Hoot wrote:Maybe my state (MN) is just backwards but for the life of me, I fail to see how a pistol equates to a muzzle loader, unless the pistol is truly a muzzle loading pistol. I'm all for everyone filling their ticket but where do you draw the line in terms of definitions?
Hoot
Iowa isn’t big on redefining things.
As such, when Michigan went ‘straight wall’, Iowa said, “Yeah. That.”
When someone said, “45-70 is really old- and it’s basically ‘straight wall’.” Iowa said, “Ok.”
When Winchester released the 350 Legend and said, “No matter what the bullet ACTUALLY measures, it’s a .357” Iowa said, “Sure! Why not?”
So, when I called the DNR, they said, “We’ve always accepted ‘pistols’ during the late muzzle-loader season. That used to mean .44 mag revolvers, and things like that. The ATF calls an AR with no stock and a barrel shorter than 16” a pistol, so it’s a pistol. …and pistols are legal during the late muzzle-loader season.”
In one way, it makes no sense. But, fired as a pistol (not shouldered) either of these pistols is really not that different than a BFR revolver in 450B or 350L. My barrels are 10.5” and a BFR is 10” even. But, at the end of the day, a BFR or an AR pistol is still a modern weapon being used during a season for “primitive” weapons. (One big difference is that I can’t AFFORD a BFR…) If I’m still hunting deer in January, the thrill and challenge has probably gone out of it and I’m just hoping to put more venison in the freezer- if I want the challenge, I’ll stick to a smoke pole (but, even then, I’ll be using modern powder pellets, modern bullets with a gas seal, and shotgun primers, so…)
I don’t think MN is that ‘backward’, but Iowa might be too ‘forward’ or too much of a follower? I just know that, by January, Iowa wants a few more deer killed and they have to be antlerless (shed bucks are legal, for practical purposes, but they prefer does). Even with modern weapons, I think there are very few deer killed by hunters once the second shotgun season is over. I like being one of the few…