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I wanted to see if yall could help me out with something. Would it be legal to go squirrel hunting with a .45 caliber muzzleloader? Any info would be appreciated.

For beginners, I'm not real sure why you would even want to do that other than to say that you had killed a squirrel with a .45 caliber muzzleloader. But, no, it wouldn't be leagal. I looked in the Mississippi Outdoor Digest for the exact laws and could find, but I know that you cannot squirrel hunt with a handgun or rifle larger than a .22 caliber (no .22 mags.) and I think there is even a restriction on shot size for shot guns. I think the point behind all of that is to discourage hunters from shooting at deer while squirrel hunting.

[ September 27, 2001: Message edited by: Landscraper ]

I don't know if that is new or not, but I have always hunted in MS for squirrels with a flintlock .25 cal round ball, some of the most fun that can be had while squirrel hunting. I have been stopped by a few game wardens while hunting with it and they just said it was neat, never considered givin' me a ticket. However a .45 is awfully heavy to shoot squirrels with. Anyway I have always done it with a .25 cal, if it's illegal well then I will just have to get a ticket as I love the challenge with a round ball.

I think I remember from my hunter saftey course 18 years ago that it was legal to hunt squirrel with up to a .32 caliber muzzle loader. Might want to check with Duckwarden to be sure. If gun season for deer happens to be open, I think you could legally shoot them with anything you want.

Good luck!

The .22 caliber is not legal for deer.

My purpose for hunting with a .45 cal muzzleloader is to hunt hogs. My clubs rules state that you may kill a hog with anyweapon that corresponds with whatever season is open.They said no centerfire rifles, but i thought i might get around it with the muzzleloader. Oh well, thanks for the info.

Under the definition of primitive weapon for deer it says, that the primitive weapon must be greater than a 38 cal. Therefore, you would need to hunt squirrels with a primitive weapon smaller than the 38 cal.

Thanks guys- for giving me an opportunity to say something about that tele-chek deal. It's crap!!! I beleive some pin-heads in an office somewhere were looking for a way to request a bigger budget for next year and came up with this lame idea!

Is it just me or do these regulations just suck. It seems everything revolves around the logic that everyne will be trying to skirt around the law to shoot a deer. That's why you have to worry about what gun you have, on what day, to shoot a hog, bobcat or coyote and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. ---- beaver

You can't have a snake pistol when bowhunting because.......... it goes on and on. [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img]

Is it really necessary to complicate things just to prevent a theoretical over-harvest of a specie that is VERY plentiful, practically a nuisance in some places?

With deer Tele-check (or whatever it's called) can we dump some of these regulations?

This deer Tele-Check is only going to hurt the in-state hunters. The out-of-staters that are coming in and buying up the duck hunting land is bad enough, now we are giving the out of state deer hunters the same opportunity. We will be giving information on deer that is unneeded. There are two other states that are doing this crap, Kentucky and North Carolina. I don't believe in the Tele-Check and will not use it. There is no way to enforce the law. About 25% of the deer hunters will use it. If I kill a 160 class buck I'm sure as hell not doing to post it on the net with the location of the kill, etc.

Hey what about the new rules stating that you can't leave the main rosd of a WMA until 5:00a.m. It's the same crap every year the state must pass some stupid law regulating the law abiding hunters....so your tax dollars pay for the land and the upkeep but you can only use it for 7hrs per day during the time of the year that you really want to use it...I know what's coming next!!!!!

Booger

Let me apologize for some of the laws that "suck". Laws are not made for the good hunters. Laws are for the bad hunters. Believe it or not, game wardens catch a lot of people every year "trying to skirt the law to shoot a deer". I understand about the snake pistol. If you allow a pistol while bowhunting there will be those that will carry 45 cal. with scopes. Let me use this example: If in football games there were no out-of bounds after the opening kickoff you might not see the players again until the second half.

Greenhead22

As a law enforcement officer, I will support tele-check for one reason. Hunters that kill a deer or a turkey and try to get them out of the woods will have to comply with tele-check. If they don't, the deer or turkey is considered an illegal deer. This will be a great asset for those that stretch the limit.

Most of the Mississippi's deer hunting land is under lease. Non-residents will have to be a guest,hunt public land or lease land.

Where did you get the 25% from? Most hunters I've talk have no problem with tele-check.

RN989

I talked with several people within the department today and they didn't have a clue what you were talking about. What WMA are you talking about?

Within 24 hrs you must call in the number after you take the deer or turkey. We don't have a phone at the clubhouse, and cellular phones won't pick up a signal because of the dead zone that I am in. And I'm not going to drive 20 minutes to town just to call it in, it's stupid. This tele-check is not going to help get better harvest numbers, it's just going to bring in more out-of-state hunters in the state trying to buy up leases. I didn't care for the Magnolia Records program because the info is put on the net for everyone to see. How are these hunters that don't even have phones in their home going to call in a number? It's just like these WMA's, if you go and kill a 150 class deer in there, are you going to tell anyone, hell no. But now with this BS tele-check you are required too. If we are going to do this crap with deer and turkeys, then lets do it with ducks also. How many of you will agree to that??? There is no way to enforce the limits on deer, and there is no way to enforce the tele-check. There is a club near us that has ten members. They killed over 80 does last year, and alot of the deer that ran and died, the hunters didn't go look for them unless they dropped in their tracks. Are they going to call in those deer??? What about the three outlaws that I have to put up with whom killed 27 does in a government field last year? Are they going to call those in? If a federal gamewarden can't catch them in the act then how are they going to enforce the tele-check?

[ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: Greenhead22 ]

I believe what Duckwarden is saying, is don't only obey the law but try to understand why the law was written. Hunters who live in the spirit of the law usually have nothing to worry about. In other words, if you think you are doing something wrong, there is a good chance that you are doing wrong. Outlaws have no concept of the law thus taking more animals than permitted means nothing until they get caught. And contrary to popular belief, I think they get caught more often than you think. I know that enforcement will never be 100%, but if we that respect the law and abide by do our part, maybe we could help increase those numbers a little.

To Do
Hog season is open year round. So you could use a rifle. If you are going hog hunting for a big ole Boar you had better have more than a muzzle loader. I've killed over 30 wild boar the big ones 375-400 lbs are the hardest animal to kill. I was shooting a 30-06 with 180 grain.