Felt like I was cheating!

[jerem0621]

So, here in Tennessee it is currently big game rifle season until muzzleloader starts on monday. I went scouting today and carried my T/C Encore 7mm-08 centerfire. I recently purchased my first traditional muzzleloader and I have been having a ball with it. I had a really strange feeling come over me while in the woods. I looked down at my rifle with it's $$$ expensive scope, knowing that the little 7mm was capeable of killing a moose or elk at 3-400 yards and I just lost all desire to hunt with modern rifles/muzzleloader. I'm seriously considering selling my whole moder rifle set up and using the money to buy a good flintlock,powder, accessories, etc.

Has anybody else done something drastic like this and gone all traditional? Is anybody here exclusively muzzleloader hunters, even in big gun season?

Thank you,

Jerem

 

[djnye]

to my thinking you weren't cheating--you were being cheated. for me the regular rifle season is just another excuse to carry my flintlock. i get to use it more.

i understand that if a person wants they can use their computer to remotely aim and fire at animals. boy now isn't that something to write home about.

take care, daniel

 

[Decon]

Keep your modern guns! one never knows when we must rally round the flag once more..hearing the battle cry of freedom :wink: :grin: :thumbsup:

 

[No Deer]

I would venture a guess that a whole lot (maybe even the majority?) of members on this board hunt exclusively with muzzleloaders, even in the regular gun seasons. I have been hunting exclusivly with a flintlock since 1976.

 

[bigbore442001]

I hunt all three season. I use a bow during archery and a centerfire rifle during the private land season or a shotgun with slugs in my home state of Massachusetts.

I also hunt with the muzzleloader during the muzzleloading season. I take advantage of all that is offered.

 

[shootemup]

I have hunted almost exclusively with muzzleloaders for several years.

Sounds like you've got it bad :grin: don't do anything real drastic yet, just start carrying your muzzleloader instead of your modern guns. If, after a couple of years, you still want to sell them all to buy more muzzleloaders I'd say go for it.

Have fun -
:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[Blizzard of '93]

many a time I have carried my .50 during the regular gun season here in NC.

 

[Headhunter]

There are other alternatives.

These are my two hunting rifles

This is my High Tech long range Rifle.

[/img]
Shiloh Sharps 45-110.

And My Bill Large Full Stock 50 Hawken.

[/img]

Headhunter

 

I sold all of my modern shtuff years ago. All my rifles are proper flintlocks or caplocks. The only rifle I have that will shoot fixed ammo is an 1886 Wichester in 45-70. That is as modern as it gets for me. Never shoot the ting. It's a dust collector.

 

I just ended my deer hunting in PA for the modern firearm season. And, I may never go again - and I mean never again regardless of modern, priamtive, bow and arrow or spear and sharpened pieces of stone seasons inclusive. I spent 4 days out there and did not see a single deer - not one. Making matters worse, I heard very little shooting as well - and that's a very bad sign. I have a stamp for late ML priamtive season and I guess I will drag my sorry self out after X-Mass and see if I can connect witht the flinter. This is not a commentary on ML hunting - and I apoligize. I am just extremely frustrated with the state of deer hunting in PA.

 

[roundball]

So, here in Tennessee it is currently big game rifle season until muzzleloader starts on monday. I went scouting today and carried my T/C Encore 7mm-08 centerfire. I recently purchased my first traditional muzzleloader and I have been having a ball with it. I had a really strange feeling come over me while in the woods. I looked down at my rifle with it's $$$ expensive scope, knowing that the little 7mm was capeable of killing a moose or elk at 3-400 yards and I just lost all desire to hunt with modern rifles/muzzleloader. I'm seriously considering selling my whole moder rifle set up and using the money to buy a good flintlock,powder, accessories, etc.

Has anybody else done something drastic like this and gone all traditional? Is anybody here exclusively muzzleloader hunters, even in big gun season?
Thank you,
Jerem

I have...switched all my hunting from CFs to caplocks in 2000, then exclusively to Flintlocks from 2001 to the present...do all my deer hunting with Flintlocks and have begun expanding to turkey, squirrels, doves, and crows...I don't use any game that I take, giving it away to some needy families out around the area where I hunt...the main interest in hunting to me is no longer the "how many", but the "how".

Similar feeling to yours...a .30/06 or .35Rem with big Leupold scopes were just utility tools...if I could see it I could kill it...not hunting, just shooting...no challenge or sense of accomplishment. For me, nothing compares to taking game with a Flintlock rifle or smoothbore...began selling off surplus CFs and caplocks a few years ago as I realized I'd never use them any more.

My personal experience/suggestion would be to remember one thing: Ignition speed is priority one!
You can wipe between shots or not, you can use this lube or that lube or not, you can align the weave of your patches or not, you can only shoot East under a full moon or not, etc, etc, etc...but all that means little if you have slow or delayed ignition.

The bottom line for flintlock accuracy is ignition speed...everything else is in second place compared to the importance and benefit of ignition speed...work to make it as close to instantaneous as humanly possible...razor sharp black english flints, Goex 4F prime and Goex 3F main do it for me in my rifles.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
:thumbsup:

 

[MSW]

well, headhunter, i wanna hang out with you, 'cause anyone who owns a 45- 110 falling block is a cool fellow in my estimation.

as regards the choice of rifle for a given season, i'd recommend that you use your ML gear for a while (even in gun season) and see how you like it.

as regards the post about hanging onto your centerfire stuff, i could not agree more. it is the right and some would say the obligation of every adult to have, (at minimum) in his or her basemnent, closet or whatever a highpower, centerfire, box fed semiautomatic rifle, and as many rounds of ammunition for it as he or she sees fit. (about 2500 or more) a semi automatic handgun with several spare magazines is also a good idea. "if you seek peace, prepare for war."

it's much better to have a thing and not need it than need a thing and not have it.

and now, before i enter into the realm of open sedition, i'll climb off my soapbox and wrap up the political tirade.

