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Why You Should Start Hunting With A Muzzleloader

3 Minute Read

By HuntWise  on 9/29/2023

As the peak of whitetail hunting season slips away and the woods begin to quiet down, late-season deer hunting, especially muzzleloader hunting, can provide you with an excellent opportunity to spend more time in the woods. In the late season, deer have likely been chased, shot at, and otherwise harassed for months. The remaining bucks and does roaming the woods have been very educated and experienced.

 

Whether you are still eyeing your target buck, or aiming to put a little more meat in the freezer, breaking out the muzzleloader to hunt whitetails during the late season is an opportunity that every deer hunter should try to take advantage of. Today’s in-line muzzleloaders are very efficient and accurate. For hunters who have thought about picking up a front-loader it can be a bit intimidating. If you can shoot using open sights then you can shoot a muzzleloader.


 

Extend your hunting season

 

For most states, the muzzleloader season exists during the secondary rut. Muzzloader allows you to take advantage of bucks who are resting after weeks of rutting. Across the country, many muzzleloader seasons open during the best days of the year, and offer a high chance of bagging a big buck. Southern states like Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Oklahoma open during the heat of the rut. Midwest powerhouses like Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri have late-season opportunities in December and January.


 

Take advantage of the empty woods

 

Be strategic and plan your hunt. This is not a time to slip up by hunting on a wrong wind or being noisy on the access trail. Whether you hunt public or private land, the woods are much more quiet during muzzleloader season. During this time, there is less human scent and pressure. Finding hidden patches of food and cover with little competition can set you up for success.

 

 

 

Learn to re-scout your land

 

Scouting during the late season is an important strategy that is often overlooked. Re-scouting the land you know through-and-through in the late season may uncover many different patterns, behaviors, and changes that occurred during deer season. A quick, yet unobtrusive, scouting session for fresh sign is crucial to success. Scout the fringes of the property, stay out of bedding areas, and make sure you keep the wind in your favor while doing so. If muzzleloader season is already in, carry your gun and slowly still hunt.

 

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Integrate HuntWise

 

Use HuntWise to find an ideal location to increase your chances of finding a whitetail on a windy day and decrease chances of your cover being blown. HuntWise gives you an extra edge by delivering peak movement times with a 15-day forecast and monitoring weather conditions on a weekly, daily, and hourly basis. For more, explore our guide on finding last minute hunting land.


 

Become a better hunter

 

There is no doubt that shooting a rifle at an extreme distance takes practice and is no easy task. However, there is something to be said about the hunter who sneaks in close and only has one shot and is successful year after year. As muzzleloaders have a slight “hang time” before the bullet leaves the end of the barrel, learning how to stalk an animal and then keeping your sights aligned after the shot is crucial. The strategic skills you acquire by taking up the muzzleloader will help you become a better hunter. If you decide to put it down and pick up your modern rifle once again the lessons learned from hunting with a smoke pole will only help you notch more tags. Muzzleloading offers one of the best opportunities for late season, mature buck hunting. It doesn’t matter if you are considering hunting with a muzzleloader simply for the challenge or because the woods are less crowded during the hunting season. But by choosing to hunt with a muzzleloader, you are accepting the challenge to make a clean kill on an animal with a single shot.

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