“Now that we’ve got this blackpowder season, it gives you a way to shoot that deer that was out of range with the bow,” he said. “With today’s muzzleloaders, you can shoot a deer at 100-150 yards.
“It just amazes me, I’ll have somebody during muzzleloader season and they say, ”˜the deer must not have been moving because I’m the only one that shot that I could hear.’ I say, ”˜No, you were probably the only one out there hunting.’ It’s a big missed opportunity for people not to take advantage of the special muzzleloader season.”
Norton thinks part of the blame for the low number of muzzleloaders is a lack of education about the sport these days and some misconceptions left over from a bygone era.
“I know I was the same way when I first started shooting one,” Norton said. “I had you and Cuz (Ronnie Strickland) teaching me how to load it and clean it. The old way, that was a pain, having to break one down and clean it. It would make you not want to shoot one. You used to just about have to put one in the bathtub with you to get it clean.
“Today’s muzzleloaders, it takes 15 or 20 minutes to clean. You can shoot these guns a dozen times before they have to be cleaned. Back then, after the third or fourth shot, you had to clean it or you couldn’t get the bullet down the barrel. And the accuracy back then wasn’t that great. About 50-60 yards was about as far as you felt comfortable shooting one. Now, with the Knight in-line gun I’ve got, I can shoot a three-shot group and hit a Skoal can at 100 yards. It’s unbelievable how good these guns shoot.”
Of course, there are those traditional blackpowder hunters who use only flintlock rifles and patched balls. Those hunters are avid primitive weapons enthusiasts and know the limitations of their weapons.
For the average hunter, the modern muzzleloader offers additional opportunity that, with some diligence, will expand his or her deer-hunting prowess.
