Op-Ed: Plenty to do outdoors during holiday season

The following are excerpts from a Christmas Day article in the Lima News by outdoors writer Al Smith.

Deer hunters who will participate in the annual muzzleloader season will be prepared for a frigid wait for a shot at their prey. ...The muzzleloader deer season...runs from Tuesday through Friday.

This season has become more popular in recent years probably because modern in-line muzzleloaders are easier to handle and clean.

The most traditional hunters still use the flint lock muzzleloader. It is a more complex gun that was used during the Revolutionary War. The side hammer models that use blackpowder were used during the 1800s.

Using a primitive weapon poses a challenge for the hunter. With only one shot, it takes more patience to squeeze the trigger at the right time.

During deer-gun week, hunters who use a shotgun have three slugs available to them.

Bitter cold weather and snow are usually a part of the muzzleloader season. Thus, it takes a hardy hunter to sit and wait for a deer. Sitting on the ridge of a ravine for several hours or in a deerstand takes quite a bit of patience.

A plus to having snow is that it makes it easier to track a deer.

Legal hunting hours during the statewide muzzleloader deer season are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Deer must be checked by 8 p.m. on the day after harvest, except those killed on Friday, which must be brought to a deer check station by 8 p.m. that day.

Click here for the complete article by Al Smith.

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