Hello Squirrel Hunter
Sorry it took me so long to get back to ya' on this, but I've was working in Oxford and driving home everyday up until Katrina. That didn't leave much time for things I like to do. We had to send some of our folks to central and south Mississippi so we have been short handed over our way since the disaster and that didn't leave much time either. Now I have time to sit down and drink a cold adult beverage and check out the internet.
I know what you are talking about, Mississippe has a generous PW season and I am mighty glad. My thing, I guess, is I don't see CARTRIDGE rifles as "Primative" and it is hard for me to understand how anyone can. As you said, BPCP'S & crossbows do not give people more time in the woods and that is not what I intended to say, if it did, I'm sorry.What I should have said is that the more modern weapons they include in the definition of what is primative, the more people I will have to deal with in the woods. The easier they make it, the more people that will take advantage of the "extra time in the woods". I am sure that you must have no problem with places to hunt but we are being over run in the Delta with people from Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, & Mississippi buying up hunting leases for exorbitant prices and causing us to hunt what is left
The thing about scopes was an incomplete thought, I guess. Yes, you can go to the trouble and expense of mounting a scope on a sidelock. For about the same cost and no trouble, you can get a blister packed thing with a scope already mounted on it. Once you get the package open all you have to do is buy some of the premeasured pellets, load and shoot a deer. No sighting in necessary (per the ads). Cleaning is no muss, no fuss like with the sidelocks (per the ads), so why not get rid of that old "hard to clean, inaccurate" sidelock?
Now to the thing about the pawn shops. That is from two shop owners, not me. I bought a nice little sidelock for $26 (and a brand new T/C New Englander at Wal-Mart that had been there since 1995 for $60), so I am not really concerned with the reason as long as the bargains keep coming.
The comment about the range of the BPCR's was only ment to be about PW season. The game wardens AROUND HERE will run you in immediately if you are caught riding the roads during PW season with a loaded .243 in your truck, so I am having trouble seeing where that was relevant. I should have said that the inclusion of BPCR's could possibly extend the ROAD HUNTING SEASON, or at least make it easier. And no the local Wal-mart does not have BPCR's, but Bass Pro in Memphis does and I drool over them everytime I go in there. Everyone knows someone that handloads that would load up some BP loads, and beside, who is to know if there is BP or smokeless in the cartridges?
I guess I am paranoid, this could be caused by the fact that I grew up in the 50's and 60's with all the acres and acres of prime woods that I could possibly hunt, and now I am cut down to a small amount of private land and state owned land (that I am awfull thankful for). I have hunted with muzzleloaders since the late 60's and I get a might scared when they go to giving modern guns the same rights as Muzzleloaders. Next year, if enough people whine, maybe you will be able to use your old '94 Winchester with blackpowder stuffed in those cases.
I,m glad things are so good in the hill area of our state that you don't mind sharing your hard earned primative weapons season with modern weapons, they ain't that good here.
JEB/Ms