It took a lot of fighting and time to get a season to use a muzzle loader
without the aggravation of rifle hunters.
Long time ago, almost another world.
Hunting was an active pursuit, for rifle hunters. Which was about the
only game. Muzzleloader guys wanted a season to hunt in a primitiveway,
with those guns.
I assume archery was the same, but it soon fell completely into the arms race.
Pa, has a bit of time for true primitive blackpowder. After everyone else has
taken a whack at the deer. Our earlier blackpowder season was a sell out
to the in-line industry.
Mike, I do agree with you on one point, sort of.
They should decide on what seasons are, and are for.
If they won't keep them "pure".
Just do deer season. Run what ya brung.
(PS. I use an in line in the early season. It's just a PITA single shot 30-30.
in my opinion)
Nearly 50 years ago, I hunted a bit using a TC Hawken in the shotgun-only area I hunted in MD, not really for the challenge, but because it was more accurate than the bead-only shotguns most used. I was a pretty poor deer hunter than, but had two good opportunities that went awry for reasons not associated with the platform (though a fast second shot probably would’ve saved the day both times). Mostly I’m in favor of letting folks work out their own notion of challenge, especially where whitetails are more or less vermin as they are in many places. We have two ML seasons here, both after a couple of months of archery and gun hunts, so even seeing one gets dicey on public land. The second one is for sidelocks with irons, not quite as sporting as the PA flinter season, but close enough.
