Early one morning during the November rut I walked in to a small oak flat in the dark and took a seat against a tree, primed and laid the Flintlock across my lap waiting for it to get light enough to see. I was half asleep leaning back against the tree looking generally East at the faint lightening of the sky when right across my angled up field of vision the silhouette of a buck’s head and tall tined rack slowly went gliding across the sky 20-30 yards in front of me.
Out of reflex I moved my hands to the rifle and he must have seen or heard something that stopped him in full stride to stare right at me. I couldn’t see his facial features but could tell from the silhouette of his rack and ears that his head was turned directly at me and I froze...felt for the breeze and found it was full in my face...couldn’t even see his body because everything down below my eye level was still black. Must have sat like that for a half a minute to a minute and he was like a statue...then he just turned his head back and resumed his slow pace on off to my right and disappeared.
I was really disappointed to have had such a buck with a rack that big so close to me and I couldn’t get off a shot. So a few more minutes go by as the light keeps coming up, tree and brush details are starting to become more clear, and to my total surprise here comes that buck again, retracing his steps from right to left this time. I can see the whole animal now...still a black silhouette but can see the whole outline and my heart is pounding so much I thought I was going to have a heart attack. When his head went behind a tree I raised the Flintlock and just as he stepped clear I whistled...he froze looking straight ahead, I raised the barrel up the back side of his front leg silhouette and when it disappeared into the black of his body touched the set trigger. “Dull Thud”...I had forgotten to pull off the hammer stall !!
Well, sound does strange things in the woods and for some reason, he snapped his head to his right, looking directly away from me...now here’s this magnificent buck standing 25 yards in front of me on full alert and I have to recock a Flintlock & remove a hammer stall without him knowing it...and I know I need to get it done in a hurry. Using the hammer and trigger together I recocked the rifle without him hearing it, slipped off the hammer stall, raised the bead to just behind his elbow again and fired. The noise and smoke in the quiet low light was deafening and blinding...I strained to hear which direction he had bolted but couldn’t tell...as the smoke thinned I strained to see but saw nothing either.
I was in utter disbelief that I could have missed a deer that was standing still, broadside, and so close. Disgusted with myself I stood up to clean & reload the Flintlock and when I did saw him laying stone dead in the leaves right out where he'd been standing. Turns out in the poor light what I thought was a broadside view was actually a quartering away view, and with me sitting down low I was actually shooting at a very slight upward angle...the .58cal ball went in behind his left shoulder and angled slightly upward and forward hitting his neck vertebrae, killing him instantly...a gorgeous 10 pointer.
A morning I’ll never forget...and hammer stalls work perfectly as advertised.
Out of reflex I moved my hands to the rifle and he must have seen or heard something that stopped him in full stride to stare right at me. I couldn’t see his facial features but could tell from the silhouette of his rack and ears that his head was turned directly at me and I froze...felt for the breeze and found it was full in my face...couldn’t even see his body because everything down below my eye level was still black. Must have sat like that for a half a minute to a minute and he was like a statue...then he just turned his head back and resumed his slow pace on off to my right and disappeared.
I was really disappointed to have had such a buck with a rack that big so close to me and I couldn’t get off a shot. So a few more minutes go by as the light keeps coming up, tree and brush details are starting to become more clear, and to my total surprise here comes that buck again, retracing his steps from right to left this time. I can see the whole animal now...still a black silhouette but can see the whole outline and my heart is pounding so much I thought I was going to have a heart attack. When his head went behind a tree I raised the Flintlock and just as he stepped clear I whistled...he froze looking straight ahead, I raised the barrel up the back side of his front leg silhouette and when it disappeared into the black of his body touched the set trigger. “Dull Thud”...I had forgotten to pull off the hammer stall !!
Well, sound does strange things in the woods and for some reason, he snapped his head to his right, looking directly away from me...now here’s this magnificent buck standing 25 yards in front of me on full alert and I have to recock a Flintlock & remove a hammer stall without him knowing it...and I know I need to get it done in a hurry. Using the hammer and trigger together I recocked the rifle without him hearing it, slipped off the hammer stall, raised the bead to just behind his elbow again and fired. The noise and smoke in the quiet low light was deafening and blinding...I strained to hear which direction he had bolted but couldn’t tell...as the smoke thinned I strained to see but saw nothing either.
I was in utter disbelief that I could have missed a deer that was standing still, broadside, and so close. Disgusted with myself I stood up to clean & reload the Flintlock and when I did saw him laying stone dead in the leaves right out where he'd been standing. Turns out in the poor light what I thought was a broadside view was actually a quartering away view, and with me sitting down low I was actually shooting at a very slight upward angle...the .58cal ball went in behind his left shoulder and angled slightly upward and forward hitting his neck vertebrae, killing him instantly...a gorgeous 10 pointer.
A morning I’ll never forget...and hammer stalls work perfectly as advertised.
