By Journal Staff

MARQUETTE — Hunting is, of course, a popular activity in the Upper Peninsula.

But some hunters prefer to revisit the past when it comes to how they take down their deer and other game.

Muzzleloading, a way of hunting used by early settlers and pioneers, involves the loading of a projectile and a propellent charge, typically gunpowder, into the muzzle of the gun rather than putting a bullet into the chamber of a rifle.

This style of hunting is permitted in Michigan, but deer season for muzzleloaders is later than for rifle hunters.

The regular deer license permits a hunter to only shoot deer with at least one antler 3 inches or higher. A deer combo “regular” tag license limits hunters to deer with three points or more on one side and a deer combo “restricted” tag limits to four points or more on one side.

The DNR also provides rules for transporting firearms and says muzzleloaders must be “unloaded in both barrel and magazine and enclosed in a case or carried in the trunk of a vehicle.”

To be considered unloaded, a muzzleloader must have the cap removed or the priming powder out of the pan. If a hunter has an electronic muzzleloader, the battery must be removed as well. However, the ball and powder can stay in the gun.

If hunting isn’t necessarily your thing, you can still be a muzzleloader enthusiast and perhaps join the Upper Peninsula Muzzle Loaders Association. It is an “organization committed to preserving the skills of our nation’s early settlers, pioneers and mountain men in the use of muzzle loading firearms and the equipment and accouterments that accompanied such use,” according to the UPMLA’s website, www.upmuzzleloaders.com.

Whether you’re a passionate hunter or just an outdoorsman who appreciates both antique firearms and frontier history, muzzleloading is definitely an activity worth checking out.