I have not hunted with m/l yet, but plan to this year because the property that I hunt is usually crawling with people during modern rifle season. And the lengthened season around here with m/l is a big bonus too. Not to mention, after purchasing the T/C Hawken I have found that I love the whole feeling that comes with shooting the darned thing.

I hunt all 3 seasons here in MO with mine, (firearms during peak rut, muzzleloading late Nov-early Dec, and anterless mid Dec). I do it because it's just plain fun. 1 shot is all you have and you'd better make it count. I also like the smoke thing also. As far as seeing less people I would have to disagree, as newer in-lines come out I think more people are buying as I have seen more and more people hunting with muzleloaders during all seasons and it happens each year. The time I never see anyone is during bad weather which is when I'm out and usually see the biggest deer.

I started using it to get an extra season, like many people, but now love it more than any other hunting. I dont quite have the patience for bowhunting, and feel like high power is too easy because of the areas I hunt (many deer) and also illegal except for 10 days in January.I live in Iowa.

You get one shot, but should be all you need. When I hunt with my .270I make decisions differently knowing that I can shoot 5 moe times and take a 300 yd shot if I spook the ones in my area.

I used to hunt with a muzzleloader because of the additional challenge and a sense of "doing it the old way". Now Ionly hunt with a muzzleloader because I enjoy it. Like Cayugad, harvesting an animal isn't much of a priority for me these days. But I truly enjoyshooting the rifles year around (in good weather and when IFEEL like it, Cdad ).

The "take two pellets and a PowerBelt" mentality upset me a little at the onset, as did the marketing hype and packaged product that made shooting a muzzleloader seem as simple as buying a .270 and a couple of boxes of shells - but the resultant influx of newborn muzzleloader hunters has produced a certain percentage of newer users that want to know more, that love to experiment, that have come to appreciate some ofthe challenges, and that fill these forums withtheir own good input and advice. The opportunists will fall by the way as they lose interest. Where I used to see no oneelse in the hunting woods during muzzleloader season, I will now occasionally encounter another hunter - and that encounter is always friendly.

I started carrying my muzzle loader in 2002 during a normal any legal weapon hunt. I just loved shooting that thing and wanted to know what it would do to a deer. Then in 2005, I finally drew my first ml cow elk tag, during September, and realized that I really like hunting during September. Elk is especially fun during that time. Deer tags are on a draw only basis here, so there are a very limited number of people in the field hunting during the 21 daymuzzle loader season. Add to that the time of the year, changing colors, comfortable temperatures, and it makes it all worth while for me. I still put rifle hunts on my app, but those are usually after a couple of muzzle loader hunt choices.

Later,

Marcial

I got into ML this last year because my oldest son (14 y.o.) wanted to hunt deer. Of course I didn't have a problem with that.

But, I wanted to ML primarily because I felt it would be much safer than hunting with a centerfire. When I was in high school, a guy that was a few years older than me got shot in the shoulder while deer hunting. The guy that shot him, missed the deer and this guy was in the wrong place. It was an absolute miracle that guy didn't die. The doctors said that a fraction of an inch any direction and the guy would have been dead.

One of my best friends was bass fishing on the river and another kid down the river was shooting at a herron. First shot whizzed past my friend. Second shot hit him about an inch from the bung hole. He too was very lucky.

Anyway, I just felt the ML would be safer and safety is number one with me and my kids. But..........I knew nothing about it. Stumbled onto this board and heard Cayugad and sabotloader talking about the Whites. I think they had recently been converted to believers/owners by Underclocked. Wouldn't you know it, sabotloader lives close and was coming to my area to visit his daughter and her family. He had a little time to take Matt and I for a quick shoot of the White Ultra Mag.

I was sold and the rest is history. Matt and I really enjoy shooting them. We haven't given up our other guns yet though.

i hunt Mling season due to a lot less hunters, sometimes the weather is warmer, hardly a chance of snow. I just enjoy muzzleloading season a lot better than rifle.

I do it for less hunTers and the extended season, I go to CO. for ML season as there were too many hunters in CF season,here in Wi. we get an extra 10 days to ML hunt, very few hunters. Now I only have 6 ML's
So I play with them all Winter and Summer. I even have a new White that I haven't fired yet. That has to change
Redclub

I use it in Ga becauseit's a better quality hunt, I use it in Indiana because it kicks a lot less than a shotgun slug, yep I'ma whimp

TXJourneyman,
I'll hunt w/ ya anytime. Everyone has made mistakes some just never got caught... Besides you haven't missed much the past 22 yrs....

I started huntin for the extra time in EARLY season after bow but before HP rifle season in FL. I now hunt 60% w/ML and 40% w/bow. This has been true for the past 7 yrs. I have only missed one deer to the single shot and that was last yr. I like the challage and the smell of it all.
SHills