.
I have no doubt that our fore-fathers would have chosen the in-line over the sidelocks if they had the choice, which they didn' t. They did just fine with their sidelocks, because they knew their limitations and were good enough hunters/survivalist to get within effective range of the intended game.
I just wish Arkansas Game and Fish would put some limitations on the muzzleloading rifles instead of cutting our muzzleloading season from 25 days to 7 days, [:@][:@] which they did this year. TAKE NOTE, it happened here and it could also happen in your state.
Take care, good hunting and may God bless you and yours.