less hunters.
 

How many here hunt with a ML just because there are fewer hunters in the hunting grounds duringML season?

:) Al

RE: less hunters.
 

I do

RE: less hunters.
 

I hunt with an ML because it is an extra season with a firearm... in IL you get 3 seasons, 2 firearm (total of 7 days) and 1 ML (3 days). I hunt with it during firearm as well... ML is more accurate than a sluggun

RE: less hunters.
 

alleyyooper

Dat's 1 of da reasons...but there are lots of others,,,

RE: less hunters.
 

sabotloader

Snap out of it.......your talking funny...........this is the wrong forum. :D

I agree though. There are many reasons.

RE: less hunters.
 

While fewer hunters is always a bonus, it is far from the main reason I hunt with a muzzleloader. In fact I hunt my own property almost all the time, so there are no other hunters (or at leastthey better hope I don't run into them.) Even in our modern season you will see me hauling around one kind of muzzleloader or another, much to the jokes and kidding by my good friends. The fact that I only get one shot does not worry me. Even with center fire rifles, how many actually needed that second shot? How many center fire shooters take that second shot more in panic, only to later discover, they really did not need it as the first was fatal.

The area I hunt now also is about custom made for a muzzleloader. Ranges are short, normally under 100 yards, shooting situations are such that a quick shot is seldom encountered unless you like to sleep and have the deer wake you (as a friend of mine is famous for), and the bone breaking power of a muzzleloader is a real plus when you need to plant an animal to stop it from running into the brush. I've had just as many, or more deer run off for short distances, from hits with a center fire rifle as I have a muzzleloader.

I also like the challenge. I really have gotten to the point in life that while I enjoy the meat, and everyone wants to shoot the monster buck of the woods, if I don't get a deer that is all right too.They sell lots of beef, pork, and poultry in the store to keep me fat. I've shot a lot of deer, but the ones I have taken with a muzzleloader just seem a little more special. Even a simple does at fiftyyards that I had to wait out for twenty minutes for that perfect shot is just as rewarding as a buck I took with a 7mm Mag shooting400+ yardsacross a cornfield.

None of us hunt with a muzzleloader because we want to hunt with a rifle easy to maintain, has near positive ignition (yes even inlines will fail), and cleaning at the end of the day is not necessary unless you want. We all have different reasons why we hunt with muzzleloaders just as we have different preferences in the kind of muzzleloader rifle we pick. The easy thing is to accept each of us for our differences in reasons, and enjoy the outdoors.

RE: less hunters.
 

I know there are lots of reasons. Next question was going to be.
Do you hunt with a Muzzle loader for the extra season?

:DI do because I can.

RE: less hunters.
 

I don't. I hunt with a muzzleloader to the exclusion of all else.

RE: less hunters.
 

I hunt with a ML because of my misspent youth. I made mistakes when I was younger. One of them resulted in a felony conviction. 22 years ago. I deserved the punishment I received and I'm still paying for it and will for the rest of my life. The only guns I can hunt with legally are sidelock MLs. I hope I didn't alienate anyone with my honesty. I am not the same man today I was back then. And that is something we can all be grateful for.

RE: less hunters.
 

I BEGAN huntin' w/a ML because the peak of the rut in VA hits during early ML season. Then when I realized how much fun the stinkin' things are to shoot I began hunting more and more with them. Now I just hunt with them because of the challenge and rarely take a centerfire to the woods anymore.