johnnybravoo77

salukipv1, I would be willing to bet money the pistol has to be a straight walled cartridge; 357, 44, and so on. About the seasons, cant you apply for both firearm and muzzleloader? You guys got some messed up regs, far worse than my state.

millerhunter13

In my opnion atleast where i live, the ML is more pricey then the slug gun and i have a slug gun too. between the cleaning products, the primers, the powder, the bullets, i like my ML but the slug gun is cheaper, my slug gun was already sighted in before i got it because the H&R test fire the gun when you get a new barrle, so i would go with the slug gun.

Seif5034

i choose ML! They really aren't that bad with modern tech. They are for sure accurate. just keep it clean. I like cleaning my guns so the ML would be a nice choice.

sjsfire

Dedicated MZ season is the next weekend after the second firearm season. It's county specfic like the other firearm seasons. Just extends your seasons if you want to firearm hunt. In my opinion the Illinois firearms seasons are too short....just my 2 cents though.

Paul L Mohr

That doesn't mean the gun is sighted in, it just means they test fired it and checked to see what the groups were, maybe. They do it with the Ultras and they don't even have sights on them, just a scope rail. NEVER assume a gun is sighted in from the factory.

As far as being cheaper, it depends on what slugs you are shooting I guess. No way in heck is it cheaper if you are shooting modern sabot slugs. I can darn near get a whole can of powder for what 5 rounds of premium sabots cost for a slug gun. And the guns fall in the same price ranges depending on what you want. You can get either for a decent price or spend a lot more if you want. In my area though I think you could get a ML cheaper than a slug gun. And there is no background check because it isn't considered a firearm. Just walk in and buy it. A decent slug gun is going to cost around 200-300 dollars around here, I am talking the single shot H&R's. I have seen whole muzzle loader kits for under 100 bucks before. Probably wouldn't be my choice, but they are out there. If I were to get another ML right now I would get one of the savages that can shoot smokeless powder as well. They are not too cheap though.

Lets base it on a the most common load for both weapons. Shooting a 20 ga modern slug gun is very similar to shooting an inline. They shoot pretty much the same bullet at close to the same velocities. An XTP type bullet in a sabot in either 45 or 50 caliber in the 300 to 400 grn range at between 1500 and 1800 fps. For a muzzle loader it breaks down to about a dollar shot, maybe a bit more maybe a bit less depending on the products you buy. For a shotgun shooitng the same ammo you are talking between 3 and 4 dollars per shot! That gets pretty pricey quick, especially if you are looking for a load your gun likes and trying different brands of ammo, been there done that. Even if you were shooting regular lead saboted slugs you are talking 2 dollars or so a shot. Rifled slugs are more comparable in price, but not in performance.

For me my ML after I worked up a good load for it was more accurate and had less recoil than my shotgun did, and my shotgun weighed like 10 lbs fully rigged. If you tested 3 different brands of ammo in your shotgun at 15 dollars a box it would cost you almost 100 dollars, and that only gives you two 5 shot groups with each type of ammo. I don't think I have bought more than 90 dollars worth of supplies for my ML in the 5 years I have owned it. And I shoot expensive bullets and powder, not standard XTP's and pyrodex.

From an ease stand point though if you have a good shotgun and find a load it likes they are hard to beat. Just shoot them, run a swab down the barrel and put them away for the most part. That was the appeal of it to me. My ML is a bit of a pain to clean, but some of the new designs are much better than mine. But my remington 700 ML will group better at 150 yards than most slug guns will at 75-100. And for deer sized game it's point blank shooting out to 150 yards. Meaning that if I hold the cross hairs in the center of of the vitals from 20 to 150 yards the bullet won't drop or rise enough to miss the vitals so I don't have to compensate for range.

I'm not saying you can't achieve this with a slug gun, but it's not the norm, I know that for sure. And you sure won't be doing it for a buck a shot. Where as with most muzzle loaders getting 1 inch groups at 100 yards should be doable with a day or two of range time. Most if it is just finding the bullet weight and powder charge your particular gun likes.

This has been my experience anyway.

Paul

Hurricanespg

I would go with the muzzleloader. 1" groups at 100 yards are fairly easy to accomplish with the ML, and they hold well beyond 200 yards unlike most shotguns. Cleaning the ML does not have to be too difficult either, just get some good supplies and a simple design. The shotgun will probably always be easier to clean though. Still for the weight and the accuracy the ML is the way too go.

salukipv1

well now knowing that, there is no reason to apply for both seasons....since you can use a ML in place of your slug during the full firearm season.....1st and 2nd, I thought the ML season essentially meant you could only hunt 2nd season and that late antlerless only season.....not that it was a special dedicated tag....

If you just get a firearm tag...then you can hunt both 1st and 2nd season with a ML so they're saying....and if that tag goes unfilled you can hunt that late antlerless only season.....also at least us residents can get a either sex and a doe only tag....so thats 2 tags essentially and 3 seasons to hunt....

I do all of my hunting during archery though.

sjsfire

Illinois has too many firearm options in my opinion, they should just have all firearm seasons for "all firearms". I get a full season for Pope, a second season onlyfor Pope, and this is the first year I've ever applied for a MZ tag. I bought my first MZ about 1.5 years ago and now own two. Pope does not offer a bonus antlerless tag. I'd like to see them someday include centerfire rifles. I usually harvest two deer, if not one the first season, then I can harvest two the second season using both my full season and second season only tag. And we're still limited two two antlered deer. I have three slug guns and two muzzleloaders now. It's kinda a crap shoot what I take with me now.... I broughtout aold Mossberg 500 last year with a rifled cantilever barrel and Nikon scope and one of my muzzleloaders and took bothdeer with the muzzleloader.

il coyote

I purchased a CVA Optima this week from a local store. Ordered a set of bases/rings and shotgun scope from cabelas and have everything on hand, ready to start testing.

I'm going out with a friend of mine today to try out some of the different primer/powder/bullet combos that I've got. It might be a long ordeal, plus we're going to have his 3 yr. old with us, so I'm not exactly hoping to be 'hunt ready' by the end of the day.Taking the fishing poles along, too.

IL-Cornfed

With a top quality Muzzleloader like a T/C Encore Pro Hunter, you won't EVER have a reason to carry any other gun for whitetails in IL. I know I have NO desire to carry a big clunky shotgun when I have the option of a supurbly balanced rifle-like feeling Muzzleloader like the Encore. Top that bad boy with quality optics and you won't believe how accurate they truly are. Even my young kids hunt with the in-line rifle these days and prefer it that way.