Pathfinding:

[Dphariss]

Dan: that is a well done and comprehensive chart.  It says a lot.  I'm saving it for my files.  thanks.

I sent some more info e-mail.

Dan

[Darkhorse]

It pays to do your research concerning caliber restrictions in any state you might want to hunt in. Georgia is very liberal towards ML hunters. The big game calibers for ML rifles are .44 and larger. The wording for small game and turkeys is "any muzzleloading firearm" which makes my .40 a legal weapon.
In some states the .40 doesn't seem to be legal for anything. For some reason I'd always wanted a .40, one of the main reasons I chose this caliber was the wild hogs. Where I hunt we are infested with them and I just think a .40 would be better than a .32 or .36 if I was forced to shoot one.
But in this case I recommend a .45 just in case the OP might ever want to hunt deer. You never know when another ML hunter might invite you along.

But this rifle was built with one main purpose and that was hunting Turkeys. Everything else it does quite well on, but for turkeys the .40 shines.
 

[Huntschool]

Boy, do I wish Illinois would let us use "REAL" muzzle loading rifles for turkeys.  I would also suggest they limit them to flintlock only for the obvious reasons.  However, I can see the writing on the wall if this ever comes up...… so I'll shut up and shoot my fowler....  with shot of course.

[Long John]

As  resident of NJ, Dennis, I can tell you with confidence that your understanding of our screwy gun laws is correct.  I can hunt small game with a rifle 36 caliber or smaller and deer with a rifle 45 caliber or greater.  I can do anything with my 36 that some one else can do with a 40.  I use my 36 for squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, porcupines and coyotes.  I could use it in PA for turks but I am busy bow-hunting whitetails during fall season.  Spring season is scatterguns and bows, only, no rifles in NJ, NY and PA.  I believe the ramrod on a 36 is harder to break than the ramrod on a 32.

But I am old - what do I know?

Best Regards,

JMC
John Cholin

[rick/pa]

Long John has it right for Pa, laws.  In Pa. a .40 or less is legal for small game. For woodchucks, there is no caliber restriction.

https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/058/chapter141/s141.22.html.

For turkey in the fall season, a muzzleloader may be used with no caliber restriction, with the exception of no single projectile in WMU 2B, 5B, 5C, 5D.  In the spring season, single projectile ammunition may not be used.

https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/058/chapter141/s141.45.html

[Dennis Glazener]

Does anyone know the caliber requirements for black powder hunting in the state of NC? I have been told there is no minimum and that sounds strange.
Dennis

[Brian cox]

Don't let this get around but NY State defines a rifle as "a firearm with a barrel length of at least 16 inches with rifling in the barrel that uses metallic cartridges" and a "Muzzleloading Firearm - is a firearm loaded through the muzzle, shooting a single projectile and having a minimum bore of .44 inch". So a .40 cal flintlock (.32, .36, .38 ) is not a rifle because it does not use metallic cartridges and is not a muzzleloading firearm.
Under manner of taking for turkey regulations state:You may hunt with a shotgun or handgun only when using shot no larger than #2 and no smaller than #8. You may use a muzzleloading shotgun. You may not take a turkey with a rifle, or with a handgun firing a bullet.
I have found nothing that excludes taking a turkey with a .40 cal flintlock.
Under general small game regulations they state:You may not use a rifle or handgun to hunt pheasant or migratory game birds.
You may not take a turkey with a rifle, or with a handgun firing a bullet. You may hunt turkey with a shotgun or handgun only when using shot no larger than #2 and no smaller than #8.
Nothing in this forbids using a .40 cal Flintlock. It also doesn't say you can. I think this may be a loophole, but I have not tested it. I have some friends who have been know to take a head shot with a small cal flintlock, when hunting squirrel, at a ruffed grouse or a pheasant or a turkey (having tags for turkey) that happen to wander by. I think they are walking a fine line...

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... Dennis,... it seems to me that the great state of N.C. realizes that those mountain boys are going to use what they have anyway, so why go to the trouble to try & pass laws to try (and I stress "TRY") to make them do something,... !!! .... Long Live Carolina Freedom,... !!! ... regards,...CCF ...

[Darkhorse]

Dennis it seems that you cannot hunt turkeys "With any kind of rifle." So I guess that includes muzzleloaders.
You can hunt deer with blackpowder rifles if the gun meets certain criteria such as not being able to use "fixed ammunition" which I assume is a cartridge.
I find no mention of caliber restrictions.

http://www.eregulations.com/northcarolina/hunting-fishing/deer-regulations/