This year, like last year,Iam planning to take my muzzleloader during the rifle seasons I will be hunting. I planned to use Buffalo SSB's in either 375 grain or 435 grain. But as I reviewed the regs for sheep, which if I am lucky could draw, I found that conicals (to include saboted conicalssince they were not prohibited) can not be longer than 2 times the diameter. Hmmm. There isn't a muzzleloading sheep season this year, so this applies to legal weaponry during rifle season I suspect.

Then I pulled out the regs for deer, elk, etc. and best I can tell, during regular rifle, if one hunts with a muzzleloader in a rifle season, he can not legally use a saboted projectile which is longer than two times its diameter. This would mean that the use of Buffalo SSBs in 375 and 435 weights, or any saboted projectile two times its length (like a saboted 325 XPB) would be illegal, FOR RIFLE SEASON. Forgive me, but this seems insane to me. Can this be right?

Looks like I'll have to go to 200 50/40 SW's or something like that. Dang!

During muzzleloading season that is true but when hunting in rifle season with a muzzleloader, its "open season" anything goes, sabots, scopes, pellets. They come up with some weird rules. I guess that rule doesnt matter when you are using a full bore size conical.

Probably be best to call and ask. Im looking in the book and under rifle season it says NO on .40 + muzzleloader for elk. Kind of confusing with the way they word things in the book.

WTF do they mean Preference point purging?

You guys are talking about Colorado? Where IS that 2X restriction on length. I've looked through the online brochures and fail to see it now.

UC, you find it under legal means of take. Certain things prohibited in ML season but allowed in rifle will say, for example, "Pelletized powder not allowed in Muzzleloading Seasons". Or, "Sabots not allowed in Muzzleloading Seasons".

What caught my attention was that there is no muzzleloading season for sheep this year and all the regulations regarding legal use of muzzleloaders as a legal means of take actually apply only to the rifle season where muzzleloaders are allowed. Scopes, sabots, pelletized powder, and smokeless powder are not prohibited. But there is a requirement that any conical bullet, (i suspect saboted or otherwise), must be less than 2X its diameter.

That got me thinking that my assumption that any muzzleloading bullet heavier than the minimums might be incorrect. I literally hate regulations which obfuscate or confuse folks. I want to use only legal projectiles but I can not, for the life of me, understand why a person can't use a 375 SSB or a White .451 loaded with BS 488 DURING RIFLE season. Its just plainly all @#^%ed up, at least in how it is written. When I previously asked questions to the DOW about ML regulations, I got no answer. I have a friend who is a game warden. I think I will ask him.

Phil - I had the same concerns afew years back and called the D.O.W. office in Denver. All forms of muzzleloading bullets and powders appear to be legal during the rifle season - pellets, sabots, scopes, more than 2X diameter, etc. - as long as it is something that is not prohibited in the "legal hunting methods - centerfire rifle" section. Like non expanding bullets.

One thing thatI alsoasked was whether the .50 minimum for elk still applied when shooting a .50 caliber sabot where the actual bullet diameter was .452. They said that was also OK during the rifle season.

Roskoe,

That makes perfect sense to me and what I have always assumed. It just isn't clear. Then the fact that a 2X saboted bullet is expressly prohibited in the sheep regs where there is no ML season, just made me wonder.

Since the .45 saboted bullets are allowed for Elk hunting in rifle season, I can't see why a .45 cal ML couldn't be used with an adequate full bore conical, other than, the regs seem to prohibit the use .45 MLers in all elk seasons. I don't have .45 cal and don't plan on getting one, but I could see some .45 cal owners feeling tiffed over it. What are you thoughts on that? A 488 grain .451 full bore illegal for Elk while one saboted in a .50 cal muzzleloaderlegal? I'm so confused [&:].

Sometimes they don't think these things out real well. This appears to be one of those times. I have been told verbally that any black powder rifle, including breech loading metallic cartridge rifles,is legal during the regular rifle season.