Unloading a muzzle loader

We don’t unload during hunt week. But at the end multi shots are put through them. If you Gota clean make it worth while :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikePal

Old style Kentuckeys etc. have to be shot to unload. Then you run into laws against discharging a firearm after dark...

It's a stupidly drafted law, obviously made by people who don't understand or shoot them. Removing the primer makes the load inert. Leaving the powder and bullet in the barrel is not a safety issue. With the hammer left down or breach closed, it's impossible to accidentally ignite the powder.

That's why they teach..."Always assume the rifle you pick up is loaded" and handle it accordingly.

---

It is not illegal to shoot after dark, it is illegal to hunt after dark.

If you pull the trigger into a tree or into the ground right at last light, or at your truck after you walk out you are no longer hunting.

If you have a setup like you do, you can shoot all night on a range, just cannot be hunting.

I have pulled the ball and cleaned out the powder but I would have rather just shot the gun at the end of the hunt day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fox

It is not illegal to shoot after dark, it is illegal to hunt after dark.

---

If you're in Hunter Orange, in the bush , you legally required to have your firearm unloaded and encased AT last light. Hard to deny your not Hunting if you discharge AFTER last light..HaHa.

I guess to avoid splitting hairs, legally; if you're are out hunting, you'd have to discharge the firearm before last light. HaHa..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikePal

If you're in Hunter Orange, in the bush , you legally required to have your firearm unloaded and encased AT last light. Hard to deny your not Hunting if you discharge AFTER last light..HaHa.

I guess to avoid splitting hairs, legally; if you're are out hunting, you'd have to discharge the firearm before last light. HaHa..

---

I think the part in the wording…”in an area usually inhabited by wildlife”… or something to that affect, pretty well deals with discharge after hours…..( dealing with encased firearms)….

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikePal

If you're in Hunter Orange, in the bush , you legally required to have your firearm unloaded and encased AT last light. Hard to deny your not Hunting if you discharge AFTER last light..HaHa.

I guess to avoid splitting hairs, legally; if you're are out hunting, you'd have to discharge the firearm before last light. HaHa..

---

That is why your range would be an easy thing, same with back at the truck ready to go shooting into the ground.

My point was, it is not the act or discharge that is illegal, we used to go shooting trap in the dark at the gun club, it is really gun.

Rick, that gun club had game around too and open seasons, but it was also a range.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fox

That is why your range would be an easy thing, same with back at the truck ready to go shooting into the ground.

My point was, it is not the act or discharge that is illegal, we used to go shooting trap in the dark at the gun club, it is really gun.

Rick, that gun club had game around too and open seasons, but it was also a range.

---

A range is totally different than shooting a round after legal light, at your stand or truck out in the boonies. The shooting is not the issue, it’s having a un-encased firearm after legal time….but you can explain that one to a CO….

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rick_iles

A range is totally different than shooting a round after legal light, at your stand or truck out in the boonies. The shooting is not the issue, it’s having a un-encased firearm after legal time….but you can explain that one to a CO….

---

The point was, it is not illegal to shoot at night, it is also not illegal to have a gun un-encased after legal light, it is illegal to hunt after legal light and if you can make it very obvious that you are not hunting then you are fine.

At our hunt camp it is right in the bush, would it be illegal to have the rifle, not in a case, on the deck after the end of legal light? I used to clean all the guns after dark after a rainy day out on the porch because there was not enough room inside and people did not like the chemical smell, not illegal, easily proven that I was not hunting.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fox

The point was, it is not illegal to shoot at night, it is also not illegal to have a gun un-encased after legal light, it is illegal to hunt after legal light and if you can make it very obvious that you are not hunting then you are fine.

At our hunt camp it is right in the bush, would it be illegal to have the rifle, not in a case, on the deck after the end of legal light? I used to clean all the guns after dark after a rainy day out on the porch because there was not enough room inside and people did not like the chemical smell, not illegal, easily proven that I was not hunting.

---

You were also not out in the bush at or leaving your stand with the un-encased gun. Apples to oranges. Note the below section does not mention…shooting…specifically..

20 (1) A person shall not, during the period from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise,[COLOR=#505050](a) hunt wildlife;
[COLOR=#505050](b) have a firearm in the person’s possession in an area usually inhabited by wildlife, unless the firearm is unloaded and encased; or
[COLOR=#505050](c) shine a light for the purpose of hunting wildlife.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fox

same with back at the truck ready to go shooting into the ground..

---

As Rick says,,,how do you get back to the truck with a loaded gun after last without breaking the law.

It's asking a lot to demand that ML hunters have to discharge their guns before they go down the ladder from the stand. ..when it's legal you can just take the primer out and put it in the back seat and it's OK. :)

By the by ; I have a tree in front of my stand that has probably 5 lbs of lead in it after 20 yrs...HaHa..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikePal

As Rick says,,,how do you get back to the truck with a loaded gun after last without breaking the law.

It's asking a lot to demand that ML hunters have to discharge their guns before they go down the ladder from the stand. ..when it's legal you can just take the primer out and put it in the back seat and it's OK. :)

By the by ; I have a tree in front of my stand that has probably 5 lbs of lead in it after 20 yrs...HaHa..

---

The MNRF states that taking the cap off is considered unloading, as you said. You can walk out with it "unloaded" with a charge in it, but you at the truck with the lights on unloading into the ground is not the same as unloading into a tree in front of your stand.

Some people cannot shoot at home, I get that.