I understand getting old and not being able to do the things I used to do, but changing rules to accommodate those who can't (or those who just don't want to) really makes no sense to me.
Muzzleloader Season was established for those who shoot muzzleloaders. Bow Season was established for those who hunt with bows. Unmentionable Season is for those who hunt with unmentionables.
If they want to open a new season for Abominations then so be it, they should not however infringe on Muzzleloaders just as muzzleloaders should not infringe on primative bow hunters.
A Muzzleloader does not want an Abomination shooting over their head from two or three hundred yards after they just spend a day or two tracking their game and getting in close enough to take the shot any more then a bow hunter wants a Muzzleloader, using a scope, to blast over his head just as he draws and prepares to shoot.
Yes, getting old sucks. But we can not open 'Horse/foot Only Access' to ATVs because old people can no longer handle the walk or ride a horse. We can not open Bike Lanes to cars because old people can not ride bikes anymore.
Look what has happened to so many Reenactments these days (especially in the west); they are now free for all 'fantasy festivals'.
If we keep changing the rules for those who no longer can, and those who simply won't, then we wake up one day and it No Longer Is.
New people have no rules, no insensitive; Anything Goes.
Saying that "scopes are not allowed during Muzzleloader Season" is Not 'government regulation infringing on one's rights to be free'; if that is so then realise the Abominations and Unmentionables too - No Rules, No Regulations, Free For All, Let Anarchy Rule!
Yes; Seasins, Rules, Regulations are set for a purpose. Not everyone can play at will, and as we grow old we have realize that one day we have to stay home, let the younger generation enjoy and have their time, to make their memories.
I have no horse in this race; I have scopes, I can so far still use my iron sights (I have only iron sights on my unmentionables too), but I can no longer hike to woods and navigate the streams, I can no longer sleep in the ground....those I now have to leave to the youngers, not change rules to accommodate myself and therfore not encourage the younger new comers to Experiance and Learn.
I know many can care less about Preserving the Old Ways. To them a muzzleloader is just a passing fancy, a novelty, sometimes an inconvenience.
But places like this Forum, and specialized Hunting Seasons, and 'themed' Events are set with Preservation in mind; when those 'Rules' and 'Regulations' are ignored or allowed to be abolished...so does the heart and soul of old ways that we seek to preserve.
'The memories of an old man are the deeds of a man in his prime'
- Pink Floyd