# Why a muzzy?



## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I have always been intrigued by muzzleloaders, but have never owned one. I have always thought it woud be neat to own an old school flint lock style rifle, but just never have been able to justify buying one. 

I am just curious about what attracted you to using a muzzleloader versus a cartridge firing rifle? Is it the challenge? Do you like the "classical" feel of it all? Or is there something else that appeals to you over a "conventional" (and I use that term loosely) rifle?

I am not bringing this topic up as something to debate about why one way of hunting versus another is silly, I just wonder what the real attraction is nowadays.


----------



## TCSSPRO204 (Sep 27, 2008)

Less people! That is why i started then it became fun and more of a challenge! :mrgreen:


----------



## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

I personally prefer them because of their superior ballistics and rapid fire. :lol: :wink: 

Yeah I guess its a challenge. There seems to be less people than rifle or archery. (maybe im wrong)


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

TCSSPRO204 said:


> Less people! That is why i started then it became fun and more of a challenge! :mrgreen:


+1


----------



## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

I agree with the less people part too and time of year. Most of the fall colors are hitting their peak during the muzzy hunt. I loved it in November but still like the September hunt alot.


----------



## lunkerhunter2 (Nov 3, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> I agree with the less people part too and time of year. Most of the fall colors are hitting their peak during the muzzy hunt. I loved it in November but still like the September hunt alot.


+1


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

Fewer people, more challenge, and the bow hunt kind of got ruined for me when I started teaching. The start of school for teachers and the start of the bow season always seem to coincide. It was too hectic trying to get ready for the school year and plan/fit in a hunt at the same time.

Convenience was the initial attraction. Now I like finding the right load for the guns and the challenge of shooting a tight pattern with only open sights. At 100 yards I'm tighter with my open sighted Knight than with my scoped .270 or 30-06.


----------



## TLB (Jul 13, 2008)

1+ on less people, and the weather and scenery is spectacular. I then discovered I absoulutely loved shooting a muzzleloader. I keep my load pretty mild, and so the shooting and hunting is a pleasure.


----------



## Huntoholic (Sep 17, 2008)

When I started hunting with a muzzleloader you could buy 3 deer permits (1 tag only) and hunt archery, rifle, and muzzleloader. Simply more time in the field (I miss those days). Then they made you choose your weapon. My father likes his rifle and I felt it more important to be with him, so I hunt deer with him and my brothers with a rifle. I'm alot more selective on the deer that I take now. I don't feel comfortable hunting elk with a bow, so I hunt elk with a muzzy. At the time you could get a tag to hunt either sex. Reading peoples complaints about crowding, makes me thankful I do hunt elk with a muzzy. Yes it is cold, but for the most part I see a few people is all. The bad part is, it is after everybody else and on the spike units they are pretty much gone. Last year was great because of the bad weather in October. A lot more spikes carried through. In the area that I was in there was a total of 5 hunters.

PS: I love the smell of that powder on a cold November morning.


----------



## prettytiedup (Dec 19, 2007)

I started to muzzle load hunt back in 1990 when the hunt opened the first Saturday in November. Loved that season and because the phesant hunt opened the same weekend most of the time I had the whole mountain to myself. Shot a T/C Hawkin rifle back then. And yes, for like 10 bucks you could buy the muzzy permit if you already had a deer tag. After they moved the hunt to September I bounced back and forth between rifle and muzzle loader until I joined the dedicated hunter program a few years ago.


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I started back when you could buy 2 buck deer tags (archery & rifle), muzzle-loader was an extension of your rifle tag allowing you to hunt another 9 days after the rifle hunt ended. I loved the Nov hunting in the snow... nothing like hunting in a blizzard that close to the rut.

