Pennsylvania flintlock season soon!

[Pa-brushbuster71]

Beautiful morning, quiet and still with crunchy snow. I assumed deer would be moving around in the morning but did not see any deer. Here was my setup, had a big swamp infront of me with hardwoods to my rear and left , and a pine thicket to my right. Been hunting that area for 25 years with my family, but today was non eventful.

 

[good ole boy]

I have been hittin it hard and heavy just about every day.No score yet.Rainin right now.Suppose to turn to snow later this evening.Maybe tomorrow we will have a covering.

 

[erhunter]

As much as I enjoy the late flintlock season here in eastern Pa. the hunting is getting harder every year lately. Archery season is 2 months or more long and now they are talking about unlimited tags for doe statewide instead of just a few management areas! All the game commission wants to do is get more money and doesn't care about the deer herd. I believe they said there were 66,000 tags that weren't purchased this season and they lost money. I have been hunting for over 50 years and I love it, but try to get a youngster to sit in the woods and not see a tail all day. I say raise the license fee instead of more doe tags. By the time flintlock comes around the deer are in the safety zones from being chased so long.

 

[good ole boy]

Sure is beautiful out this mornin.Got back in a little time ago and was out before first light.Just a frost when I went out but the snow started shortly after and I was a snowball.Kept the powder dry and she would have went right off if I would have seen sumpthin.Back at it in a little while.

 

[Pa-brushbuster71]

I was out in 3B this morning, with a fresh inch of snow. Conditions were perfect. At 0730
I saw a large bobcat take a position next to a deer trail I was hunting. It’s like it knew deer would show up. I got it’s attention and waved my hat at it and it ran off.

A few minutes later, a big doe shows up about 65 yards out and holds up in some cover. It’s looking my way for a few minutes. Finally it steps into a clearing , I stop it and and I shoot.
The deer acts hit, and runs away with its tail between its legs. The shot felt good. I was using a .50 PRB with 80gr of 2F Olde Eysenford and a mink oil pillow ticking patch.

I give it 15 min and I walk over and see some blood and hair. I track it though a thicket into a field, through the property owners yard, into a deep thicket.The fresh snow is helping but it’s raining and melting off.After an hour and about 600 yards I lose the trail. I do some circles and find blood and tracks. I also find a dead 6 point buck with a nice rack. Must have been shot during rifle season.

I head back on the track and the deer did a big circle about 800 yards. I lose the Track again to in the rain and brush. I been at it all morning and I had to get back home. I decide to walk 100 yards to the paved road and walk to my car. On my way I find more blood. I cannot believe how much blood this deer lost and is still moving. I see it crossed the snowbank on road into private property. As I step on pavement the deer stands up 75 yards away and bolts.

Needless to say I’m def disappointed that this deer is going to die and be coyote food. I think I may have broken it’s front Leg, bc I noticed drag marks in the snow. I Definitely did not hit vitals, it would have Been dead much sooner.

Moving forward I’m definitely in love with flintlock hunting. In no way am I discouraged. Looking forward to getting out this winter and practicing, practicing, practicing! I owe it to the animal to make a better shot. I may even take my flintlock out during rifle season next year .

 

[pilot]

Sorry you didn't find her. It sucks. BTDT.

 

[good ole boy]

Yeah,that,s tough.But you did your best and dedicated a lot of time and effort to follow up.I would hunt the area hard and heavy on Monday and hopefully you,ll cross paths with her.It,s a bummer that Monday is the last day though.Are you sure she is the one you shot?Deer are resilient.Even in Coyote country they seem to do fine 3 legged.I didn,t even cut a track today.Seen one several hundred yards away.

 

[Pa-brushbuster71]

Yeah,that,s tough.But you did your best and dedicated a lot of time and effort to follow up.I would hunt the area hard and heavy on Monday and hopefully you,ll cross paths with her.It,s a bummer that Monday is the last day though.Are you sure she is the one you shot?Deer are resilient.Even in Coyote country they seem to do fine 3 legged.I didn,t even cut a track today.Seen one several hundred yards away.

Yep I’m positive the deer I saw run was her. Tracks leading up to that spot.

 

[10acres]

I feel for ya, that’s why they call it hunting and not killing. Terrible feeling to know you’ve injured a deer, been there before. We’ve had a doe with a bum leg around where I hunt for a couple of seasons. She seems to make it just fine dealing with all the coyotes. You did the right thing looking as hard as you did, I know guys that wouldn’t have put that effort in.

 

[ny griz]

Brushbuster,tough one to swallow but you gave it your all.You're right with the flintlock ,practice is for real.NY Griz

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Worked on each other for a couple of weeks. Then Checkmate!

 

[good ole boy]

Way to go sussex.Lets have the details.

 

[good ole boy]

Hopefully you,ll be out there tomorrow Brush.Good luck on huntin her down.

 

[Spikebuck]

PaBrushbuster...you did a lot of tracking and followed it as far as it sounds like you could. Unfortunately, these things can happen no matter how much you prepare and do your best.

If it was a leg hit, deer are amazingly resilient in that respect. While bowhunting one year, I saw a group of does come out into a field I was sitting and one had a badly broken hind leg...it was dangling by dried skin above the knee joint just flopping around. If she would have come close enough, I would have shot her just to put her out of her misery. Well, for the next several years, she was the queen mother! The lower part of the leg was gone and she was getting along fine (and I live in very steep hill country). She was the matriarch. My dad used to have a little corn out for the critters in winter and she would rear up on the one hind leg and kick the others away from the food with her front feet until she got her fill first!

As a kid, there was a three-legged deer in my area that had been run over by a hay mower as a fawn, then taken in, fixed up, and eventually let loose. She was a local fixture...would come right up to a car to get handouts. The DNR would capture her each year and put her "in jail" for her own protection on one of their regional office sites. Some ba$t@rd shot her in the pen one year.

 

[good ole boy]

I saw a lot of em pre dawn when it was to dark.Didn,t see any the rest of the day.What about you Brush?

 

[Boomerang]

My son and I went out today. Seen the same 3 deer 3 times. Never got closer than 150 yards and always running.

Maybe that's why you never got closer than 150yds because you were always running!

 

[CerpinTaxt]

Best of luck to you all. I normally hunt 5C and 3D, but will be trapping fisher as my freezer is almost full. Very excited to be drawn for a late season flintlock hunt at Middle Creek!

I hunt 3d too. Say a fisher up on 183 across from the tuck em inn. On the first bench headed towards the beaver pond. There's a deer Kill with a nice buck skull on a big rock. Maybe hes still haunting it. Good luck trapping!