GRAY, Maine (NEWS CENTER)--With the Traditional Firearm Season on Deer now over, those who hunt with muzzle loaders have the woods to themselves. Muzzle loaders are weapons that load down the barrel. Many are vintage pieces like those used in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
"I've got customers that have so much fun with their muzzle loaders because they feel like mountain men," said Howell Copp, the owner of Howell's Firearms and Archery Center in Gray.
Copp is a former World Champion shooter who notes a lot of interest in black powder guns this time of year, especially from hunters who haven't gotten a deer. He jokes that the little rush of interest in guns and accoutrements creates "Black Powder Monday."
About fifteen thousand Mainers are licensed to hunt with muzzle loaders. Many will use old fashioned muskets such as those carried in the Civil War. Howell's also has a very modern Thompson Center Triumph known as the "Bone Collector."
It is a thoroughly modern piece with a rifled barrel. It is an "in-line" weapon in that the primer fires from directly behind the powder. This eliminates hesitation in the firing mechanism. Various amounts of powder can be loaded behind the conical shaped bullet to give it extra speed.
Muzzle loading season lasts two weeks in southern Maine and a week in the north. Licenses hunters are required to purchase a muzzle loader permit for thirteen dollars.
