Guns that are loaded from the muzzle were the first firearms that were strong and simple enough for practical use, and reigned the battlefields and hunting grounds until the second half of the XIX century. They are widely used in certain parts of the world to this day, and hunting with muzzleloading weapons has developed into a small cult in the USA. In America, hunting with muzzleloaders is a reverence to the tradition of the pioneer, the mountain men, and the first explorers of the West, exemplified by both fictional characters like Nat “Deerslayer” “Leatherstocking” Bumpo and real-life figures such as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Jeremiah Johnson. Special hunting seasons, where only rifles and shotguns that load from the muzzle can be used, were established, to maintain the connection with the old traditions. Most muzzleloaders have a practical range of about 100 yards or so, and in most cases you don’t have that quick follow-up shot, so taking the shot calls for more responsibility, and your encounter with the game happens at a shorter distance. This makes a muzzeloader hunt a sort of a compromise between rifle hunting and bowhunting. Many states offer special seasons and hunts for muzzleloader enticing many hunters to take up the challenge. In densely populated states that limit the legal weapons for the general deer season to “short range” guns, muzzleloaders are included in the allowed list, and many hunters choose them over shotguns or handguns. Numerous advances have been applied to the old gun design since. Smokeless equivalents to the old black powder, one-piece powder charges, inline striking systems, sabot bullets in special plastic cups, scope sights, greatly increase the rate of fire, accuracy and killing range of modern muzzeloaders. In fact, many states place a limit to what is legally considered a muzzleloader. These limitations reach the peak in Pennsylvania, where even the cap-lock ignition is not allowed, and vary from state to state. So, if you’re going on a muzzleloading hunt in another state, check the regulations before packing up your trusty front-stuffer and favorite load. Dozens of muzzeloading guns, both homemade and left over from colonial times, are confiscated from poachers each year in Africa and elsewhere in the Third World, but generally speaking, outside North America, muzzleloading firearms are hardly ever used for legal hunting. There are no special seasons, and while a muzzleloader can be bought without a license in many states, the law usually requires the hunter to hunt with a fully registered weapon.