Anybody else find it funny/ironic that the NMLRA landing page has a tag line about "Preserving History", while promoting inlines and the firestick in their "News" section?
Georgia DNR proposes huge change to laws pertaining to muzzleloading deer hunting
- Thread starter GAHUNTER60
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No less important with a .54 . Bigger bullets are no substitute for poor marksmanship.
Not long ago and not far from here state game wardens caught a prodigious poacher after a long effort. He was making one shot kills with a .22WMR . If you do not know the deer's anatomy, and/or can not place your shot, the caliber of your weapon is irrelevant.
The minimum caliber for muzzleloader deer hunting in Virginia is 45.
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If one were to only use the 110 grain soft lead concial in a 32 caliber, then, yes, at short distances it would reasonably kill deer. But, that is a rare oddity and I doubt many would consider it in a traditional rifle. 3 and half decades ago a few squirrels fell to that combo, but then roundballs made more sense for small game and the slugs were put away. Still, I can see how it could be successful in the right hands. I've not kept up with the inlines since giving my last one away to a brother. Didn't know they were making them less than 45 caliber for 35 caliber pistol bullets at super velocity, but it wouldn't surprise me. I would rather use a good side lock and open sights as long as possible, though.
Brokennock
Cannon
If you look at the way the reply you are responding to is worded, I'm sure that you will see the poster is a "troll" and isn't worth our time. I too was going to dispute his nonsense, but, as they say,
"When one argues with a fool, it becomes hard to tell the difference who is who."
If he tries to rebut your reply, I would ignore him.
Patocazador
54 Cal.
Florida also changed the minimum caliber to .30. They say it's because they allowed deer hunting with air guns of .30 caliber.
Both sound ridiculous to me.
Both sound ridiculous to me.
hanshi
Cannon
The .45 certainly is a pleasant, well mannered rifle and can cleanly kill deer at 75 yards; I've done that. It needs no exclusions, buts or excuses. A .440" patched ball and 50 to 80 grains of black is all that's needed for even large whitetails and (arguably) black bear.
What might be technically legal under fish and game rules can be way different from what is ethically correct. Under the California big game weapon laws I can legally hunt deer with my Baby Browning two inch barreled 25acp unmentionable as long as I use soft point non-lead projectiles. Do we really need more legislation here? And FWIW, the minimum for a front stuff rifle out here is 40 cal.
On this same vein, there is a .36 caliber Maxi-ball of 125 grains, which has better ballistics in flight, and should have no trouble with penetration due to its long cross section, compared to an almost identical weight .440 patched round ball. IF I was so inclined to use a .36 on whitetail, I'd use a conical bullet as well.
LD
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smoothshooter
50 Cal.
This may have more to do with sabotted bullets fired from in-lines, and air rifle projectiles than balls fired from traditional muzzleloaders.
Yup, it's got nothing to do with anything even close to resembling a traditional muzzleloader. The inline crowd has been experimenting with very thick sabots and sometimes a sabot inside of another sabot with 'small' diameter rifle bullets inside of that sabot for awhile now. This is not about shooting deer with your squirrel gun. It's all about high BC modern bullets fired from an inline. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet one more step away from 'muzzleloader season' was supposed to be about.
Yes I do, and it's why I refuse to join that organization. If the NMLRA wanted to have an equal but separate 'sister' organization devoted to inline that would be fine with me. However I don't care to help promote the inline disease in our hunting seasons any more than I have to. And to be fair I own 4 inlines and enjoy shooting them for what they are. However as far as I'm concerned they just don't belong in our muzzleloader hunting season and they should not be normalized as such in a national organization and magazine supposedly devoted to the history and preservation of traditional muzzleloaders.
I saw this thread in a search for ga muzzleloading regulations and I've read it in its entirety.
I'm from Georgia born and raised and I'm sad what has happened here in the last 20 years.
The younger generation is just not interested in hunting with any weapon much less a front stuffer of any type much less one that requires the learning curve of a Caplock or Flintlock.
