muzzleloader questions

[laker1]

flipper your absolutely correct. I remember the first muzzleloading season and it was neat to see some people all dressed up like a 100 years ago. Heard people talking about misfires on a nice deer or delayed firing. I have a in line but it would not bother me if they went back to more primitive. In lines are here to stay,and I can live with that but etc.. Yes you do have to draw a line somewhere and sometime or else why even have the season and in some areas the efficiency of Muzzleloaders will have a effect on what type of regular firearm season you will end up with. Down in some of the southern zones it already does.

I think sometimes and I even am talking about myself we get caught up in the media and TV shows about big bucks and have to get a kill while hunting, we lose sight of some of the reasons were out there.

[trolloni]

yep theres an old saying 'poke and hope'kinda sounds like an open sights scenario for muzzeloader toters ,make scopes legal you have guns that can shoot 3 inch groups at 200 yards, making em more effective all the time.you dont want scopes on a muzzy DONT USE ONE!!you can still have a primative hunt with a flintlock or percusion wear youre buckskin whatever its still hunting, lets get together were all hunters !!nothing the antis love better than pickin and choosin quotes from elitist to use for anti fodder !!

[Spike76]

I think that 40 or less yards is reasonable. Maybe older hunters should be able to use scopes to help them get some venison. Hopefully we'll all be older someday.

[swamptiger]

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but you can already apply for a permit to use a non-magnified scope.

[flipper]

yep theres an old saying 'poke and hope'kinda sounds like an open sights scenario for muzzeloader toters ,make scopes legal you have guns that can shoot 3 inch groups at 200 yards, making em more effective all the time.you dont want scopes on a muzzy DONT USE ONE!!you can still have a primative hunt with a flintlock or percusion wear youre buckskin whatever its still hunting, lets get together were all hunters !!nothing the antis love better than pickin and choosin quotes from elitist to use for anti fodder !!

If you are poking and hoping then you have not practiced enough or you are taking too long of a shot. The same people who shoot outside their accurate range with open sights will shoot outside the accurate range with a scope. With a 200 yard shot your projectile may not have enough energy to get the job done even if you hit what you are aiming for. A little breeze and you have that dreaded gut shot.

[swamptiger]

Quote:

With a 200 yard shot your projectile may not have enough energy to get the job done even if you hit what you are aiming for.

+1.

Most of the ballistics I've seen, you're pushing the envelope at 150 yds.

[harvey lee]

I would simply like a sight that I could know where my bullet is going to hit within saY 100-125 YARDS. Personally I cannot do that with the iron fiber optic sight

s that came from the factory om my Omega.

[swamptiger]

There are several 1X scopes on the market, if you can get the permit.

[harvey lee]

I own one now and use it when I ml North Dakota. I am going to look into the permit to use the scope in MN.

If for some reason I cannot get the permit, then I am going to take a hard look at the peep sights or I will just shoot under 75 yard shots. hate wounding deer.

[swamptiger]

Here's the application:

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/licenses/hunting/res_muzzleloaderscope.pdf

[FISHINGURU]

Can't wait for scopes to be legal, it's redundant that it's legal during shotgun season but not muzzleloader season. I have the Nikon Omega BDC on my muzzy for the slug season and can make nice clean kills, where I hunt I can't even shoot very far so the scope isn't about taking 200 yard shots for me, it's about being confident in my shot and a quick clean harvest.

I hear ya about them fiber optic sights on the Omega, if I aim at a deer at 75 yards with that sight the dot takes up the whole deer. I have no clue where my bullet is going to hit my target.

Being primitive? Nothing about today's hunting is primitive, scent lok suits, scent killer, powder in pellet form, loads like a real bullet. The days of throwing on some leather chaps and a coon skin cap are over, if people want to do that more power to them. Just like if I want to use a scope more power to me lol.

[laker1]

Maybe we should just have one deer season than?

[cavalierowner]

Personally, I would prefer to keep the scopes off muzzleloaders. When I bought my first ML several years ago, a caplock replica of the Kentucky longrifle, it was all about going back in time and adding a little more challenge to the hunt. Now I've pretty much decided I'm going to get a flintlock because the caplock almost seems too easy. I would hate to see muzzleloader season morph into just another season where almost anything goes. At that point, why bother with a separate season? In fact maybe technology will progress to where we have smart bullets that will take out a deer at any range and never miss.

BTW, you can use a scope on a ML during rifle season.

[Bear55]

Personally, I would prefer to keep the scopes off muzzleloaders. When I bought my first ML several years ago, a caplock replica of the Kentucky longrifle, it was all about going back in time and adding a little more challenge to the hunt.

I feel very much the same way.

[cavalierowner]

I guess I should have responded to the original posters question

I started out just like you, knowing zero about muzzleloaders. I learned everything I could by reading online and from books. And yes, it was confusing, it seems everyone has opinions that many times clash. But I did manage to get down the basics.

Then I joined a local gun club. How I wish I had done that years earlier. I went out to one of their Rendevous' and spent a couple hours talking and watching other people with vastly more experience than I had. I learned more in that couple hours than I had in the last 4 years of reading and shooting. So I would say that if you have a gun club nearby, join it and find out who shoots black powder. I bet they would enjoy showing you the ropes. In fact, thats what I'm going to do when I get a new flintlock, contact a couple of the members in my club and ask for some help.