Last hour, Last day...got my deer.

[Grumpa]

:haha: I've gotten deer with modern rifle, pistol and shotgun, just never had everything go right with the flint. I had one that could have wiped its nose on my muzzle as I touched off with the barrel pushed through a bunch of branches - flash in the pan! She waited while I slowly reprimed the pan, then bounded off, leaving me laughing.
Another time, I had the flint crack in half on the shot - one spark that missed the pan.

Many of the failings were due to my own ignorance - this Forum wasn't around then.

I once hunted a huge 12 point all season, and finally snuck up to within 30 feet of him, and he never saw me. But, he was feeding in a thicket of thorn bushes and brush, so I waited till he gave me a clear broadside shot at about 40 yards. As I shot, a slight breeze moved a dead tree just enough to get a c cut on its edge. My ball never touched the deer.

I've had pans full of "soup",(Cow's knee?) had the powder sift out from an ill-fitting pan on a borrowed rifle, in 1975 I had a 90 yard shot at a standing doe - after the flash the gun was silent...I held, and held the sight picture...finally, I said: "What the H-" and my body relaxed - the rifle went off, the ball went under the deer. But I was hooked.

 

[Grumpa]

Cold? Yes. Probably not much difference between here and there. Punxatawney Phil is safe from me - I shot an old grayback when I was 13. My Mother cooked it in the pressure cooker to tenderize it. It was so tough, and weedy tasting (we didn't know about the scent glands) even the dog wouldn't eat it!

 

[Grumpa]

Thank you. I have 2 Harpers , a Navy Arms .58, one of the early ones, and one made by an old friend, now dead, Ed Zetler. He did great work, but this was one of his first efforts, and I don't think he ever finished it. He left me the makings of an education. It just needs tweaked a bit. And it looks like an original.

 

[Grumpa]

And "Thanks" to all of you for your comments. :hatsoff: