All these seasons where we all get segregated based on our choice of weapon are a way of dividing us. I mean, why should I care if the guy with the modern rifle gets his season shortened, when I hunt with a ML, or a bow, or whatever else, right? We're all in this together, and the more we squabble among ourselves, the more likely we are to wake up one day and find out that we can no longer hunt.
I'm with Richard on this one. A ML is just another firearm, although it is more satisfying to hunt with to me. I mean, I would hate to open the regulations book next year and be told that I can only hunt with a long bow this week, a recurve next week, a compound the week after that, then the week after that, it is match lock only, then flint lock for a week, then caplock, then single shot cartridge gun for a week, levergun the week after, semi-auto the following week, etc, etc. The way they pass laws, you and I would be allowed to use ONLY what is in style that week, and as much as I like to have an excuse for a new gun, it would get ridiculous quick. Don't get me wrong, I am all for you and me hunting with our MLs, but I don't think for a second that we should get any special treatment just because we choose to hunt with a more primitive firearm. I mean, if anything, our choice of a ML says that we are more confident and quite possibly more skilled at getting close to the game than a modern rifle hunter, so they could make the argument that we should have our season shortened, or possibly our weapons banned, because our particular skill set makes us too efficient and deadly, so therefore they need more time to even their chances to be more like ours, since they can't/won't develop their skills to match ours. A gun is a gun is a gun, regardless what end it loads from.
And I'll second the comment about who the game animals belong to. The State may regulate the hunting seasons, but the animals are cared for (or sometimes not) by the land owner and whoever helps the land owner, so to me, they belong to him/her. I have gotten permission to hunt a lot of places by being respectful and hunting the way the land owner said to. Often times, that has meant letting a trophy buck walk, because I had permission to take the odd looking spikes instead, or does, or whatever else the owner specified. You know what? I could care less what the rack looks like because I don't eat antlers, so my two concerns are that things be done legally and in accordance to the rules the land owner gives me. And you know, most times, I get invited back for the next deer season, or even better, to hunt hogs and small game the rest of the year.
