The start of deer season is now on full bore as archery is in full swing and the early muzzleloader season officially starts on Oct. 13.

In the early muzzleloader season, all types of black powder rifles .45 caliber and larger are legal to use; this includes inline, percussion and flintlock model muzzleloaders. I have used all three types of muzzleloaders and the modern inline version is the most popular rifle for the early October hunt.

In my case, I use Triple Seven pellets (100 grain) loads, a 250 grain T/C sabot and a 209 primer as my ammunition for my .50 caliber. This combination is an accurate and powerful force when used by a competent marksman.

The problem with all muzzleloaders is that you need to shoot them in pretty perfect conditions. When all things are in pristine working order, you can have an excellent one time shot in the early season for a plump PA doe.

If anything goes awry with the rifle load, it can be pretty frustrating. One thing about muzzleloader hunting is that you need to practice target shooting just as often as you would with a regular rifle.

Muzzleloaders tend to foul up in many ways if you aren’t paying attention to detail. For example, you are using black powder or a substitute powder that requires perfect dryness. Moisture is the enemy of a black powder hunter.

The primer caps must also be handled with care; if there is no charge from the primer you might as well throw rocks at your target.

I decided that heading to the range for a practice session was in order. I certainly wanted my rifle on target and as we all know, it pays to know how you are shooting your rifle. It took me a few shots before I was happy with my marksmanship and having the confidence to hit what I was aiming at with one clean shot.

However, each time I took a shot, it became a little more difficult to reload the rifle. A look down the barrel of the rifle indicated that it was fouled up by the burning propellant.

I pulled out the breech plug and began a field cleaning of the barrel and the plug. Even using the proper cleaning materials proved to be time consuming, but once I was done, the loading and shooting improved.

No matter what they say, you need to clean the rifle after every hunting day. I learned a lesson by deciding to leave my load in for a second day’s hunt.

As we all have experienced in Western PA, the weather can be very fickle. Many times, we have fog, mists and heavy dews when the morning hunt begins.

It doesn’t have to be a rainy day to ruin a perfect hunt. A few years back, I decided to hunt a ridge that always gave us a few chances at an early season whitetail. My hunting partners were going to set up across the hillside and a few guys would walk out the thickets with the goal of driving deer toward our positions.

It was a well-orchestrated plan and sure enough a group of deer approached my position. They stopped and milled around in close range of my muzzleloader and I raised the rifle undetected.

A pop and a fizzle with a great cloud of smoke let me know that my shot was fouled up. The deer stood and watched the morning breeze carry away the smoke as they walked up the well-traveled deer trail untouched.

A short time later, I heard a shot and some hooting and hollering as one of the other guys connected on a deer after a clean shot. By this time, I had pulled my breech plug and the gunky mess showed that the powder had drawn moisture from being left in the rifle overnight.

Humidity has to be considered when a rifle load is allowed to be stored overnight for the next day’s hunt. Lesson learned, but a hard climb and a good drive was wasted on this hunt.

On the other hand, in the same location I had the opportunity to hunt on a crisp dry morning. I could hear squirrel hunters shooting down in a hollow not far from me, with the early small game season started.

I was hoping that the hunters would move some deer about. It wasn’t long before a couple of does came over the ridge and toward me and away from the squirrel hunters. The deer walked through some grapevines and were hidden fairly well. I had a small window of opportunity to take a clear shot and I didn’t hesitate. When the smoke cleared, I didn’t see any sign of the deer.

One of the first rules of hunting is to quickly reload for a second shot if necessary. Reloading a muzzleloader isn’t the quickest task, but I must admit that I did it pretty quick.

Slowly I approached the grapevines to check out the area for any sign of my deer. The shot was true and everything went as planned on this hunt as I filled my early muzzleloader season tag.

Remember that the early muzzleloader season requires you to wear orange clothing and to possess both a muzzleloader license and an antlerless tag for the area that you are hunting, as it is doe only.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle