my situation was. i shot a doe that turned out to be a buck. and i had a buck tag. I did no wrong .. ive been hunting since i was 4 or 5 and ive seen so many hunters with family members that shoot some1 elses animal. i went hunting on a friends place and he had his niece there and she couldnt hit the broad side of a barn and after 4 shots her uncle dropped it for her, along with his deer. Im not the only one thats done it. One time out of 17 years of hunting. Hell even when i went to get my CC the officer there told us of a story where he shot a deer with him rifle and the thing took off over a hill and he heard a huge BOOM and some kid shot at his deer and missed but the kid thought he hit it bcuz it dropped. The kid was using a shot gun with a slug and u can see the difference between a slug gun hole and a .270 hole. The officer said he had every right to take the deer but the kid was so excited that he huge gave the kid a pat on the back and walked off. Theres a lot of hunters out there with family that go out to spend time and have a good time. Its not about the killing. i went 4 years before i ever shot something. Ive shot a total of 4 big game animals in 17 years of hunting. Half the time i think hunters buy a tag just so they can go out and relax. Now what does piss me off is when i walk up on a hunter with his back to a tree and 3 empty beer cans. That just pisses me off. Ive come across hunters with eyes so red and blood shot, they could barely speak and they are out hunting. But the thing is guys, i had a buck tag and that deer had a penis.

F.G. I'm sure you picked up on my name and thats why you blasted us bowhunters. I do not have to justify my abilities with a bow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzleloaderto anyone and will not get into that issue. There are alot of respectable people on this forum and I will not step down from thier level to talk about this topic with you again.

Most of the WMA's here a range that one can shoot off the loaded ML if they want. I personally do not like to shoot it off to unload it while there are hunters in the area that have been there all morning waiting patiently for game.
If I have no alternatuve, I will decap it and keep it loaded asit hasbeen mentioned above.

Mike & Rebel, thanks forbring us back on topic.

I live in a pretty dry area with low humidity. After reading all this, I think I will just decap at the end of the day and then recap in the morning. If there is a rainy day, or something happens to warrent it, I will then just pull the nipple out and push the load out.

Also, I will be using a 3/16" thick wad card on top of the powder. The diameter is oversized and fits nice and tight down the barrel. This should create a very good barrier against moisture.

Not at all, i wasnt taking any shots at you. i was just stating that bowhunters and rifle hunters are known for gutshooting. Muzzleloader hunters are known for missing. And i enjoy this forum,its the only one ive found that is actually active. Ive actually upgraded my inline with a bi pod for this year. I doubt i'll ever use is, every animal ive ever shot has seen me first. Actually the inline stays at camp while i take the flintlock, ive never hunted with a flintlock and thought it would be a nice traditional experience. I also shoot recurve bows.

That's my situation exactly and I will be doing the same. Thanks.

i agree, its just plain rude to fire off your gun with other hunters close by. If you want to empty the gun, pull the breech plug out of the inline and push it out. Or pull it out the front with an traditional ML. If you keep moisture out of the bore and off the cap area. it will be fine. I got stuck out in a sleet storm once and thats the only time i fired my gun off. Everything on that gun was soaked.

Copied this straight out of the CO rules and regs book, page 14... No excuses, and no mention of a penis. You did do wrong.

what should i do next time? walk out in the field with a tape measure and ask mr buck if i can measure his antler to see if hes legal? and i know 5inchs or more is legal. The point is tho. it worked out fine at the end and everyone had their tag for each animal taken.. Except my bull tag. I missed a 6x6. Was about 20 minutes to late and another hunter got him

Do you know how long a mule deers ear is?