Most whitetail addicts know the Benoit family for three things: tracking big whitetail bucks in the snow, their green-and-black-checked wool coats and their Remington pump-action rifles. But change is in the wind. In recent years, the Benoit brothers have actually started shooting a buck now and then while waiting on a stand. The green-and-black wool coats have been replaced by Mossy Oak camo jackets, and while they still shoot Remington pump-rifles, they are quite often seen with a muzzleloader in hand.

After writing two books with these guys, I can tell you that they're not big into change. A Benoit hunting with a muzzleloader was at first as cosmic a switch as the Pope turning atheist. The road to its happening was long and complicated, but in the end they became true believers.

I recently sat down with the three Benoit brothers, Lanny, Lane and Shane, to work on updating and revising my first book, Big Bucks the Benoit Way. Looking through the photos, I saw a lot of pictures with Benoits, big bucks and muzzleloader rifles. I had to ask what was going on.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Lanny said with a smile, "I had to make some changes in my shooting style."

Lanny is an ammo-maker's dream, and he can really rock 'n roll with his Remington rifle when there's a big buck in his sights. "What fun is it to still have ammo in your rifle when you're done?" he once asked me in total seriousness.

However, with a muzzleloader things changed. "I just hate it when I shoot and miss and then the buck stops, turns broadside and looks at me foolishly holding an empty gun. While in the past I would blast away at a buck after I jumped him, now I wait for that one good shot--at least if I'm using a muzzleloader."

The truth is, the Benoits discovered that using a muzzleloader opens up a lot more deer-hunting doors. A lot of locations have separate muzzleloader seasons, usually after the regular rifle season has closed. This brings more hunting opportunity and usually another buck tag to fill. The Benoits are hunters, and when opportunity knocks, they answer. I suspect that a lot of us got into muzzleloader hunting for many of the same reasons.

One thing about late-season muzzleloader hunts is that the bucks are acting different. The rut is winding down, they are played out from months of chasing does, and winter is coming fast. In the North Country, the deer need to have good winter habitat. Typically, winter deer yards are lowlands with evergreen trees. This keeps the snow cover from getting too deep, as the trees catch a lot of the snow and the branches then hold it until the sun and wind evaporate it. Also, the closeness of the trees combines with the canopy to keep the areas protected from the wind and warmer because of less traditional cooling. Deer for miles around, will concentrate in these locations to make it through tough northern winters. Lanny explained how that plays into his hunting strategy.