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Kansas has the same problem. Number of deer hunters seem to have maxed out so they are allowing more deer on a tag and are bringing in out of state hunters. So now we have large prime No-hunting areas tied up by outfitters catering to the fat wallet crowd. Can't blame Wildlife and Parks because they have to manage the exploding deer population but in some ways it has backfired in spite of liberal walk-in hunting programs. I'm allowed to take as many as five whitetails in my unit... a buck and as many as four doe tags so I get to hunt a lot and always fill the freezer with meat, but during the mid-September muzzleloader season I very seldom run into any one else hunting. Two reasons for this, IMHO. One is a hunter safety education system that until recently prevented a lot of kids from experiencing hunting and we lost a lot of potential hunters. That has changed and we can now let kids hunt with us on "learner permits." That will stir up interest I believe. The other is the timing of the early muzzleloader season. A lot of guys don't want to fight the bugs, heat, sweat and weeds to hunt deer. A later season would encourage muzzleloading.... except that the bow hunters would cause a stink cause it would get into their time. I've hunted with muzzleloaders for over 30 years and in spite of all the fancy claims and marketing hype, most muzzleloaders perform on a level with a .30-30 or a .45-70 depending on the load and caliber. I like hunting in November with open sight and receiver sight .30-30's for the challenge so I normally leave the muzzleloaders at home any more. But I wouldn't feel unduly handicapped if I was limited to a muzzleloader cause they do the job quite well.

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