How Many Muzzleloaders Are Also Archers?

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Primarily archery, and have my own in-line, percussion and flint. Season in VA favors archery, and I spend most of the season with a bow.

I support a Wounded Warrior hunt every year with muzzleloaders, shooting supplies, and safety equipment - that keeps me busy with equipment and shooting.
 
20190114_133252.jpg First started as a bow hunter in the late 60's with a re curve then petty absent between late 70's to mid 80's returned with a compound bow and shotgun slug gun. With two bad shoulders resulted in 2001' switching from bow to a crossbow and continued adding a muzzle loader in 2017. I take full advantage of the bow season in early rut and pass on the doe's entirely. My state deer hunting limits usage to bow, x bow, shotgun slug, muzzle loader, and center fire pistol, cartridge has a limited maximum brass length. I use my Muzzle loader mainly target and optional second buck hunting.
 
I primarily hunt archery. I got a flintlock thinking it would extend my hunting range by 30 yards. I was wrong. I need lots of practice to get over my flinch. It will take some time but I’ll get there. Good hunting to all.
 
VERY much enjoy archery hunting! But, alas, I use whatever weapon that is legal at the time: bow, rifle, muzzleloader, handgun,...

Seems I just enjoy hunting more than just with a specific weapon.
 
I do most of my damage with archery gear, but my T/C Omega X7 gets plenty of exercise once the weather gets really cold!
 
Because of bad shoulder I cannot use my compound anymore, I still get out with my recurve before MZ season starts.
 
Been a Bowhunter longer than I have used / own my 2 ML's. Only hunted with 1 of the 2 ML twice years ago. But I do get out with my (1997) Oneida Lite Force Magnum. every year... and where my User Name Comes from LFM... Been a Bow Hunter / Archer for 35 plus years now! ML User Owner maybe 15 years.
LFM
 
Been a bowhunter a LOT longer then a muzzleloader hunter. I started back in '71 with a recurve then a longbow then compound and now a crossbow due to shoulder issues. Still shoot a lighter longbow for stump shooting and bowfishing. I built traditional Caplocks and flintlocks for a few years finally switching over to inlines. Its all good
 
In a way it seems natural for a person who likes the challenge of either weapon would like the other as well.

I have to admit the biggest attraction of black powder for me was all the opportunities I had while bowhunting that I know I could have taken with a muzzleloader but not with a bow!
I do both. Makes for close to 6 months of hunting. Two long seasons for me. Split like 3 months of archery and 21/2 months of black powder
 
Shoulder nixed the compound, not sure if Spears and knives are legal. Love it all, archery, rifle, but muzzleloaders are my favorite. As I type listening to the fox squirrels. Took a spike here last year but there's a big 10 nearby. I hope.IMG_20191019_083949116_HDR.jpg
 
I hunt. I've hunted archery before a gun because the laws used to allow archery at 12 and gun at 14. Muzzle loaders became my thing because they worked better than slug guns (hunted special firearm zones).

Love them all. But after archery fire arms almost feel like cheating.
 
Archery, compound and xbow, muzzleloader, long gun plus. Not a expert but deficient in none. Enjoy the outdoors!
Be safe guys and enjoy the season.!
 
Sat this morning and had a couple opportunities but didn’t see the one I wanted, maybe tomorrow?
 
I’ll get out in the field for probably 6-8 days of the firearm, muzzle loader, and youth season for the kids. Bow hunting is where I’m in the field 10-12 days. Usually this involves 2-3 hour sits 15 minutes from home unless I hunt public land. I use a compound bc of time constraints I used to hunt with longbows and recurves.
 
Thought for several days about adding my comments to this thread, started 10 years ago. Finally made the call to proceed due to the fact that it remains active and I am a newcomer to the forum.
I started my hunting life very young as a waterfowl hunter, being born and bred in Southern Saskatchewan. My whole family hunts waterfowl, and I still have that passion in my life. Age 16 comes along, and with it my first big game licence for deer with my fathers rifle. Success came early as I was now in central and Northern Alberta. Moose, deer and bear were collected annually, along with the ducks, geese and grouse. At the age of 24 I realized that hunting was no longer challenging. Enter my first bow, PSE Fireflight. I practiced hard and became quite proficient, taking a black bear and 5x5 bull elk that first season. These were followed up with further successes until the call for challenge reared again. Age 31 a PSE takedown recurve entered life, much practice and success further followed. Deer, moose and a bear, then I lost a poorly hit bull elk and bull moose in the same season. Reality hit home hard! Life and work commitments had taken away valuable practice time, and a decision had to be made. Sold the recurve and stepped back from bows all together. Enter the muzzleloaders. First the inlines, but found them not so challenging, really no different than my rifles (we have no special season here, thus no incentive to use muzzleloaders outside personal preference.) Thats when traditional sidelocks entered, both flint and cap. Took lots of game, hunting became more challenging again as my practice time allotment hadn’t improved, and joy was restored. Last year I again invested in a bow, low poundage compound however due to health issues and muscle loss. I hope to once again be able to get back into archery but will have to see. Now as age is catching up and eyesight is starting to go, my sidelocks sights are becoming problematic in all but perfect lighting, thus back into an inline with a scope.
Long story short, been there and done that, lol.
Hope I didn’t bore ya’ll.
Walk
 
Not as much as use to since age related shoulder issues but still do some archery hunting with crossbow. Sure wish more states would make it easier to use crossbows in archery season. We need all the hunters we can get regardless of equipment to maintainhunting as we know it. Seems our numbers have been declining.
 
For me its bow first, even though i started hunting with a gun earlier than i did with bow. Something about getting them animals in close range. Although i love the smell of gun powder.
 

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