Quote:
Originally Posted by Seahawk
Same, btw, in Black Powder season and shotgun season...the lack of accuracy can be astounding.
|
As I mentioned earlier, I have a real issue with the kinds of firearms allowed during "black powder" or "muzzle loading seasons". But, as with my issues with the bows allowed during the archery seasons, I realize that my idealism is very much a double edged sword.
Traditional muzzle loaders, like traditional bows, can be a real challenge insofar as extracting acceptable hunting performance, both from the weapon, and from the shooter. All of the modern allowances - scopes, saboted bullets, black powder substitutes, etc. - reduce or eliminate those challenges, allowing the less than dedicated to achieve acceptable performance. That simply results in fewer wounded deer. I understand and accept that.
This is going to sound quite contradictory to my oft stated position as a gun rights kind of a guy, but I sometimes think that maybe we should have some form of hunter qualification, like they have in most European countries. You show up with the weapon with which you intend to hunt, and demonstrate that you can use it effectively before getting signed off to hunt. I don't think that would be unreasonable. And it sure would reduce crowding on public lands during hunting seasons...
Oh, and just for the hell of it, my idea of a proper muzzle loading hunting rifle, a .50 caliber flint lock round ball only "Tennessee Mountain Rifle" that I built from the Dixie kit 40 years ago. I've lost track of how many deer I've killed with this thing:
