Why do you hunt with ML?

[blackpowderhunter]

My buddy who got me into hunting grew up hunting muzzle loader with his dad.
So now that's what we hunt, and I love it.

[Mfowl]

Why do you guys recommend for powders? I've been looking around online and it seems like triple 7 and pyrodex get a lot of love(for the northwest). Is there anything else that works with musket caps that I've overlooked?

Powder is favored here because of our primitive weapon rules. It ignites more consistently with caps than pellets do. A 209 primer is hotter charge than a musket cap or no. 11 cap and will ignite pellets better. I use T7 ffg but others favor fffg. It just takes bench time and trying some different loads to build confidence in your shooting.

[biggfish]

Why do you guys recommend for powders? I've been looking around online and it seems like triple 7 and pyrodex get a lot of love(for the northwest). Is there anything else that works with musket caps that I've overlooked?

Only other thing I could think of is Goex, since it is actual black powder and not a substitute it should work with musket caps.

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[OutHouse]

I just think it's more challenging and more fair to the game. Just my opinion not trying to stir some pot, but I think it's pretty easy to kill an animal with a scoped rifle--not just because of the optics but also the potential for quick follow up shots. I've never messed up with a scoped rifle, but have made countless mistakes with a smoke pole and even more with a bow.

[Mongo Hunter]

Balance.

Its the best balance between the season length/time and weaponry. Bow gets the best season and time but your range in greatly reduced. Modern you get the range and weapon but a really short season and not a great time of year.

[kselkhunter]

Not all areas have fewer hunters in ML season.  I'd suggest scouting it during ML season to judge number of hunters before committing to it. 

Most areas have less hunters in ML than rifle.  But not the area I hunt.  There's actually more people in archery and ML than there are rifle, in the specific location that I go for elk. 

[BigGoonTuna]

i started doing it because it's what everyone else in the group i used to hunt with started doing.  it didn't take long to really start to enjoy it, i love shooting my ML, and it sure is enjoyable to be the only one in the woods, and have that long late season in some units.  it's nice to hunt in actual cold weather, i get hot really easily and find myself out there in a wool shirt and pants with long johns, even when it's 20* outside.

the downside, you get second crack at the deer after the archery guys have chased them around for a month already, and the early season can be hot and buggy(i hate hunting in hot weather, and really hate yellow jackets!).  also, it can be tough finding bucks in the late season, unless you step on them.

all that said, i'm going back to modern at least for this year, as the early muzzleloader season starts around or on my wife's birthday every year, and it takes a lot of kitchen credit to go out usually.  also, the unit i hunt went buck-only, so not as much of an advantage for ML.

[elkboy]

I am primarily a meat hunter, and the units in my area allow doe in addition to 3 point+ bucks.  Antlers are very nice, of course, but I sure don't mind coming home with a good-sized doe for the freezer. 

There is also the satisfaction of taking an animal when you know there is a vanishingly small chance of a follow-up shot!  It sure forces me to focus on making that first shot count. 

Lastly, I suppose I have a romantic connection to the history of muzzleloaders.  Even though I hunt with a modern ML setup, I like the feeling of ramrodding that bullet down on top of a powder load, as people have done for hundreds of years. 

[Oh Mah]

I love muzzies but the first thing that came to mind and not being a smart alek is because i can.Everything i do,I do because i am free to do so. 

[Twang]

All of the above all apply  Uh things just kinda get crazy somehow, even primitive. All the mental checks I do, the extras to some, just to feel confident it will shoot on demand have been taught with a double dose of humility
That is before we even get into the follow up shot fiascos
Guys know " keep yer powder dry " is a profound statement meaning so much more to an experienced shooter than others might guess and I suspect it will bring memories to many and smiles to more than a few