Brass Tacks

[Flinter987]

Do any of you use brass tacks hammered into gun or some other idea to keep track of how many animals your muzzleloader has harvested?
Fred

 

[roadrat79]

I havn't done this yet but one thing that I always thought sounded kinda neat, well for nice big game, is to inlet a small one sided profile of the head and antlers into the stock. You could then add dots or stars to represent multiple animals.

RoadRat :v

 

[Black Hand]

Do any of you use brass tacks hammered into gun or some other idea to keep track of how many animals your muzzleloader has harvested?
Fred

Why? Is this really important?

 

[paulvallandigham]

This sounds like " Notching " your pistol grips for every guy a gunfighter shoots down. It came right out of the old west dime novels, and was not done by real gunfighters. No one needed to brag about their kills, nor found it worth while to telegraph their business to others. Too many relatives of the victims would be willing to shoot these gunfighters down in the street with a rifle or shotgun, fired at their backs. Remember that Jack McCall, who shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back of the head in Deadwood, S. Dakota, in 1876 was first " tried " in a miner's court, and was released when he claimed he was just avenging Hickok's murder of his brother. When those facts were found to be a total lie, he was arrested again, indicted,tried, convicted and hanged.

Indians use taks to adorn their gunstocks. Sometimes the tacks would be of their clan, or even a picture word of their name. Other times, it was a religious symbol. I once held an 1873 Winchester that was tacked by an Indian Police officer in Oklahoma, and the tacks were merely decorative, and held no symbolism.

I like the idea of carving, or inlaying an image of the animal you hunt, and then use something else to indicate the number of them taken, if you must. Tacks for that purpose are just, well " tacky". :rotf:

 

[jethro224]

I don't and don't plan to either, but I would not find it "tacky" if it were done in a tasteful pattern. If you like tacked stocks anyway, go for it.

Just jamming tacks in willy-nilly for the sole purpose of bragging about the number of animals you have killed IS tacky. If you only have one or 2 tacks, it might look funny. If you have already taken several animals and can do a pattern that can be added to as you go, and don't go around bragging about what they stand for, nobody else would ever know or probly ever ask what they are for. A small token in memory of a succesful hunt.

:v

 

[Flinter987]

Nice idea Roadrat. I remember seeing an article mentioning tacks in (I think) either Field and Stream or Outdoor Life and was simply curious if someone else had done something like it before. I too had thought about how it could look if you had only a few or if not done right. I think Jethro has hit the nail on the head on this topic.
Fred

 

[spudnut]

I inlayed a bunch of white beads up and down the stock of my french musket,Just thought I'd do something different.Not there as a scorecard

 

[pulaski]

Never thought about the brass tacks , wouldn't look right . I due use a small triangular file and notch the edge of the toe plate . Nothing large or deep , maybe 1/16", V notch . Every time I'm in the woods it reminds me of all the fun I have had , as I look down at them .