Proposed changes
 

Well it looks like SD is catching up to the times. The GFP dept is having a meeting next month to propose rule changes for muzzleloader hunting. Peep sights, 1x scopes and smokeless powder and Blackhorn would be all legal if the proposal passes and would take effect after 20 days . Right now peep sights, scopes and smokeless are all illegal.
Only open sights , even Blackhorn isn't legal.

Welcome to the 21st. century.

I would say thank you but I think I will wait til I see if the proposal passes:s2:

Another step backwards.

You got to watch out for the zeitgeist

Naw! I like the old way. It's comfortable.

Those were some strange minutes i thought. Seems them official don't even know their own regulations.

Here is a direct quote from the regulations last year..........


...............Hunters must use muzzleloader rifles with open or peep sights, and may not use smokeless powder...............



Myself, i have been using a peep sight during muzzy season for years now. I have also been using BH powder ever since it was available for purchase.

It very well may be i will use a 1X scope this coming year if the proposal is approved. It will make my sighting much better. I long ago purchased a 1X scope awaiting this day. I have never used it.

I've always been torn with these decisions. I can see both sides. I can't believe I'm about to say this but, I kinda like the way Pennsylvania does it.

For the longest time, 1x scopes were legal in Wisconsin but not magnification scopes. So of course I outfitted my rifles with 1x scopes. To me they are a vast improvement over a peep sight or fiber optic. Then they changed the law and made magnified scopes legal. So I have a lot of 1x scopes around the house. They do work really well. You will like the difference they can offer.

At the distance you and I hunt. A 1X is perfect. I'm using a 1.5x, and it seems perfect for the timber. A 1x would be even better, but I got this scope for a killer price. It's 1.5x5x32, but I just leave it at 1.5x.

Everytime they think about allowing scopes in Minnesota there are quite a few people who lobby pretty hard to keep it open sights only. With an eye doctor's slip you can get a permit to use a 1X scope. For the distances I shoot I can get the job done with a peep sight, for now anyway.

I wish I could still say that. There's nothing more than i'd like to still use iron sights, but it's gotten to the point that it's not fair to the game.

I am surprised that the NRA has not gotten up a petition to the court to define laws that forbid 1x scopes as discriminatory against people that have to wear bifocals.
It is my opinion that iron sights being forced on people of an age that causes them to wear bifocals using iron sights causes a lot more wounded game!

Your right on with that. 50 yard shooting is a piece of cake with a 1x scope. Also their light gathering ability is hard to beat. Quick to get on target, and they make a great aiming device for me. One reason I went to them. I have a couple 1x on my Knight Wolverine rifles since I shoot them out of tree stands.

For whatever it's worth I've heard there's a better chance than ever that MN will allow scopes this year. I'm skeptical it will happen, but I sure hope so. On the plus side we are allowed peep sights and smokeless powder, so we're good there.

There is where the delimma lies. What is fair to the game. That is what should take precedence over a "traditionalist" view point on things. If a hunter requires aids to use a certain tool then it should be allowed.

HA

When i moved back to South Dakota, it had been some 40 year since i had fired a shot at a game animal with iron sights. The game laws required me to use iron sights on the muzzy. It, in fact, surprised me how many deer were killed successfully using the iron sight. Never once did i ever feel good about pulling the trigger on a critter, when i couldn't readily see the front sight. However, somehow, many deer ended up as venison on our dinner table.

I never felt it was ethical for me to shoot at deer using iron sights. I chose to do it anyway, and it, for some reason, worked just fine. I knowingly chose venison over ethics. This year i may be able to use a 1X scope. If so, that surely will be better. My eyes can clearly see cross hair, and critter at infinity in the same plane. If it turns out i cannot use optics on the muzzy, i will continue using the iron sights my eyes cannot readily focus on. Venison supersedes ethics in my life.

Right now, i am, for some reason, confident the game commission will approve the use of 1X optic for the upcoming season. Today, i dug out the 1X scope, and looked at various bases on the shelf. It seems it will be an easy task to get things working. Depending how other chores go, i may get the scope mounted on a brand new X7, and perhaps shoot it Monday. This will be good, because i will no longer have to choose between ethics and venison.

If the state feels like they want to keep the ML season primitive. That's fine as long as you have the eyesight for iron sights, and can take humane shots.

However, if someone doesn't have the eyesight for iron sights. The animals should suffer, and that person should be allowed to use a scope. No questions asked. Eye doctors can sign a form like they did for me.

There is no provision for an eye doctor signature in South Dakota. Writing that i 'should' be able to use a scope doesn't make it happen. The regulation is for iron sights only. Using a 1X scope makes me a violator of the regulation. The law would rather have me follow the regulation than be ethical; that is what i have done. I am a law abiding unethical hunter with venison in the freezer.

Are you sure? You wouldn't think Colorado had anything either, but when I asked them, they sent me a form to have the doctor fill out.

Have you asked them?

Since the commission will probably approve 1X scope within a month, it is moot.

This morning, with the scope set at 1.5X, i was able to shoot 3 shots at 200 yard before the breeze built,. After the fourth shot we went home. The scope has a real real thick reticle, and when set at 1.5 the reticle covers almost 8 1/2" at 200 yard. The Nikon 1X scope i have, has a finer reticle. It seems to me i could hit a deer at 200 yard using the Nikon. I will be practicing 200 yard shots using the 1X scope.

It seems to me the Fish & Game Commission is considering the use of 1X scope during muzzy season so to make it more fair for older eyes like mine that can't focus on iron sights. I wonder if they realize they are setting it up for me to try 200 yard shots?

I'm with you all the way. 200 yards with a 1x seems more plausible then open sights, and I've been known to do that. ;)