Muzzleloading Spring Black bear hunt???

[LeeSlikkers]

Well, I am new to all of this traditional muzzle-loading stuff maybe even Flintlock and have a strong desire to hunt with it this coming season. I had high hopes of building a kit in time for our Fall BP hunts here in MI but as luck would have it yesterday was my birthday and my father surprised me with a Father/Son guided Bear/wolf hunt in Canada this April. The trip entails sleeping on a 65

 

[Darkhorse]

Being realistic, I think at this late stage of the game you will be really pushing it to try a spring hunt with a flintlock. I'd go with a centerfire, enjoy the time with your dad, and dream of hunting those bears with a flintlock.
Reasons being; There is little time remaining to purchase and build a quality flintlock.
The learning curve on shooting one accurately can be long, depending on the person.
There is little time for load development.
You may have to deal with rain, most definitely with moisture seeing it is a boat hunt, and those problems must be worked out through experience.
If you must go with a ML I would consider buying a prebuilt Lyman GPR in .54 percussion. Learn with this and then build yourself a quality (read, more expensive) flintlock later.

I am interested in this bear hunt. Where is it? If you would, please post some details or shoot me a PM.

 

[LeeSlikkers]

Thanks Darkhorse...good thoughts. Check your PM.

Lee

 

[Rat]

You are very lucky and I am very envious...my dream hunt is to do about the same thing, but do it for brown bear, large black bear and moose in Alaska.

Good advice, you'd be kind of "jumping the gun" trying to build and learn the flintlock in that short of time. Definately get and use a percussion rifle for this first hunt. You should really shoot a flinter often for about a year before taking it on that "serious" of a hunt.

You may want to keep the percussion after you get your flinter too, as a "rainey day backup" rifle...I'm a flint shooter but I have a 1861 Springfield for that reason. In other words getting a percussion rifle now won't be an "extra" expense, and if so you can always sell it. But again I find it's a good thing to have a back-up rifle for many reasons.

All things considered and on general principals I would get a .54" for sure if you got a GPR. A .58" would be good if you came apon one you liked, but you'll find more rifles in .54 and it's a very good caliber for larger game, superior to the .50" which is so popular. At any rate .54 would be pretty ideal for large black bear.

Personally I prefer the Civil War rifled muskets such as the '61, '63, Enfield, etc., but for many people these are kind of long and heavy rifles, and not for everyone...don't bother me none though and I love hunting with mine.

Sounds like quite the hunt...wish I could go with!!

Good luck.

Rat

 

[LeeSlikkers]

Thanks Rat, I know I am lucky and never dreamed of being taken on such a hunt...it was quite a surprise to say the least. I guess I need to chew on the BP issue a bit more or simply resign myself to a modern gun hunt and enjoy it as that...either way I can't see myself having a bad time.

The Lord blesses in mysterious ways sometimes...

Lee

 

[Protrucker]

Spring is still several months away. I wouldn't give up on the idea of making it a BP hunt, but you should buy a rifle that's ready to shoot & start getting to the range as much as possible.

I went on my first Canadian black bear hunt in 2003 & struggled with the same dilemma.(centerfire or muzzleloader) When it came time to go, I ended up going alone because everyone else canceled out. This made me a little nervous about taking a muzzleloader & not having anyone to back me up if I didn't make a perfect shot & things got nasty. In the end I hunted with the flintlock...one shot later I had my first black bear.
What a great feeling of accomplishment!

Go for it! Just work hard between now & then to make sure that you're ready when the time comes.

Good Luck!

 

[Rat]

Oh for sure get a good percussion rifle that's ready to shoot, and spend your time shooting it up until the hunt. In that respect you can't go wrong with the advice to get a GPR in .54. Everyone seems to be more than satisfied with those rifles, they are not expensive, and they look nice too. There's dozens of GPR shooters on these forums, so you can get load data and patch/ball advice REALLY fast.

You'll enjoy the hunt no matter what, but using a REAL black powder rifle (and NOT one of those modern rifles that load from the front) will really add to the experience.

Rat