My nephew Eric... one of many ...took an interest in flintlocks one rainy Sunday after noon during the duck season. Rather than get soaked in the duck blind I suggested we head to the range and shoot the flintlocks...
I had been yapping how much fun they were and he took the bait...Gave him a short lesson..and that's the last I saw of that rifle for the afternoon.
Fast forward through his collage years..and he orders one of Jim Kiber's rifle kits..with help from Gunsmith of Greenville county and a tool smart dad he built an awesome squirrel rifle 32.cal.in walnut...
We (This summer Spike buck and myself planned a 3 day work weekend on the lease with some time for woods walk long bow stump shooting)Eric was there and we were glad of it.
Fast forward to last Monday...
He's now a grad student and coaches at the collage level...We worked out a 3 day time slot and went for it.
We lost Sunday to the winter storm that blew through the Midwest...But Monday turned out much better..
We arrived at 9:30 am temps up to 5 deg. Yippy! and sun to boot.The field top tractor lane was drifted shut and we had a good South west wind(at our
backs) 65 min. sled pull in.
We stowed our provision and proceeded to get his new rifle dialed in..with a Rice barrel...all 46 " and Chambers lock it didn't take long.
He was all smiles and didn't need snowshoes to walk on top!..His lock is crisp-fast.
Spent the last couple hours of light looking for squirrels.With the proceeding week in the sub zero temps we knew it wasn't going to be easy.
We found little sign and hoped for the best.
After a hearty Chile and venison sausage dinner our sleep came easy.We were living the dream!
We woke to sunshine and rising temps..now at 20 deg.
Tuesday was going to be the long hunt..after a good breakfast we packed snacks and drink..strapped on the snowshoes and headed for one for the ridges where we had seen squirrels during the fall bow season.
]
Once again we found little squirrel sign..we still hunted one on each side of a long wooded ridge till noon and met at the end point lookout for lunch
The sun was now warm enough to start to melt the top layer...Eric had seen one squirrel moving off in the distance....I walked the side of the ridge where I got lucky 3 weeks earlier...I made notes of the deer bedding areas for future stand placement.
Since we were not finding squirrels up high we thought to try lower along the long valley floor...
Along the way we were very distracted with all the deer sign and activity
...The hammered food plots and well beaten trails with fields that looked like a herd off buffalo just came through.The snow covered wood hillsides the sun ,the babbling ice covered creek running down the valley made it a memorable day.There was 10" of snow on the flat and down in the valley the wind was calm ...sun warm.
We paced our self's on the steep climb back to the top.
The last hour of daylight on the shortest day of the year we enjoyed the view from the bench under the large pine in the farm yard.
Flintlock back straps with saute mushrooms and caramelized onions completed the menu with a splash of fermented beverage for re-hydration .
Sleep came easy..
Wed dawned sunny and warmer still... 28 degs. at 8 am.
During our morning pot of coffee we both agreed we needed to shoot his rifle more...since the squirrels were a no show.
Spent the first couple hours of the day hunting around the bushy hillsides near the farm house..
I herd 1 squirrel give the alarm call down the
ridge...That is as close as I came to eating squirrel!....That's hunting.....
We spent till 2 pm shooting Eric's "Feather light death wind"It all came together....He's one proud Flintlock builder -owner!
35 degs. and a 50 min sled out to the gravel...with the warmer temps, settled snow, crusted top,and lighter sled loads it was a breeze.
Living the dream!
Note..Mentor a Youth they may stick.. Glad I did,
I had been yapping how much fun they were and he took the bait...Gave him a short lesson..and that's the last I saw of that rifle for the afternoon.
Fast forward through his collage years..and he orders one of Jim Kiber's rifle kits..with help from Gunsmith of Greenville county and a tool smart dad he built an awesome squirrel rifle 32.cal.in walnut...
We (This summer Spike buck and myself planned a 3 day work weekend on the lease with some time for woods walk long bow stump shooting)Eric was there and we were glad of it.
Fast forward to last Monday...
He's now a grad student and coaches at the collage level...We worked out a 3 day time slot and went for it.
We lost Sunday to the winter storm that blew through the Midwest...But Monday turned out much better..
We arrived at 9:30 am temps up to 5 deg. Yippy! and sun to boot.The field top tractor lane was drifted shut and we had a good South west wind(at our
backs) 65 min. sled pull in.
We stowed our provision and proceeded to get his new rifle dialed in..with a Rice barrel...all 46 " and Chambers lock it didn't take long.
He was all smiles and didn't need snowshoes to walk on top!..His lock is crisp-fast.
Spent the last couple hours of light looking for squirrels.With the proceeding week in the sub zero temps we knew it wasn't going to be easy.
We found little sign and hoped for the best.
After a hearty Chile and venison sausage dinner our sleep came easy.We were living the dream!
We woke to sunshine and rising temps..now at 20 deg.
Tuesday was going to be the long hunt..after a good breakfast we packed snacks and drink..strapped on the snowshoes and headed for one for the ridges where we had seen squirrels during the fall bow season.
]
Once again we found little squirrel sign..we still hunted one on each side of a long wooded ridge till noon and met at the end point lookout for lunch
The sun was now warm enough to start to melt the top layer...Eric had seen one squirrel moving off in the distance....I walked the side of the ridge where I got lucky 3 weeks earlier...I made notes of the deer bedding areas for future stand placement.
Since we were not finding squirrels up high we thought to try lower along the long valley floor...
Along the way we were very distracted with all the deer sign and activity
...The hammered food plots and well beaten trails with fields that looked like a herd off buffalo just came through.The snow covered wood hillsides the sun ,the babbling ice covered creek running down the valley made it a memorable day.There was 10" of snow on the flat and down in the valley the wind was calm ...sun warm.
We paced our self's on the steep climb back to the top.
The last hour of daylight on the shortest day of the year we enjoyed the view from the bench under the large pine in the farm yard.
Flintlock back straps with saute mushrooms and caramelized onions completed the menu with a splash of fermented beverage for re-hydration .
Sleep came easy..
Wed dawned sunny and warmer still... 28 degs. at 8 am.
During our morning pot of coffee we both agreed we needed to shoot his rifle more...since the squirrels were a no show.
Spent the first couple hours of the day hunting around the bushy hillsides near the farm house..
I herd 1 squirrel give the alarm call down the
ridge...That is as close as I came to eating squirrel!....That's hunting.....
We spent till 2 pm shooting Eric's "Feather light death wind"It all came together....He's one proud Flintlock builder -owner!
35 degs. and a 50 min sled out to the gravel...with the warmer temps, settled snow, crusted top,and lighter sled loads it was a breeze.
Living the dream!
Note..Mentor a Youth they may stick.. Glad I did,
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