HUNTING SEASONS & TYPES OF WEAPONS USED

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

When I started hunting in the early 60s there were "Seasons" for Big Game.
We had "Rifle", "Bow", and "Black Powder -Muzzle Loader"
Everyone knew what Rifle, Bow & "Black Powder -Muzzle Loader" was.
Over the years things have changed where I can't understand the meaning anymore.
Hunters wanted to change "Black Powder -Muzzle Loading from Black Powder into "Muzzle loading Smokeless Powder"
No Longer " Primitive Weapons" Like I was accustomed to. Black Powder Muzzle loading Flint lock or Cap along with a Bow & Arrow.
What is a "Primitive Weapon Anymore"??? We have Crossbows & AirBows to take the place of a Long Bow. Then getting into Muzzle Loaders they have taken away Black Powder and even Muzzle loading and replaced with Smokeless Powder.
The Primitive Weapons are now loaded from the Breach with a Smokeless Powder Charge, a Sabot or bullet that fits the barrel and an ignition system. Seems just like a CARTRIDGE.
Why have a Primitive Weapons Season when the new weapons that are used are the same as a modern rifle???
Just have Smokeless Rifle Season with loading powder charges and bullet at the breach with a primer or electrical ignition.
Why hunt with these imitation Primitive Weapons. Is it because Hunters can't hunt with Primitive Weapons???
In the 60s I hunted with a Hawkins 50 Cal flintlock. Yes difficult due to the "FlintLock" and also having to worry about the weather (rain). Still have my long Bow and Aluminum Arrows. Thought that was cheating having metal arrows.
To me it doesn't make any sense to have a Primitive Weapon season anymore. Well we can still have Bow Season with out the AIR Bow or Crossbow. Just call it Crossbow season.
Just an opinion from a former Primitive Weapon Hunter.

 

[338 dude]

When I started hunting in the early 60s there were "Seasons" for Big Game.
We had "Rifle", "Bow", and "Black Powder -Muzzle Loader"
Everyone knew what Rifle, Bow & "Black Powder -Muzzle Loader" was.
Over the years things have changed where I can't understand the meaning anymore.
Hunters wanted to change "Black Powder -Muzzle Loading from Black Powder into "Muzzle loading Smokeless Powder"
No Longer " Primitive Weapons" Like I was accustomed to. Black Powder Muzzle loading Flint lock or Cap along with a Bow & Arrow.
What is a "Primitive Weapon Anymore"??? We have Crossbows & AirBows to take the place of a Long Bow. Then getting into Muzzle Loaders they have taken away Black Powder and even Muzzle loading and replaced with Smokeless Powder.
The Primitive Weapons are now loaded from the Breach with a Smokeless Powder Charge, a Sabot or bullet that fits the barrel and an ignition system. Seems just like a CARTRIDGE.
Why have a Primitive Weapons Season when the new weapons that are used are the same as a modern rifle???
Just have Smokeless Rifle Season with loading powder charges and bullet at the breach with a primer or electrical ignition.
Why hunt with these imitation Primitive Weapons. Is it because Hunters can't hunt with Primitive Weapons???
In the 60s I hunted with a Hawkins 50 Cal flintlock. Yes difficult due to the "FlintLock" and also having to worry about the weather (rain). Still have my long Bow and Aluminum Arrows. Thought that was cheating having metal arrows.
To me it doesn't make any sense to have a Primitive Weapon season anymore. Well we can still have Bow Season with out the AIR Bow or Crossbow. Just call it Crossbow season.
Just an opinion from a former Primitive Weapon Hunter.

It is getting kind of complicated and they're definitely taking primitive out of it ,I have a vertical bow and a crossbow .many states still do not allow the use of a crossbow unless you were disabled ,but you still have to jump through a bunch of hoops and red tape and have doctors reports etc. to back it up .I just use my Hoyt carbon element !

 

[HARPERC]

Always been a divide and conquer issue in my mind. Cost us all in the long run.

 

[Critter Picker]

I still use a compound bow for archery season and my Encore 209 X 50 cal for muzzle loader season. A few years ago I took my 54 cal. Hawkin out and got a whitetail with a patched ball.

 

[Recon$$]

I only get a few weeks to hunt right now. I go all in on the rifle right now. Few years ago I was exclusively bow hunting. Looking forward to doing both when time permits.

 

[Jbumblebee]

We still have traditional muzzleloader and archery hunts here in Oregon. I drew a Muzzleloader antelope hunt in Eastern Oregon. I drew it last year and because of the drought we got our points back. Hopefully, there's water there this year and we can hunt.

I'm heading to the range tomorrow to practice with my 'smoke pole'.

 

[59FLH]

My state: in this order or close
Sept start: (labor dayish)
archery
early muzzleloader
archery
youth firearms
archery
firearms
archery
muzzleloader
archery
firearms
archery
primitive (flint lock., recurve or long bow) ends Feb.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

We still have traditional muzzleloader and archery hunts here in Oregon. I drew a Muzzleloader antelope hunt in Eastern Oregon. I drew it last year and because of the drought we got our points back. Hopefully, there's water there this year and we can hunt.

I'm heading to the range tomorrow to practice with my 'smoke pole'.

