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Pa.Flinty only season?

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good ole boy

40 Cal.
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
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I can,t wait.Who,s goin and what will you all be usin?I got a slew of NIB flinters that I want to rotate thru the season.I,m bummed though,it’s gonna warm up and I was hopin it was gonna stay in the sub zero temps.That,s the only way to hunt with a flinter.
 
We had a year in the late 1970's with these same , or similar weather conditions , in central Pa.. Crunchy snow 'bout 8" deep with ice on top. No other hunters in the woods. We looked for a week, and finally found deer yarded up. It was on the east side of the hills , as the storms came from the west . The deer made paths , and bedded in the paths , only leaving the bedding areas to drink. The hunting was bad, because the herds would just leave , and swap hills. Very noisy snow conditions. Was hoping to never see conditions like that again , but it is what it is. I'm too old to chase them anyway , so it doesn't matter.............oldwood
 
I can,t wait.Who,s goin and what will you all be usin?I got a slew of NIB flinters that I want to rotate thru the season.I,m bummed though,it’s gonna warm up and I was hopin it was gonna stay in the sub zero temps.That,s the only way to hunt with a flinter.
You must be a manly man among men to prefer the bitter cold.

I’ll admit, the colder the better is how I like it.

Lucky for you , PA Gun season last longer into the winter than most other states.

I may venture over to PA to hunt… with my 4 season camper trailer.

A Pedersoli Jaeger .54 with Swiss 2F and Crisco/ Lee REAL bullets.

My back up would be my Like New unfired, Exceptional condition .50 Pa Hunter Carbine with full length Octogon barrel. I think I was the first ever to take the Ram rod out.
Felt very very happy to obtain that one, Not a common one. Need to get to the range here for a little bit with that.

Good Luck Old Boy, Honestly…. I hope you freeze your butt off and get a monster buck!
 
We had a year in the late 1970's with these same , or similar weather conditions , in central Pa.. Crunchy snow 'bout 8" deep with ice on top. No other hunters in the woods. We looked for a week, and finally found deer yarded up. It was on the east side of the hills , as the storms came from the west . The deer made paths , and bedded in the paths , only leaving the bedding areas to drink. The hunting was bad, because the herds would just leave , and swap hills. Very noisy snow conditions. Was hoping to never see conditions like that again , but it is what it is. I'm too old to chase them anyway , so it doesn't matter.............oldwood
I remember that year in central PA. The crust was so hard and deep they found deer had slid down piled up below some cliffs like a buffalo jump.
 
Moreshops.......There was another unusual year also , some where in the mid 1980's. Starting the first Wed. of buck season ,it snowed heavily ,every Wed.until the first wk. of flintlock season. Snow was about 3 to 4 Ft. in the woods. My son went to an Army/Navy store and bought us three pair President Reagan magnesium alloy military snow shoes. Hunting buddy and I , put these shoes on and hit the woods. Woods was like walking on a solid sidewalk ,w/o any logs , dips ,or brush to hamper travel. Noon came and we met up for lunch. As we sat there eating , I saw a deer struggling towards us. It would walk along until it fell through the 4 ft. crusted snow , then it would slowly and deliberately , pull itself back up onto the crusted snow. I shot the doe , and went to eviscerate her. I removed my snow shoes , and sunk down into the crotch deep snow. The deed done ,we had about a mile and 1/2 easy drag back to the truck , on top of the snow. We immediately repaired to the tavern on top of the mountain , to get warm. We went in to the tavern dressed as we were in the woods wearing our ice covered capotes. The bar got silent ,as if waiting for a pin to drop. Finally , one patron said , why are you guys dressed like that?? Hunting buddy told him we were hunting m/l deer. Other comments were , you guys are crazy , nobody hunts in this weather. My buddy told him to go out and look in the truck bed ,and you will believe us. Several of the patrons left and came back ln , telling the bar keep to , "set-em up. The dead doe in the truck bed was the convincer. We took our snow melt wet coats off and were made welcome..........oldwood
 
Moreshops...........Yup ,I remember that ,out near Canoe Creek on the west end of Brush Mtn., Blair Co. Pa.. , the Blame Warden found about 19 dead deer at the bottom of one steep place. Deep snow and bad ice. We had few coyotes , and fewer bears , back then , so the deer carcasses would have rotted up , where they lay.......oldwood
 
Many moons ago when I lived in Pa. we had a snow with a hard crust but instead of hunting deer we were hunting rabbit. You usually had to be quick on the trigger because they would go down groundhog holes but the holes were crusted up and we took quite a few rabbits until the crusty snow disapeared.
 
