What year did Tennessee

GRIT

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Get it's first Muzzleloader Season ? I can't think of it to save my life right now
Was it 1980
 

Wobblyshot1

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That's a good question. I'm pretty sure it was later that 1980...maybe sometime between 83 and 85. Its hard for me to remember because I was already doing some hunting during the regular season with a flintlock rifle.
 

Matador

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Rockwood,Tn.
The first season was only 2-3 days long. I couldn't
Justify spending the money for one. I know it was a week long in 1984 because I missed a buck. I killed a buck in 1985 with one. So I think it was either 1981 or 1982 that it first opened.
 

TheLBLman

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Matador":ztxb6tmp said:
The first season was only 2-3 days long. I couldn't
Justify spending the money for one. I know it was a week long in 1984 because I missed a buck. I killed a buck in 1985 with one. So I think it was either 1981 or 1982 that it first opened.
Think Matador is correct.
I also couldn't justify spending the money, AND, most of us didn't realize it was even an option that first year.

We did have a muzzleloader quota hunt at LBL prior to TWRA doing it on a statewide basis.
Most of the participants at that time were more about the nostalgia, including hunting in buckskin clothing,
than they were interested in the actual deer hunting. It was akin to Civil War re-enactments.

Early in the statewide season, I remember for a few years the season always ended on a Friday, and I believe it opened on a Monday, meaning a 5-day season without a weekend. Also, at about that time, deer season was completely closed statewide between Oct 31 and this "new" muzzleloader segment. Used to be, archery season ended October 31st, then there was no deer hunting period until a few days before Thanksgiving. Even the November "deer" season used to open the Monday before Thanksgiving.
 

TheLBLman

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Speaking of not being able to afford the cost of a muzzleloader,
there was also the issue of them being much less reliable to fire, at least back then.

There was quite a learning curve in figuring out ways to make it more likely your muzzleloader would actually shoot when you were hunting in rainy, or even humid weather conditions.

I can only imagine the frustration of wet weather muzzleloading in the frontier days.
No wonder they all carried a big knife and a tomahawk.
 

Smo

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North of Al. & South of Ky.
I remember hunting with a Primitive Weapon in the mid to late 80's in Tn.

At that time there were two seasons for Primitive Weapons.

One week was Buck only then it seems like the next week regular gun opened for a week then closed for another week of Primitive Weapons either sex hunts. Then regular gun season reopened.

If memory serves me correctly it was a 4 buck limit at that time and a 3" min. Antler length restriction.

Dang I'm gettin' old.


The biggest issue I 've found with Traditional style m/l not firing is lack of proper cleaning and lack of proper instruction on their use.

Keep them clean & dry and they will go BANG!

I still hunt with them till this day.... almost exclusively .

But you gotta' love the challenge or they will just sit collecting dust.
 

DRSJ35

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remember when a muzzleloader was actually a primitive weapon.And a 80 to 100 yard shot was doing good.Now there just like a single shot rifle.Taking a few minutes longer to load in between shot's.Use to be my favorite season when i was a kid.i thought i was like Davy Crockett.
 

rem270

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#sfmafia
Cool post to read here. Can't begin to answer when it opened in Tn but i remember my dad used to always let me skip school the opening Monday of mz every year. That would've started about 95 when i was 8. He has an old Charles Daly mz that was good to about 50 yards. I remember one morning movement was slow and he was messing with me. I was staring out his side of the blind and out steps a big buck. He didn't believe me and wouldn't turn to look. Finally he did and it was about 100yards so out of range anyways but i was tore up. We watched it walk out of site and a few moments later a mz cracked off where it went.
 
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