My flintlock makes first venison...sort of

[Tim Richards]

Warning, there is mention of the dreaded inline in this tale, but it has a happy flintlock ending.

Been having a great time the last few nights hunting after work during Michigan's ML season. Neat things, like having 5 deer between 10 and 20 yards from me while standing just in the edge of the cornfield one night, having 12 pass by me at 15 yards last night. The lead doe eventually got antsy, trotted off, and 2 or 3 or 4, I didn't count them, went by me as I stood next to a big old oak close enough that if I held the flinter by the barrel and swung, I'd crack them across the head about where the lock is. Lots of fun.

Now for tonight's story: Went over after work, my son and nephew were already there. Made quite a sight of myself by wearing my weskit and Cobb Creek coat with monmouth cap while wearing my dress slacks from work, but what the heck. Heard a couple of scattered shots during the hunt and just before dark heard my nephew shoot. Decided I'd head over, see what the story was. He was whooping so I figured he lowered the boom on one of those big old bucks. Turned out to be a very big doe, all by herself. He was using one of those inlines, hit her in the backbone above the heart, couple of inches from missing her completly. She was paralyzed but quite lively. Turns out these inlines need a cap or primer or some such in order to fire and Mark couldn't find his. Gave him the flintlock. He walked up to her about 10 feet away, waited till she settled down, pulled the trigger with an instantaneous flash and boom and put her out of her misery. Rabbits and squirrels have fallen to this flinter, hasn't missed one yet, but this is the first deer its finished off, even if it was just for the coup de grâce. If I was given to name my flintlock, maybe it would have to be "Grace" or "Mercy". And now my nephew has joined my son in wanting to get a deer very badly with a flintlock. Won't convert him from his inline, probably, but using both depending on how you feel at that time ain't a bad thing, either.

By the way, a .595 ball backed by 80 gr 3f is beyond murder at 10 feet. Yikes.

 

[Vaino]

Your "flinter's" nickname should be "da Priest"...it gave the last rites, didn't it?....Fred

 

[Russianblood]

I had a similar incident this season. I was in my blind when I heard a lot of shotgun shooting behind me. About an hour later as I was heading out of the woods, I came across a deer bedded down in a hedge row. At first I though I had snuck up on it until I noticed the hole in it's abdomen. I took my Jackie Brown 28 bore canoe gun and finished it off. It turned out to be a roughly 80lb button buck. He's in my freezer now.