I’ll be out tomorrow, wearing my 1770s reproduction colonial long coat. It weighs nine pounds and is the warmest outerwear I own. If I run out of lead balls, I can cut off the pewter Rogers Rangers buttons and melt them down for replacement ammo. The woods conditions are terrible, but we will be doing drives, so hopefully the deer will move in front of our sights. Good luck to everyone
 
Pamptnman..............Wish I was with ya. Too old now. My glorious hunting career is reduced to short days in a ladder stand , when I can get my 79 yr. old huntin buddy to go with me. I can't stay out in cold , like I used to do. We had some hunts , we did , closing in on our 50th year hunting central Pa. together. ........Best of luck to ya........oldwood
 
Moreshops...........Yup ,I remember that ,out near Canoe Creek on the west end of Brush Mtn., Blair Co. Pa.. , the Blame Warden found about 19 dead deer at the bottom of one steep place. Deep snow and bad ice. We had few coyotes , and fewer bears , back then , so the deer carcasses would have rotted up , where they lay.......oldwood
Oldwood I know Canoe Creek and Brush Mountain from heading to my buddies camp at least twice a hear. Beautiful drive one i get past Blairsville. One time we were going thru Brush Valley at night on our way for turkey hunting on Kill Your Boots Mountain. I was looking the window at a bright area in the sky where I knew there wasn't any towns. Realizing what it was we pulled over and in the freezing night we watched the Northern lights for the first time any of us had seen them and one of the few nights ever being visible this far south.
 
.50 cal deer hunter the new hawken front sight was loose when I alcohol swabbed the barrel this morning so brought out my backup. Gotta love 6 degrees on the first day of PA flintlock

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I was going to go out this am, but temps in the teens with a breeze, kept me in. If I'd have been going with someone else, I'd have probably gone. When it's this cold, if I'd fall or hurt myself, I may not make it back. Cell service not reliable where I go.
 
Moreshops.......There was another unusual year also , some where in the mid 1980's. Starting the first Wed. of buck season ,it snowed heavily ,every Wed.until the first wk. of flintlock season. Snow was about 3 to 4 Ft. in the woods. My son went to an Army/Navy store and bought us three pair President Reagan magnesium alloy military snow shoes. Hunting buddy and I , put these shoes on and hit the woods. Woods was like walking on a solid sidewalk ,w/o any logs , dips ,or brush to hamper travel. Noon came and we met up for lunch. As we sat there eating , I saw a deer struggling towards us. It would walk along until it fell through the 4 ft. crusted snow , then it would slowly and deliberately , pull itself back up onto the crusted snow. I shot the doe , and went to eviscerate her. I removed my snow shoes , and sunk down into the crotch deep snow. The deed done ,we had about a mile and 1/2 easy drag back to the truck , on top of the snow. We immediately repaired to the tavern on top of the mountain , to get warm. We went in to the tavern dressed as we were in the woods wearing our ice covered capotes. The bar got silent ,as if waiting for a pin to drop. Finally , one patron said , why are you guys dressed like that?? Hunting buddy told him we were hunting m/l deer. Other comments were , you guys are crazy , nobody hunts in this weather. My buddy told him to go out and look in the truck bed ,and you will believe us. Several of the patrons left and came back ln , telling the bar keep to , "set-em up. The dead doe in the truck bed was the convincer. We took our snow melt wet coats off and were made welcome..........oldwood
Awesome story! Ty for sharing.
 
Moreshops.......There was another unusual year also , some where in the mid 1980's. Starting the first Wed. of buck season ,it snowed heavily ,every Wed.until the first wk. of flintlock season. Snow was about 3 to 4 Ft. in the woods. My son went to an Army/Navy store and bought us three pair President Reagan magnesium alloy military snow shoes. Hunting buddy and I , put these shoes on and hit the woods. Woods was like walking on a solid sidewalk ,w/o any logs , dips ,or brush to hamper travel. Noon came and we met up for lunch. As we sat there eating , I saw a deer struggling towards us. It would walk along until it fell through the 4 ft. crusted snow , then it would slowly and deliberately , pull itself back up onto the crusted snow. I shot the doe , and went to eviscerate her. I removed my snow shoes , and sunk down into the crotch deep snow. The deed done ,we had about a mile and 1/2 easy drag back to the truck , on top of the snow. We immediately repaired to the tavern on top of the mountain , to get warm. We went in to the tavern dressed as we were in the woods wearing our ice covered capotes. The bar got silent ,as if waiting for a pin to drop. Finally , one patron said , why are you guys dressed like that?? Hunting buddy told him we were hunting m/l deer. Other comments were , you guys are crazy , nobody hunts in this weather. My buddy told him to go out and look in the truck bed ,and you will believe us. Several of the patrons left and came back ln , telling the bar keep to , "set-em up. The dead doe in the truck bed was the convincer. We took our snow melt wet coats off and were made welcome..........oldwood
Jack Rabbit Hill had a tavern on top?
 
.50 cal deer hunter the new hawken front sight was loose when I alcohol swabbed the barrel this morning so brought out my backup. Gotta love 6 degrees on the first day of PA flintlock

View attachment 185363
My brother is getting ready now, hunting in Mckean Cnty, Bradford, Pa. Temp is 9 degrees, snow, and 20 mph wind. He is 76!!
 
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