Sept is an easier hunt for smaller deer, but I'd prefer it to go back to the Late hunt. I think alot of people would give it up and go with other seasons if they had to hunt in the snow / cold :wink: 


-DallanC


----------



## 2litl2l8 (Jan 16, 2008)

I started hunting Muzzy cause my father in law does...I always put in for both muzzy and rifle and just see what i get. I like the muzzleloader better though cause it is warmer, the deer are less spooked, and less people.


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

I got a Thompson Omega for a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and so I applied to the dedicated hunter program so I could use it without giving up the traditional rifle hunt with my family. I am still not an archer for several reasons but I really enjoyed the muzzel loader hunt last year. More time in the field and what a great time to spend in the field. Last Year the weather was perfect, the leaves were brilliant, it was not crowded.....It was just so enjoyable I didn't even mind not seeing many deer in the northern regon. As it was my first year in the DH program I was going to be pretty picky anyway. For many reasons I am not ready to give up the traditional rifle hunt but I think I enjoyed the muzzle loader hunt even more last year and I am really looking forward to this year's hunt. And I saw a couple of bucks while grouse hunting last week includding a nice 4 point. :wink:


----------



## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

My wife gave me a kit gun about 34 years ago. I put it together and when I shot it the smoke came back into my face and the smell of that blackpowder has been with me ever since! I was hooked! There wasn't a muzz hunt back then, but I carried my smokepole during the regular deer hunt with all of the orange clad hunters on every ridge. I was down in the hollers with the bucks and killed many of them while the other hunters went hungry.
When they made a special season for muzz guys, I was there. Hunted the Sawtooth, Wellsvilles and then they opened it up for statewide! What a novel idea! Been killing bucks right regular ever since. Even got one in the record book. There is a lot to be said about hunting with a single shot rifle and even more about not being able to load it real quick if you miss. Short range shooting (under 100 yds) means you have to be somewhat sneakie once you have spotted your buck. It's a great challenge and a thrill to bag your game. The time of year is wonderful as the season is transitioning from summer to fall. Lots of game to be seen.


----------



## Doc (Sep 11, 2007)

July 1977, my first muzzy was a Kentucky .45 cal kit given to me by a good friend while I was laid up with a pretty serious injury. Putting the gun together helped me keep my sanity. The first time I shot the thing it about tore my cheek off. I shot it occassionally for fun but didn't hunt with it. I used it every July 4th to wake up the neighborhood shooting just a wad.

A few years ago I bought a muzzy tag for the central unit when I didn't draw out for the southern rifle. I borrowed my friends .50 cal hawkin (yes the one that gave me the kit) and one of my sons used the .45. First light I had a nice 4 point about 40 yards away in my sights up on on Timp. It went "Pop" and nothing else, 2nd shot was just a pop. "Confound tarnation" this was not fun! The buck walked off into the trees and headed to parts unkown while I tried to decide how to correct my situation. I had this nagging voice in my head from my friend telling me to shoot a cap first to make sure the nipple was clear. Well, I didn't have a bullet puller with me so I took off the nipple, put a little powder in and tried again. That cleared things out for me. I didn't see another buck close enough to do anything and I still have the tag mounted over my fireplace. A couple years later I bought a Northeastern tag when I didn't draw a southern rifle tag. Just before the hunt there was a sale on traditions in-lines and I bought one very inexpensively. Although it can use either shotgun primers or percussion caps, I've always used the #11 caps. I shot a nice 3 point up around Currant Creek while my grandson watched. My lifelong friend missed his shot to which my granson replied, "Grandpa, you lied, you said Riley was a good shot."

I have since bought two of my sons a smokepole. The one is after an anterless deer with his even as I type this. He has already missed two this morning, "Confound tarnation". It drives me nuts I can't be there with him today.

I go on the rifle hunt every year whether I have a tag or not. The blackpowder gives me an opportunity to hunt some of those years I don't draw a rifle tag (Not interested in dedicated hunter). There's also something about not knowing what happens until the smoke clears, or laughing at a son that fumbles with his cap and misses an opportunity.  Afterall, someone laughed at me when I missed mine.


----------