 

[Mountainman56]

Headhunter that's what I'm talkin about! Love the Sharps and the Hawken :thumbsup: . Been thinkin about a Sharps for a while but now I'm kinda leanin towards a 1:18 twist 36" barrel percussion halfstock with a false muzzle to shoot heavy paper patch bullets. But I gotta admit them Sharps look cool.

Jerem I've been using my muzzleloaders exclusively since I moved to Texas in 98, general season or not and having a great time with it. The only thing I still use my centrefire rifles for is varmint control so there is still one in my truck but I suspect it gets awful lonesome from time to time. I do still use modern shotguns in dove season but even it is a side x side.

 

[playfarmers]

Last year I only hunted with my muzzleloader and loved it. This year I was talked into going with the fellows from work for the general season. I carried my wifes old bolt action .30-30 and got a nice big bodied small antlered buck. There was no thrill to the hunt, and I don't think I will ever deer hunt with a modern rifle again. The 2 does I shot in the muzzleloader season where far more memorable to me. At 52 years old, the meat is still important to me, but the hunt is what I will remember and what puts a smile on my face.

 

[roundball]

Your comment about "on hand stock"...it always aggravates me when the news shows photos or video of some guys guns if he's been arrested for something else...ie: a rifle, a shotgun, maybe a couple handguns, and "ALL THIS AMMO"...disgusting!

Heck, a simple brick of .22s for fun shooting at the range is 500 per brick...and to save money if you get a volume purchase deal of several bricks, you've got a few thousand right there.

Then all the years accumulation of trap & skeet supplies, reloading equipment for .410, .28, .20, and .12ga shells and a few hundred made up ahead of time in each gauge...you see where I'm headed with this...they could do a video of many of our garages and see all sorts of stuff and it means not a thing because we aren't the criminal element....BUT...the news media greed for sensationalism would portray us like that if such a video was ever made public.

 

[Trench]

I know what you're saying. I to have lost interest in modern firearms for game-getting. I decided last year to use only rock-locks for all game big and small.
However, I'm not going to chuck my modern stuff. I'll still use the over-unders for skeet and trap and I'm hanging on to all my handguns for all the modern applicable reasons. :wink:

 

[Mike Brooks]

I have never killed a deer with anything but a muzzleloader. I've only killed one deer with a caplock, the rest were flint, and 90% of those were with a smooth bore.

 

[jdixon]

Has anybody else done something drastic like this and gone all traditional? Is anybody here exclusively muzzleloader hunters, even in big gun season?

Thank you,

Jerem

For several years, hunting anything that I plan on eating has been done only with a sidelock, loose powder muzzleloader. Even during the regular gun season, I head out into the woods with a flintlock. The only hunting I do with a modern rifle is for coyotes. I have not considered selling my other firearms yet, they still have a purpose. Like my M-1, I'll need that to hold off the liberals after they abolish the 2nd Amendment.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You can choose to use your Rocklocks for hunting game, as I do, but I keep my Modern guns for several reasons.

1. I use them for knocking off the rust on my shooting skills when I go months between shooting. I have a bad back, and it has greatly limited my ability to move around, much less shoot as much as I both Want to Shoot, and NEED to shoot.

2. I can go through a lot of .22 rimfire ammo getting the rust off, and then use one of my centerfire guns to increase the weight of the gun, and shoot at longer ranges.

3. My modern guns are accurate, and a joy to shoot. They fit me.

4. I know what I am capable of doing with those rifles at longer ranges than I shoot my flintlocks. You never know when that may be a necessary skill to still have.

5. My modern shotguns allow me to shoot much more, in a shorter amount of time, and keep my shotgun skills up much better than if I only shoot my BP shotguns. Its the endurance part of shotgun shooting at clay targets that teaches your brain the necessary muscle memory to shoot well, consistently, even when you are tired, or sore, etc. Time used to be a serious factor for me, but now I can take the time, but my back will only last so long. Then I am done for for the day. So, the more practice I get in fastest, the better.

6. My handguns can be used both for self defense, and for hunting. I am still a revolver guy, although I have a couple of semi-autos set up strictly for self defense work. When I feel its in my best interest to carry a firearm, I do not carry just one. The New York reload is still the fastest when the manure gets into your air conditioner. Shooting long range targets with my revolvers is a great way to train my brain to concentrate on that front sight.That is an absolutely necessary skill to practice when shooting any gun with open sights. My revolver shooting at long range tin cans is something I can do sitting down, and allows me to shoot even when my back begins to scream.

Without my modern guns, I would not be able to shoot as much as I need to in the off seasons.

Paul

 

[jerem0621]

In my arsenal I have the Encore with a load from the front modern rifle barrel and a 7mm-08 barrel.

I have my .50 cal New Englander cap lock

Marlin model 60 .22 automatic that will never leave

Remington 535 .22 single shot with open sights

2 New England single shot shotguns one in 12 guage that will kick you into the dirt and the other in 410 that I have never shot.

I also have a Khar PM9 9mm that I carry for self defense and It has a home for as long as I'm alive.

I like the comment about "if they make a video of our garage" I have over 2 bricks of .22 so I am in excess of over 1200 rounds in the house.

I'll probably buy a sks or Mosin Nagant for my end of the world gun. Mosin Nagants have strong actions and they are cheap :grin:

Thanks for the comments. Looks like I'm carrying my New Englander to the woods next week and I will retire the Encore from service.

Thanks,

Jerem