Good luck on your future hunt my friend. I have no problem with the way anyone hunts. Hey I see hunters spending high $$$sss to build a smokeless rifle that is just about the same as a modern rifle to shoot an animal in Primitive Weapon Season. If that is the way you want to hunt it is your right. The same as paying a Ranch that has Fenced Genetic Raised Deer. Go on a Hunt Pay you $10-20-30K for a Buck that you pick off of a wall of pictures.
To me it is not about actually harvesting a trophy of even a Big Game animal.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE JOURNY-THE PREPERATATION FOR MONTHS TO YEARS-THE TRAVEL SITES WITH NEW TERRITORIES AND FRIENDSHIPS MADE ALONG THE WAY-THEN HOPEFULLY THE HARVEST AND THE JOURNEY HOME WITH A LIFETIME OF STORIES TO SHARE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!

 

[del2les]

I hear what you are saying. My old home state has done a very similar thing, and for the past many years, they have allowed "pre-1891 or replicas" breach loading, single shot firearms, usually 45-70 or such, for the "primitive weapons" season. Even the old muzzle loaders can now have scope sights, sabot and jacketed bullets, inline with shotgun primers, etc, etc. Many of these weapons shoot very similar to modern rifles and have long range capabilities.

While I own modern inlines, I almost never hunt game with them. I still hold to my old 36-54 cal side hammers, and as I have grown older, I find I am using traditional BP more and more and moving away from the substitutes. I guess I am missing "the good old days" and all the excitement it once brought, and the feeling of achievement when the game was taken with traditional smoke poles.

 

[Buckys]

I think one of the greatest concerns the rule-makers have is maintaining and hopefully increasing participation in hunting, especially in younger age brackets. How those rule-makers choose to market those opportunities will and should continue to evolve from that perspective. And they should also consider such changes might be perceived by the old farts like me.

If there are enough customers or potential customers who want a special season where you can only hunt with a sharpened #2 pencil no greater than 8" in length, then such a season may become a reality (especially if some large pencil manufacturers that help lobby the state for it).

Personally, I feel like the primary challenges these special seasons offer is limited range to target, time to reload, etc. which in turn create a more challenging experience.

So I try to be accepting of the changes so long as they are not significantly lessening those fundamental challenges. But who and how we decide what challenges are fundamental is the tricky question (e.g., archery trigger releases, compound bow let-off, etc.)

 

[skipglo]

I still use a compound bow for archery season and my Encore 209 X 50 cal for muzzle loader season. A few years ago I took my 54 cal. Hawkin out and got a whitetail with a patched ball.

What happened do you think to the Whitetail? Maybe caught it on a barbed wire fence? Be my guess!

 

[chindits]

Maybe time to revisit primitive regulations just to thin the crowds out. Archery season is absurd where tags can be 2 points more than a rifle tag. ML really has turned into second fiddle around here.

 

[Teri Anne]

When I started hunting in the early 60s there were "Seasons" for Big Game.
We had "Rifle", "Bow", and "Black Powder -Muzzle Loader"
Everyone knew what Rifle, Bow & "Black Powder -Muzzle Loader" was.
Over the years things have changed where I can't understand the meaning anymore.
Hunters wanted to change "Black Powder -Muzzle Loading from Black Powder into "Muzzle loading Smokeless Powder"
No Longer " Primitive Weapons" Like I was accustomed to. Black Powder Muzzle loading Flint lock or Cap along with a Bow & Arrow.
What is a "Primitive Weapon Anymore"??? We have Crossbows & AirBows to take the place of a Long Bow. Then getting into Muzzle Loaders they have taken away Black Powder and even Muzzle loading and replaced with Smokeless Powder.
The Primitive Weapons are now loaded from the Breach with a Smokeless Powder Charge, a Sabot or bullet that fits the barrel and an ignition system. Seems just like a CARTRIDGE.
Why have a Primitive Weapons Season when the new weapons that are used are the same as a modern rifle???
Just have Smokeless Rifle Season with loading powder charges and bullet at the breach with a primer or electrical ignition.
Why hunt with these imitation Primitive Weapons. Is it because Hunters can't hunt with Primitive Weapons???
In the 60s I hunted with a Hawkins 50 Cal flintlock. Yes difficult due to the "FlintLock" and also having to worry about the weather (rain). Still have my long Bow and Aluminum Arrows. Thought that was cheating having metal arrows.
To me it doesn't make any sense to have a Primitive Weapon season anymore. Well we can still have Bow Season with out the AIR Bow or Crossbow. Just call it Crossbow season.
Just an opinion from a former Primitive Weapon Hunter.

I have been hunting in Wisconsin using black powder for many years. I am also a NRA/NMLRA certified muzzle loading instructor. Here in Wisconsin the muzzle loading laws are pretty straight forward. A muzzle loading rifle may be used during all regular firearm hunting seasons as well as during the regular muzzle loading season. The others to include any breech loading or smokeless powder rifle may be used during all but the designated muzzle loading season. During the designated muzzle loading season only rifles with a breech plug shooting black powder or a black powder substitute may be used. Regulations are not confusing, but people still manage to violate and still manage to get caught.

 

[brentru]

Colorado still has enough restrictions on the ML season to keep it pretty primitive. No optics, no sabot, loose powder only....