Future of Muzzleloader hunting

ENCORE

WKR
Joined
Aug 5, 2017
Messages
602
Location
NE Michigan
Some folks like to look for issues to worry about. Have any states reduced ML tags due to the new MLs? Same for rifle tags due to the long range light recoil stuff we have now? If not, then where does the worry come from?

I
East of the Miss. and taking into consideration only whitetail deer, they can't harvest enough of them. They increase the number of tags every year and still can't harvest enough. Its so bad, that states are now allowing straight walled CF rifles during the dedicated muzzleloader seasons. Guys figure they'd rather go "bang, bang, bang" I guess.

I'm in upper Michigan and last month I traveled down to Camp Atterbury, IN for a long range muzzleloader match. The match was 800yds, 900yds and 1,000yds. Lots of muzzleloader shooters and BPCR guys. Even shot with Lee Shaver.
From there I headed over to Friendship to shot my first time in the Summer Nationals. After shooting at Friendship, I headed back home.

That said, without question I seen at minimum 500 whitetail deer splattered on the highways, going down and coming home a different route. They're increasing the numbers of tags and especially doe tags, because hunters and not harvesting enough of them.
Make MZ a traditional rifle only season and guess what would happen? Michigan already has night time sharp shooters KILLING deer to reduce the numbers. In just the first two weeks IN THE SUMMER, they took 90 whitetails to the processors and the meat was donated to homeless shelters in Detroit.

Honestly, I have no clue why an administrator hasn't locked this thread.
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2015
Messages
23
I love traditional mz hunting and prefer it over modern any day of the week. #roundballsnblackpowder
 

Swamp Fox

WKR
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
739
[...]

That said, without question I seen at minimum 500 whitetail deer splattered on the highways, going down and coming home a different route. They're increasing the numbers of tags and especially doe tags, because hunters and not harvesting enough of them.
Make MZ a traditional rifle only season and guess what would happen? Michigan already has night time sharp shooters KILLING deer to reduce the numbers. In just the first two weeks IN THE SUMMER, they took 90 whitetails to the processors and the meat was donated to homeless shelters in Detroit.

Honestly, I have no clue why an administrator hasn't locked this thread.
I think most folks on here understand this, but support a less advanced/more traditional season to be set aside.

Whether this can be done during the period that the state biologists and dial-turners want to kill deer while coinciding with when hunters want to go hunting is the question.

To puss out, the knob-turners so far have expanded the killing time at the expense of bow hunters.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
2,122
Now that's a muzzleloader
 

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Joined
Nov 6, 2022
Messages
83
Well I can tell you there's a huge advantage to cross bows. My buddy had shoulder surgery and couldn't shoot his long bow or compound. So he bought a cross bow. And within a half a dozen shots, he was shooting better then he ever does with his bows. And at 60 yards was shooting better then he does at 20 yards with his bows. He bought one of those, recurve cross nows, that the add used to show the guy beating the he'll out of it. I think he said the guy even drove over it. But wasn't one of these compound modern cross bows, I could only imagine how much easier they would be.

I’m assuming he’s shoring from a bench to shoot that well. Now take two people and have them stand up simulating shooting a weird angle from a stand and see how their offhand shot with a crossbow compares to their compound shooting. I’m able to shoot out to 100 yards with my crossbow from a good solid rest but if was shooting unsupported from a standing position I couldn’t shoot the crossbow any better than my compound and it would possibly be even worse.


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Joined
Nov 6, 2022
Messages
83
Modern inline muzzleloaders almost never misfire and their ranges are much further. I don't even have the most advanced and I have killed a deer at 256 yards. 50 or 60 yards with a bow is a heck of a poke. Fast twist rate, smokeless powder, reliable inline ignition has a lot of these guys able to shoot 500 yards with their ML. That's what I was talking about. It's pretty anecdotal to say, "I don't use a muzzleloader much so archery and rifle is more popular."

While some muzzleloaders are capable of 500 yards it’s certainly the exception and not the rule. I’d guess 99 percent of shooters are unwilling to put in the time and effort to pull this off. It’s certainly not as simple as pull a muzzleloader off the shelf and go out and shoot effectively at 500 yards.


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Joined
Jun 16, 2023
Messages
19
I'm kinda wondering how everyone feels about the future of Muzzleloader hunting. I personally feel like they're getting too advanced to be considered "primitive". I think more states joining in on open sights only and things like that are inevitable.
I have both an inline with scope and a caplock with iron sights. It would not bother me to only use iron sights, as I prefer the more primitive style. Would like to see more states looking at these seasons.
 

Stalker69

WKR
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
1,750
I’m assuming he’s shoring from a bench to shoot that well. Now take two people and have them stand up simulating shooting a weird angle from a stand and see how their offhand shot with a crossbow compares to their compound shooting. I’m able to shoot out to 100 yards with my crossbow from a good solid rest but if was shooting unsupported from a standing position I couldn’t shoot the crossbow any better than my compound and it would possibly be even worse.


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Sitting, and elbows braced on his knees. He head shoots deer with it regularly. But most are half that distance or less. That antelope was as far as he has done it, on a live animal. And it took him for ever to get "comfortable."
 
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