guest post: a word from my deer hunter

T man sent me a message the other day that said, "I'm working on a guest post for your blog."  I said, "Oh are you?  What is the subject?"  He said, "Mississippi Primitive Weapon Season."  I thought to myself, is he kidding?  Why would anyone who visits hootenanny want to read about primitive weapons?  Well the nice wife that I am said "fine" and a few moments later I received this in my inbox.  Think he's excited about primitive weapons?  You guessed right.

Without further adieu, here's a word from my main man:



To those who don’t participate in deer huntin’ (you’re missing out), deer season is deer season. For those who do, deer season is the time of year we look forward to as soon as the previous year’s season closes. It’s a block of time divided into several distinct time periods with unique legal requirements related to acceptable weapons, bag limits, and type of deer taken. It’s not as simple as “alright fellers, (spit tobacco juice) load your guns and lay ‘em down.” It’s a refined, dignified, and quite complex event where variables such as wind direction, temperature, moon phase, barometric pressure, weather fronts, mast production, feeding/bedding patterns, and other crucial factors must be considered in order to be successful. The most recent block of time to open was the primitive weapon season. As my hunting activities primarily occur down in the ‘sip, the rest of this post relates to Mississippi regulations.

Primitive Weapon:

Nowadays, primitive weapons, for the most part, are not as ‘primitive’ as they once were. Back when
Chief Rocking Horse sharpened a rock and tied it to a twig using the whiskers of a rabbit or when ol’
Rupert Williamson had to pour the powder down the barrel of his 1700’s model musket and use his
ramrod to load in the pellets. Nope. Now most come equipped with multi-power scopes, the capability to quickly reload, and provide the opportunity to effectively take game at distances of 200+ yards. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) defines a primitive weapon as follows:

"Primitive firearms" for the purpose of hunting deer, are defined as single or double barreled muzzle-
loading rifles of at least .38 caliber; single shot, breech loading, cartridge rifles (.35 caliber or larger) and replicas, reproductions or reintroductions of those type rifles; and single or double-barreled muzzle-loading, shotguns with single ball or slug. All muzzle-loading Primitive Firearms must use black powder or a black powder substitute with either percussion caps or #209 shotgun primers or flintlock ignition. Breech loading single shot rifles must have exposed hammers and use metallic cartridges. Cartridges may be loaded either with black powder or modern smokeless powder. Scopes of any magnification are allowed on primitive weapons.My choice of primitive weapon you ask? The Harrington & Richardson Superlite Handi-Rifle .45-70 Gov’t.

Harrington & Richardson describe this model as:

“… super-tough, high-density polymer stocks and fore-ends will persevere and help you make a deadly accurate shot through it all. And their smooth, simple break actions require very little maintenance and have minimal moving parts for the utmost in reliable function. For added versatility, these rifles can be factory fitted with your choice of accessory rifle and shotgun barrels. All models are equipped with our Transfer Bar System that makes ours one of the safest single-shot rifle platforms in the world today.

We're proud to offer a broad selection of hard-hitting calibers from the flat-shooting 223 Remington all the way up to two crushing big bores, the 45-70 Gov't. and 444 Marlin. Rough handling, wicked weather and any game animal in North America. The Synthetic Handi-Rifle® can handle it all.”

I have one of the two crushing big bores… and it kicks like a mule.

My choice of load? The Winchester Super-X 300 Grain JHP (Jacketed Hollow Point)


This load is hot and creates a crater for an exit wound. This kind of knock down power will eat that ol' shoulder up. Ballistics for this particular load when zeroed @ 100 yards puts you +1 at 50 yds and -12.2 @ 200 yds. At 200 yds, you’ll have to put the cross-hairs on the top of the back and let it drop on in the kill zone.

The reason I bring up this topic and you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to read it (thanks to the beautiful MGC for letting me) is because of section 49-7-37(2), (3), & (4) from the Mississippi Code of 1972 which led to the public notice of rule number W163434. This referenced section states (paraphrased):

‘There’s too many dadgum deer down here in Missippi and were about open up a special primitive
weapon season two weeks earlier than usual so you bunch of rednecks can get all dressed up in that
tacky camo and paint your face and what not and put a dent in this here overpopulated deer herd.’

Translated: too many deer. This special season actually opened on Monday, November 7, but because I had to grow up and get a big boy job, I won’t be able to participate until this Saturday. So, to all the deer down there on the McCluskey Ranch, I’d recommend you sleeping in a little late come Saturday or you might just find out what a ‘primitive weapon’ feels like when it hits slams into the ol’ front shoulder.

...T Dudley signing off.

Aren't you so glad you got to hear all about primitive weapons?  You're welcome!

Happy deer season, T man!