By the time many of you read this Sunday, you will have spent some time in the woods with your muzzleloader, as the season opened yesterday.

I really enjoy muzzleloading hunting and like many hunters have followed the improvements in firearms, powders and projectiles as they have progressed. I have nothing against traditionalists who prefer percussion rifles or flintlocks. I have two percussion rifles myself, but I have kept up with the times to some degree.

I didn't grasp muzzleloading when I was first introduced to it. Back then I was an avid bowhunter (I still am) and in those days you only got one tag to use during either the archery or muzzleloading season. Over time I began to really appreciate the muzzleloader, especially after killing my first deer with an old CVA percussion rifle.

With the advent of the Super Sportsmen license, hunters who pursued deer with both archery and muzzleloading gear were accommodated with a second tag. That brought many new hunters into the muzzleloading ranks in this state and now the opening weekend of muzzleloading season is basically the first of two opening days for Northern Zone deer hunters.

My most memorable muzzleloading hunt actually took place during the late season one cold December day a few years back. My cousin drove me a dandy 6-pointer that day, which I shot with my old CVA 50-caliber. Since then, I have come to prefer the muzzleloader over the bow, although I appreciate both implements and seasons in which we can use them.

As I have written in the past, our group tries not to get carried away with taking antlerless deer in our more remote hunting areas of the Adirondacks. We just don't see enough deer in these areas to justify, in our minds, the harvesting of them. This year we've got some fresh logging cut-overs to hunt and have been seeing quite a few deer in these areas and a few in some less remote spots. We also have some young hunters who we'd like to see get a shot. So, we may take a doe in one of these locations, especially if we can get the younger kids a crack at one.

My main muzzleloader is an MDM Buckwacka, which is manufactured in Vermont. I have their matching scope also, which I put on as an experiment, a few years ago. While I'm still an open-sight guy, I know that as I age my eyesight will do the same and I am trying now to get used to shooting with a scope. I can tell you that old habits are hard to break. While the gun is heavy with the scope, I like the visibility even though most of my shots are within 50 yards.

When the regular rifle season opens next Saturday, I will be carrying my Winchester Model 94 carbine with aperture (peep) sites. This is a fast-handling rifle for quick shooting at short range, which is what I am accustomed to. The early hunting seasons, both muzzleloader and rifle, often find hunters in some pretty thick foliage with limited visibility thanks to leafy underbrush, although we may be a bit ahead this year in that department thanks to the weather.

Food is the one thing to key in on for early season hunting, and if you have done some scouting you will know where deer have been frequenting and will likely have found some mast crops. Where there are oak trees, there seems to be plenty of acorns this year. Beechnuts seem to be more sporadic and many apples have fallen early. Sometimes too much food makes for hard hunting, as the deer don't have to pinpoint on a particular food source and can be spread out.

Now is the time to find those doe groups that you will want to keep track of throughout the season. Come November when the rut kicks in, you will want to know where these deer are because the boys will be after them. Early season hunting is fun and can be rewarding, but November is when we hunters really have some fun! Enjoy and be safe.

Dan Ladd is the author of "Deer Hunting in the Adirondacks," outdoors editor for the Glens Falls Chronicle, columnist for Outdoors Magazine and contributor to New York Outdoor News. Contact him at www.adkhunter.com.