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To Scope of Not To Scope
To scope or not to scope? That’s a loaded question
By Tony Dean, The Fargo Forum
Published Sunday, March 25, 2007
Toby Bridges is waging war on 14 states, including both Dakotas, that do not allow magnified scope sights on muzzleloader rifles. I believe his effort is misguided and wrong.
Not too many years ago, the muzzleloader was truly a primitive rifle. Not today. In-line muzzleloaders using Triple 7 powder are capable of astonishing accuracy.
In short, they are not the same rifles the Lewis & Clark crew toted up the Missouri River in 1804. Several years ago, I took an Austin Halleck .50-caliber out of the box and with open sights, promptly shot a group at 100 yards that a 3-inch bull’s-eye would cover.
That’s apparently not good enough for Toby Bridges. Oh, he thinks it’s fine for shooting does, but in his words, when he’s after a trophy buck, he wants the fastest, hardest hitting and most accurate rifle he can use.
But most of all, Toby wants it scoped, Daniel Boone be darned. See, he figures that eliminating scopes discriminates against older hunters such as yours truly because our eyes aren’t as good as they once were, and his argument is that today’s muzzleloader hunter is a new breed, one that state game and fish agencies refuse to acknowledge.
And, he says, it is groups of traditionalists who are keeping muzzleloader hunting in the dark ages. I know of no such group in North or South Dakota, even though neither state allows scopes on muzzleloaders. Moreover, since I posted one of his numerous articles on my Web site, every response to his proposal has been met with scorn from Dakota hunters who believe he’s wrong.
He argues that today’s muzzleloader is capable of being a 200-yard gun. Maybe so, but only if it is equipped with a scope, and if it’s 200-yard shots he’s after, there are many centerfire rifles that will allow just that, with a considerably higher degree of accuracy.
His newest ploy is to accuse the 14 states who refuse to buckle under with discrimination, and he writes the following: “Each of the game departments in these states receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And for that agency to continue to provide that assistance would put it in violation of its own discrimination policy. The first line of that policy reads, ‘No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age or disability be subjected to unlawful discrimination under any program or activity conducted by or which receives Federal financial assistance from the Department of Interior.’ ”
Let me make sure I understand that. If I’m not allowed to use a scope on my muzzleloader, I’ve been discriminated against? Give us a break, Toby.
The disability he is apparently talking about is age and declining eyesight. Hmmm, does that mean he’ll push scopes on shotguns after the muzzleloader effort plays out?
I think what I find most offensive about Toby’s efforts is his attempt to say that 90 percent of muzzleloader owners favor scopes and it’s only the 10 percent of the traditionalists who oppose them. That could be true in some areas, but as I wrote earlier, I don’t know of any organized group of traditional muzzleloaders in either Dakota that is getting involved.
One hunter who responded to Bridge’s diatribe said, “I started hunting with a muzzleloader for the same reason I got into archery hunting, and that’s the challenge of getting closer to the animal I’m hunting.”
Makes sense to me, but not to Bridges.
He added, “Most of you reading this are professional outdoor communicators. And those of you who cover muzzleloader hunting very likely already know that when you write about one side or the other of the sport, sooner or later you are going to hear from the other side – often claiming some injustice. If you are like me, you’ve probably gotten use to it. One thing is for certain, muzzleloading can no longer be handled generically. There are two distinctly different sides, and the rift that exists between these two groups does not show any signs of fusing together in the foreseeable future. And that’s a real shame for those of us who enjoy shooting and hunting with both traditional and modern muzzle-loaded guns.”
It appears to me that where there is no rift, Bridges is trying to build one.
I have a piece of advice for him.
Toby, do your muzzleloader deer hunting in the 36 other states that allow scopes.
Tony Dean is the host and executive producer of “Tony Dean Outdoors,” a television series that airs across the Upper Midwest. His daily radio show, “Dakota Backroads,” airs 42 times daily on 39 North Dakota and South Dakota radio stations, plus two in Minnesota.
He can be reached at tonydeanoutdoors@pie.midco.net
To Scope of Not To Scope
