I bow hunt and use a shotgun (sluggun) during gun season. I want to get a muzzleloader this year.

What do you do with the load at the end of the hunt? Do you go ahead and fire it before leaving or leave the load and charge in the barrell?(obviously, you'd at least take the primer out)

See, I told you it was a stupid question.

First of all there are no stupid questions. I always pull the charge since I usually hunt and stay out until it's dark. I don't want to be the guy who fires in the dark. As far as leaving the charge in the barrel I would not recommend it at all since blackpowder is so corrosive in any barrel, the barrel starts to rust and breakdown. If you leave it loaded (without the primer of course) the powder also begins to break down and there's also a chance that moisture will collect in the powder. Most powders are hydroscopic, which means they draw moisture. Everyone knows that moisture in a ML is very bad. I still bowhunt like mad but will never fire a shotgun/slug combo. I have a 50 cal ML and a 12 guage Blackpowder Turkey gun. Check out this gun http://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1492

On dry days I may leave it in. Longest I ever went was the entire two weeks of firearms season. With humid weather or subjecting the rifle to different temps of a minivan or station wagon that has no trunk, then I usually fired the load after dark.... a mile or twodown the road on public lands. I always fired groundward & marked the spot in case a Natural Resourcesofficer responded to the shot.

It isfairly dry here in Colorado, so I usually leave the gun charged for the whole season. And if I'm using pellets, I usuallyremove the breech plug (in line) and push the bullet and pellets out. Loose powder creates such a mess doing this that I'd rather just discharge the gun.