sproulman

i agree doug. the early doe season should be done away with.leave archery hunters alone at this time. if you want to use inline, use it in the gun season. you have 2 weeks.i use my flintlock then hunting my buck.i see people shooting 150 yards with those in-lines.they only bought them to make getting their meat easier. what are we turning into, bunch of people that want everything easy for us. i like it hard hunting not easy.in-line is just to much like rifle to me. for target , i think they are real fun,but i would never use one for hunting a buck.too easy for me.

Doegirl75

I guess I'll be the in-line advocate here. If you've accepted the challenge of using a flintlock and are willing to abide by it's limitations, great. May you never see the bottom of you freezer.
What I don't understand, though, is the thinking that using an inline is somehow cheating. Lazy, some of you call it. I spent I don't know how many hours I spent on the range trying to develop loads for my gun. I practice at least once a week to keep my shooting skills sharp. I swab in between shots, and the gun gets cleaned after each and every stinkin' shooting session. I honestly don't see the "easy" part.
It makes me wonder how many in Pennsylvania pick up a flintlock like 2 weeks before the late season, figure out how to get it spark and go boom, a couple more shots at a pie plate 50 yds and away they go... But, they're "Real Hunters" and not those cheater in-liners...[&o]

wayomic

Hey, I have both flint and inline. It's just that why is there a problem withhaving the later season flint only. Again, there is the early season, there is the regular season also.

As far as the thoughts that it is easier with an inline, IMHO it is. I work out loads for all of my firearms to see what is best but with my inline, like my cartridge firearms, I never have to worry about ignition, delay, almost never about hangfire, rain ormoisture,etcetera. And even without counting the rifles able to use smokeless, it is near to using a regualr single shot rifle in performance and ease of use. Flint, and to a point percussion, you do have all of those things and more.

Doug S

Doegirl & others,

My statements were made in general, and the trouble with general statements is thatthey generally miss a large number of factors and in this case, people. For example, I mentioned the "good old days" of guys hunting in plaid coats, trust me, not all of those guys were good hunters and quite a few rarely practiced with their trusty Winchesters before the season. And, I've been around this internet longenough to realize that there are many who take inlineshooting more seriously than some who shoot a more primitive type of gun,most of my friends shoot inlines and a couple of them are darn good hunters to boot. Inlines are just a symptom of a much large disease, for lack of a better word call it greed, or me-ism, a disease that is permiating through our whole society and not just hunting. If inlines are not any easier then why, when the percentage of people that hunt in this country is dropping, do we seesuch a higher percentage of people out during ML'r season? I've been around long enough to tell you that this increase started when inlines became good enough and/or cheap enough that a guy could go to the store and buy one, sight it in quickly and just head into the woods, just like many centerfires. I could care less about how many people are in the woods, but I do care about what is happening to our sport in general and specificallyML'g season. Muzzel loading season was not started to make things easier on the hunter, just the opposite, but that has gone out the window. It's now just a little more time for someone to put meat on the table so they have a sucess story, also a game management and money makingtool for the state. Kind of like what our "real" lives have become, success is measured by what material things you have, the big house, fancy car or truck, all of whichare regulated by the state and we tend to spend our lives finding easier ways to aquire these things and skate around the gov'tregulations we don't like. I have to live in this country and in some ways am guilty of the same thing in my (real) life. But to me,black powder or primitive seasonwas an escape from these things, a time to kick back, I don't want to worry if the battery in my scopeis charged, I have to worry about my worklaptop battery all year, forget batteries-(OK, I use a flashlight, so sue me..LOL).

My point in all this dribble is, Muzzel loading season used to be a special time, in my state they called it a "special season", a time when you rarely met a person in the woods who just wanted another deer. They were mostly just happy to be in the woods and that alone was their success. It's now justan extension ofrifle/gun season and there is nothing really special about that.

Doug,

BTW: I do own an inline and have hunted with it. Bought it in the mid 90's, plopped a nice Leupold on it, quickly got it accurate out to 150yds and with a little work itwould print nice out to 200-(it's a TC Firehawk and extremly accurate, as good as I've seen and since I'm a gun nut I kept it). First season I took it in the woods a buddy and I were tracking a wounded doe, it was laying down and stuck it's head up to look at us, maybe 80 yards. I popped the gun up and shot it in the neck, my buddy turned to me and said, "man-that was easy". It was easy, too easy, and just like in cartoons a little lightbulb flashed over my head and I realized I had wasted 600 dollars on a gun I would not be hunting with again.

