As Archie Smith sees it, primitive weapons deer hunting is the only way to hunt.

“It makes you have to concentrate more on the shot,” the Smyrna resident said. “You only get one shot.”

Smith, who was one of more than 600 hunters who participated in the primitive weapon hunt recently at the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, said there is a satisfaction that comes from shooting a deer with one shot.

“Some guys have their (rifle) clips with five or six shots,” Smith said, who hunts all deer season with his muzzleloader. “Having one shot makes you take your time doing it.”

Douglasville resident John Sauls agrees with Smith. Sauls, who also participated in the primitive weapon hunt, has been hunting with his muzzleloader for over 10 years.

“You can’t fill the air with lead,” said Sauls, who successfully shot an 80-lb., one-and-one-half-year-old spike with his .50 caliber muzzleloader. “He was about 50 yards away.”

There were 1,137 primitive weapon permits awarded this year, with 992 of the recipients paying the required fee. Wayne Smith, engineering equipment operator at Piedmont Refuge, estimated between 600 and 700 hunters participated in the three-day quota hunt.

During the primitive weapon hunts, hunters may use archery equipment (including crossbows), muzzleloading shotguns and firearms, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Web site. Scopes were allowed on muzzleloaders beginning in 2006 and have always been allowed on archery equipment. Refuge staff members estimated that 95 percent of the primitive weapon hunters use muzzleloaders.

Muzzleloaders are replica firearms primarily based on shotguns and rifles used during the 1800s. While modern technology has made the loading process easier, the new muzzleloaders still require a projectile, wadding and charge. Hunters can now purchase these items in pre-packaged units, but hunters are still impacted by the limited distance and accuracy of an antique gun.

“It is tougher and tougher to tell a difference between a rifle and a muzzleloader,” said Jason Kimbell, forestry technician at the refuge.

Piedmont organizes four permit-only deer hunts during the fall. There is one buck-only firearms hunt, a primitive weapon hunt, and two either sex firearms hunt. Since 2003, between 100 and 200 deer are harvested each year during the primitive weapons hunt.

This year, 126 were killed by primitive weapon hunters. “I don’t know if it was the weather or what, but this hunt has been a little slow,” said Kimbell, who answers to his nickname, Bones. “Some years, it is busy from 9 o’clock (a.m.) until you leave here (at 8:30 p.m.).”

The lack of successful hunting did not dampen the spirits of the hunters.

Sauls said he comes with a group of family and friends every year.

“We come just to this hunt — all 16 of us,” Sauls said. “This year wasn’t any different, and we will come next year.”

“Some of these guys never get out of the campground,” said Smith, who worked the hunt for the Piedmont Refugee with Kimbell and John Mason, orescribed fire specialist. The campgrounds at Piedmont are only open during the hunts and many people have been coming for years with family members or groups.

“A lot of guys hunt the same place every year,” Kimbell said. “They have been hunting 10 to 15 years up here.”

Andrew Hammond, the refuge manager at Piedmont, said while there are some hunters that come from outside Georgia, most are from around Atlanta.

“A lot of the people come from north of here,” said Hammond, who is experiencing his first hunting season as refuge manager after moving from Louisiana in early 2007. “Most of the local people have private areas” to hunt.