Very sad indeed. I think the DNR is struggling to meet there budget requirements to finance basic services like hunter education classes hunter license checks staffing wma quote hunt check stations. Etc etc.
Sales of licenses and WMA stamps are at record lows.
Deer harvests are declining while populations are exploding.
So I believe the legislative action is comming from a good place just not very well thought out. There trying to renew intrest by any means posible
I think we all must stick together no matter what caliber weapon or type or ignition system. We choose. Otherwise we will have our rights stripped away individually one splinter group at a time.
That being said I built a 30 caliber muzzleloader shooting 120 grain bullets
I'm sure I'll be flamed but oh well is what it is.
Point being I've done the work to comply with the law
I'm from Georgia born and raised and I'm sad what has happened here in the last 20 years.
The younger generation is just not interested in hunting with any weapon much less a front stuffer of any type much less one that requires the learning curve of a Caplock or Flintlock.
Very sad indeed. I think the DNR is struggling to meet there budget requirements to finance basic services like hunter education classes hunter license checks staffing wma quote hunt check stations. Etc etc.
Sales of licenses and WMA stamps are at record lows.
Deer harvests are declining while populations are exploding.
So I believe the legislative action is comming from a good place just not very well thought out. There trying to renew intrest by any means posible
I think we all must stick together no matter what caliber weapon or type or ignition system. We choose. Otherwise we will have our rights stripped away individually one splinter group at a time.
That being said I built a 30 caliber muzzleloader shooting 120 grain bullets
I'm sure I'll be flamed but oh well is what it is.
Point being I've done the work to comply with the law
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Yeah. Hunter numbers keep declining and the price of licenses keeps going up. I actually bought a lifetime hunting license as soon as I was old enough to make it a reasonable price, but I still have to pay for separate tags- $23 for a deer and turkey license, $21 for a bear license (which used to be part of the big game license as deer and turkey), $18 for archery, and $18 more for muzzleloader. $80 a year WITH the lifetime license, more than $100/yr if I didn’t have that. At a time when a 2 bedroom apartment is over $1600 a month, gas is over $3.29, and the minimum wage in Virginia is $12/hr. It’s no wonder we can’t get more kids in the woods with us!
Jay
I like it!
My back yard a 40 cal and a head shot. Meat = in the pot
My back yard a 40 cal and a head shot. Meat = in the pot
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The military base I hunt on is shotgun of ML only. ML'er is 45-58 caliber (Max charge of 100 grains). Shotgun is 20-10 gauge solid projectiles only. This brings into a grey area with using my NWT 62cal/20 gauge. Is it legal or not. I have asked the GW's and they don't know either, they say call hunt control - hunt control says call the GW's. I just hunt with the 54 cal rifle to be safe.
But a modern 20 gauge rifled slug gun would the same if it were a rifle 62 caliber (which is illegal), and the 62 cal Trade gun is same as a smoothbore 20 gauge. But the Trade Gun might be illegal. One would think common sense would prevail however these are the same GW's that wanted to give me a ticket for dove hunting with an O/U modern 20 because "I did not have a plug in the gun" no lie. Regulations stated all guns must be plugged so that only 3 shells could be loaded in any configuration. GW thought was no plug = ticket
But a modern 20 gauge rifled slug gun would the same if it were a rifle 62 caliber (which is illegal), and the 62 cal Trade gun is same as a smoothbore 20 gauge. But the Trade Gun might be illegal. One would think common sense would prevail however these are the same GW's that wanted to give me a ticket for dove hunting with an O/U modern 20 because "I did not have a plug in the gun" no lie. Regulations stated all guns must be plugged so that only 3 shells could be loaded in any configuration. GW thought was no plug = ticket
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When I first moved to Virginia, it was illegal for me to hunt with my Brown Bess during muzzleloading season because the regulations said that you had to use a muzzleloading rifle. I could only use a smoothbore during general firearms season. That’s changed, since. To this day I almost never hunt with an unmentionable.
Jay
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