Pglasgow

If we step back, we'll find that its not an inline vs flintlock battle. The real battle here is preserving a longstanding tradition in Pennsyvania. As I think about it, I consider Pennsylvania fortunate to be the only state with such a longstanding tradition as their flintlock hunt.

When I read the comments of DougS, sproulman, and PaBowFlinter, I am reminded that greatest part of hunting is the hunt itself. It's kinda like a vacation or a birthday, the time leading up to i think is maybe as much fun as the event itself. And so it is with hunting,thehunt isall the things which happen that eventually lead to the harvest. If one wants to enrich the experience of hunting, then all he needs to do is pack more experienceintothe hunt.

I do hope that Pennsylvania is able to preserve its flintlock hunting tradition and that as this generationof flinters fades, the next generation of flinters takes the torch forward and passes the tradition to even yet another generation. It is a tradition worth preserving.

cayugad

I personally have no problem with a separate Primitive season as I hunt with primitive rifles as well as inline rifles. I hope Pennsylvania or any other State for that matter can preserve their Primitive season. Just as long as everyone that wants to hunt, gets a chance, in the way and with what they want.Ibelieve Inline muzzle loaders deserve their time in the woods as well, without being grouped into the modern season. Inline muzzle loaders are not modern rifles. If you don’t believe that, meet me on the range and I will bring my Remington 742 Woodsmaster Rifle and we will have a little shooting match for accuracy and speed and you can use any of my inline rifles you like. Inlines loads from the muzzle just like your Grand Pappy’s old flintlock. It’s ignition, though different, is still separate from the main powder charge and subject to failure. It is a muzzleloader. Accept that fact, and the fact that inline rifles have brought more hunters into the sport in recent years (based on overall sales figures) and there fore increased the likely hood that the sport of hunting and shooting that many of us so love, well be around for years to come for our children and their children to enjoy.

Triple Se7en

Pennsylvania is the mostly deeply rooted traditional muzzleloader state.

I don't think we will find any rebirth in flintlocks - or states adding primitive seasons. Personally, I don't like this fashion of shooting flintlock MLs. Cash registers in hunting stores across America seem to agree with me.

Long-live all the traditionalists thou. I visit their reenactments & festivities on occasion & respect their line in the sand.

I'm done here. Would rather see a state like Michigan expand the muzzleloading season -- to include all types of muzzleloaders.

sproulman

i dont hate in-line.i just like flintlock more. in-line to me is like carrying a rifle.but its great for 1 day a year hunter or someone thats to busy to take time to shoot. scopes are put on most just like rifle. some have bad eyes and cant use open sights. i am getting that way too.i think flintlock is more fun, is all. to many in-line is more fun because its easier to use. has nice scope up there. i missed many of a buck that if i had in-line, they would be in freezer.its like i shoot a recurve bow.i am only 1 at club that does.i can shoot the same or better at target than others up to 30 shots.then i get tired.but you have to practice.compound is like the in-line.scopes and release aid. it makes it easier.i dont want that.i want it HARD.thats why i hunt bucks only,too easy for me to get doe.i think in-line is great thing for some to get out hunting and some that have bad eyes. i hope my eyes dont get so bad that i have to go to in-line with scope.but if so, then in-line will be what i use .

bronko22000

I too enjoy the flintlock only season. I had an in-line and sold it. I like the nostalgia of the sidelock. When I hunt the early season, I carry my Hawken or Renegade percussion and sometimes even the Hawken flinter. I have nothing against the in-lines but a quality in-line, scoped, and the right load combo can take a deer at 200 yds, surely at 150 yds. IMO, I'd much rather use the sidelock and get within 75 yds and drop the hammer. Seems like more fun, and isn't that the idea.

Doegirl75

Absolutely. They (we) need to leave the flintlock late season alone. It's for them. The inliners have their own season in Pennsylvania, too. Seems fair enough. I guess there is some whining that the early season is does only, whereas flinters in the late season can get a buck or a doe. I guess if you want to kill a buck with a muzzleloader in Pennsyvania you A. hunt the general gun season or b. buy a flintlock.