Syracuse.com - Muzzlerloader time: Some hunters are traditionalists, others go modern

HuntingNY-News · December 16, 2012

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation website, a muzzleloader is a rifle or pistol loaded through the muzzle, shooting a single projectile and having a bore of .44 inches or larger.

Phil Stewart,of Clay, says he can shoot accurately out to 200 yards with his Thompson Center Omega muz´zleloader

Lauren Long/The Post-Standard

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The late muzzleloading season for deer hunting in the Southern Zone began last week and ends Tuesday.

The only firearm allowed is a muzzleloader. Shotguns and rifles are banned. The firearms used by muzzleloader hunters, though, do vary. There are the traditionalists with their flintlock and caplock rifles with iron sights. The vast majority, however, use the modern “inline” muzzleloaders with high-powered scopes.

Just what is a muzzleloader?

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation website, it’s a rifle or pistol loaded through the muzzle, shooting a single projectile and having a bore of .44 inches or larger. You’re allowed to use fiber-optic sights or scopes on your firearm.

The ammunition ranges from the round lead balls that were shot by the American colonists and the likes of Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone to modern-day sabot slugs or bullets that look and act like they were shot out of a rifle.

New York’s special muzzleloading season differs from Pennsylvania, where only traditional flintlocks are allowed.

Mike Salter, 53, of Georgetown, is a traditionalist. He’s a member of the American Mountain Men, a group dedicated to get-togethers that re-enact the lives of western fur traders in the Rocky Mountains between 1820 and 1840. He said many of his group’s members shoot traditional muzzleloaders.

Mike Salter, of Georgetown, poses with a 6-point buck that he shot in 2008 with his traditional muzzleloader.

Submitted photo

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“I love the tie with history. The idea is that I’m hunting with something my great, great, great grandfather would have been comfortable with,” Salter said.

With the flintlock and caplock rifles, a measured amount of gunpowder is poured down the barrel, followed by a round ball and a greased cloth patch. The hunter then uses a ramrod to pack the gunpowder, ball and patch down into the barrel.

Flintlocks are fired when a piece of flint on the gun’s hammer strikes a hardened piece of metal on the barrel, resulting in a spark that sets off the gunpowder. Caplocks are fired when the gun’s hammer hits a little copper cap that sits on a nipple on the barrel, likewise creating a spark.

“I find my muzzleloader efficient out to about 100 yards,” Salter said, adding that it takes him one to two minutes to reload.

Phil Stewart, 78, of Clay, goes hunting this time of year with his Thompson Center Omega muzzleloader, which shoots .50-caliber bullets and has a 3x9 Leupold scope. The gun uses pre-measured gunpowder pellets and a percussion cap that the hammer hits to provide the spark.

Like with the traditional firearms, a ramrod is used to jam the plastic-encased bullet and gunpowder pellets down the barrel.

“I can reload it in 40 to 50 seconds easily,” he said.

Stewart touted his gun’s accuracy and said it “shoots like a rifle.” He bristles, though, at the idea of New York, like Pennsylvania, banning modern-day muzzleloaders during the muzzleloading season.

“I’m not hung up on tradition,” he said. “I don’t understand why the world should stop for me. And besides, I see the end of my hunting career coming shortly.”

Phil Stewart, of Clay, holds a .50-caliber bullet, three gunpowder pellets and a percussion cap that he uses to shoot his muzzleloader.

Lauren Long/The Post-Standard

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Stewart said he’s been hunting for more than 60 years and turned to muzzleloaders “as a way to extend my hunting time in the fall.” He said he shoots accurately with his modern muzzleloader out to 200 yards.

But as with any form of hunting, nothing is a sure thing.

“The biggest animal I’ve shot is an elk at a private hunting preserve,” he said. As for deer, Stewart’s only taken one — a doe.

“You often don’t see too many deer this time of year,” he said.

Salter said he’s taken several deer with his muzzleloader, including a six-point buck and a doe with a live weight of 240 pounds.

“I got them both up the hill from my house,” he said. “Some days you don’t see anything, and some days you’re blessed with the perfect shot and end up with meat in the freezer.”

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog