[Story time] First deer of the year and first with flintlock
Oct 23, 2017 14:42:12 GMT -5
Robster, depcon3, and 3 more like this
Post by squigz on Oct 23, 2017 14:42:12 GMT -5
I’ll apologize up front for the long-winded read.
I’ve never been much of a muzzle-loader hunter. Generally, when the season came around, I’d rather sit in my tree with my bow than a smoke pole. The past couple of years though, I’ve regretted my decision to ignore these fun rifles. I’ve had more fun in the past two years during the two weekends of PA muzzle-loader season than I have had in a long time. (I don’t hunt late season, unfortunately)
Two years ago, when the journey began I was in my normal archery stand and had a nice fat doe standing under me at about 15 yards; I had the hammer back and the gun on my shoulder... I pulled the set trigger and she stopped at the slight click it had made, I reached around to the main trigger and gently squeezed… “CLICK” then an audible laugh and “you have got to be f***in’ kidding me…” as she ran off a couple yards and turned back to look at my laughing in my tree stand. She must have felt bad cause she double back and double the distance to 30 yards and presented me with another shot. As I fumbled in my bag to get my pan charger I continued the audible laugh with a slight hint of desperation trying to charge the pan. She just stood there, staring away at me as I cocked the hammer back for a second time in what seemed an hour. Pull the set trigger, reach for the main trigger and squeezed when all of a sudden… “BANG” holy crap it actually fired! As the smoke cleared the deer had run off unscathed... It was that moment that I fell in love with flintlocks and the unpredictable nature of the beast.
Fortunately for me, unfortunate for her, the next weekend she walked back that same path and unbeknownst to her, I had my bow that cool snowy morning and I slid that arrow right behind her shoulder at 30 yards and sent her tumbling only 30 feet from where she stood.
The following year yielded no deer for me in any season for the first time in years. I had several misses with the rifle, trying my damnedest to hit anything... they all just seemed to jump too high and fast when they came into my sight and I was never a very good hunter when it came to flying critters.
This year though, finally presented me with a standing shot in an open turnip field that was just planted a few weeks back. My father and I have been trying to get my uncle a deer as hard as we could, he’s recently forced to retirement due to a degenerative nerve disease and he has a hell of a time standing and an even harder time walking. So, me rather watch him shoot a deer decided to head to the big field tree stand to spot for him with my father in tow as well. I had my father’s flintlock with me (he had built it as a kit gun 35-40 years ago), the very one I had missed the deer with two years prior and my uncle had his inline muzzleloader. He and my father took watch on the left side of the field where we’ve been seeing deer enter around 5:15-5:30, it was almost unfair to the deer at this point and time we had them down so well, but I wanted him to get a shot before me. I took watch on the right side since it was under 100 yards to the edge of the field and I only had my open sights. The deal was, if they come out on the right (which they never do) I got to shoot first; on the left, they were all his. Well, wouldn’t you know it no deer showed up that night in their normal fashion, but two popped out of no where on the right side and literally ran into the middle of the field right in front of us… And here I was thinking they’d never show up there and I had no powder in that damn flash-pan again… Another quick hurry to prim the pan as my father and uncle are now egging me on and poking my sides for “falling asleep” on the job. As I got the pan primed, I crawled on the floor over to the window and slowly raised the gun up and out of it all while cocking the hammer back, hit that set trigger and slowly pulled the main trigger... as my father whispers in the back ground “$5 it doesn’t go off” “BANG” holy cripes that hole house got smoked out! Once the smoked cleared, there she laid, not a step taken… By that time the other deer that came out with this one was in such shock it just stood there and allowed for a shot from my uncle who promptly prescribed her a lethal dose of lead. Both deer hadn’t moved from where they stood at the point the shots were fired.
Being able to share the moment with my father and uncle meant a whole lot. There was a lot of joking, poking fun and laughing that we weren’t ever sure we’d see deer through the tears in our eyes. For moments like these I cherish them as long as I can for we never know when the next moment will be; but can only hope for many more like this.
Thanks for reading! -Bill
And for the ones who likes to know about the guns and loads (like myself)…
I was shooting a kit Thompson Center Hawken flintlock that my father had built 35-40 years ago with a 24” octagon barrel. Roughly 82gr of FFFg black powder under a 265gr Thompson Center MaxiHunter Maxi-Ball. I use the term roughly heavily because the charging flask tube sometimes has a little more or less; but on average is around 82gr. The pan is stoked with a two-three presses from my pan charger with FFFFg powder.
My Uncle has a CVA Kodiak, 245gr power belt bullet over 150gr of pyrodex pellets lit by some old shotgun 209 primers.
I’ve never been much of a muzzle-loader hunter. Generally, when the season came around, I’d rather sit in my tree with my bow than a smoke pole. The past couple of years though, I’ve regretted my decision to ignore these fun rifles. I’ve had more fun in the past two years during the two weekends of PA muzzle-loader season than I have had in a long time. (I don’t hunt late season, unfortunately)
Two years ago, when the journey began I was in my normal archery stand and had a nice fat doe standing under me at about 15 yards; I had the hammer back and the gun on my shoulder... I pulled the set trigger and she stopped at the slight click it had made, I reached around to the main trigger and gently squeezed… “CLICK” then an audible laugh and “you have got to be f***in’ kidding me…” as she ran off a couple yards and turned back to look at my laughing in my tree stand. She must have felt bad cause she double back and double the distance to 30 yards and presented me with another shot. As I fumbled in my bag to get my pan charger I continued the audible laugh with a slight hint of desperation trying to charge the pan. She just stood there, staring away at me as I cocked the hammer back for a second time in what seemed an hour. Pull the set trigger, reach for the main trigger and squeezed when all of a sudden… “BANG” holy crap it actually fired! As the smoke cleared the deer had run off unscathed... It was that moment that I fell in love with flintlocks and the unpredictable nature of the beast.
Fortunately for me, unfortunate for her, the next weekend she walked back that same path and unbeknownst to her, I had my bow that cool snowy morning and I slid that arrow right behind her shoulder at 30 yards and sent her tumbling only 30 feet from where she stood.
The following year yielded no deer for me in any season for the first time in years. I had several misses with the rifle, trying my damnedest to hit anything... they all just seemed to jump too high and fast when they came into my sight and I was never a very good hunter when it came to flying critters.
This year though, finally presented me with a standing shot in an open turnip field that was just planted a few weeks back. My father and I have been trying to get my uncle a deer as hard as we could, he’s recently forced to retirement due to a degenerative nerve disease and he has a hell of a time standing and an even harder time walking. So, me rather watch him shoot a deer decided to head to the big field tree stand to spot for him with my father in tow as well. I had my father’s flintlock with me (he had built it as a kit gun 35-40 years ago), the very one I had missed the deer with two years prior and my uncle had his inline muzzleloader. He and my father took watch on the left side of the field where we’ve been seeing deer enter around 5:15-5:30, it was almost unfair to the deer at this point and time we had them down so well, but I wanted him to get a shot before me. I took watch on the right side since it was under 100 yards to the edge of the field and I only had my open sights. The deal was, if they come out on the right (which they never do) I got to shoot first; on the left, they were all his. Well, wouldn’t you know it no deer showed up that night in their normal fashion, but two popped out of no where on the right side and literally ran into the middle of the field right in front of us… And here I was thinking they’d never show up there and I had no powder in that damn flash-pan again… Another quick hurry to prim the pan as my father and uncle are now egging me on and poking my sides for “falling asleep” on the job. As I got the pan primed, I crawled on the floor over to the window and slowly raised the gun up and out of it all while cocking the hammer back, hit that set trigger and slowly pulled the main trigger... as my father whispers in the back ground “$5 it doesn’t go off” “BANG” holy cripes that hole house got smoked out! Once the smoked cleared, there she laid, not a step taken… By that time the other deer that came out with this one was in such shock it just stood there and allowed for a shot from my uncle who promptly prescribed her a lethal dose of lead. Both deer hadn’t moved from where they stood at the point the shots were fired.
Being able to share the moment with my father and uncle meant a whole lot. There was a lot of joking, poking fun and laughing that we weren’t ever sure we’d see deer through the tears in our eyes. For moments like these I cherish them as long as I can for we never know when the next moment will be; but can only hope for many more like this.
Thanks for reading! -Bill
And for the ones who likes to know about the guns and loads (like myself)…
I was shooting a kit Thompson Center Hawken flintlock that my father had built 35-40 years ago with a 24” octagon barrel. Roughly 82gr of FFFg black powder under a 265gr Thompson Center MaxiHunter Maxi-Ball. I use the term roughly heavily because the charging flask tube sometimes has a little more or less; but on average is around 82gr. The pan is stoked with a two-three presses from my pan charger with FFFFg powder.
My Uncle has a CVA Kodiak, 245gr power belt bullet over 150gr of pyrodex pellets lit by some old shotgun 209 primers.
or how many times my gun has gone "bang" and the deer still stands there 
