Powder in the the pan or not?

[smo]

Anyone here who don't put powder in the pan until the game spotted? :hmm: :idunno:

 

[wattlebuster]

I hunt with mine primed. I think that would end up costing me a deer and I need all the help I can get. I can screw up in other ways without worrying about a empty pan :idunno:

 

[smo]

I thought you of all fellows would give a deer a sportin' chance :haha: :rotf: Hope you got a biggun' tied out :thumbsup:

 

[jamesthomas]

I hunt with my already primed. I had to do a little work on the pan an bottom of the frizzen to make a seal between them but after that I can shake the rifle upside down etc. and the prime stays right were I put it. If its real humid or damp in the morning I'll replace my prime every 30 minutes or so. Everyone needs to check the seal of their flintlocks, just a little file work will stop you from losing your prime if your out there stalking or have a up an down walk to your stand.

 

[excess650]

I thought you of all fellows would give a deer a sportin' chance :haha: :rotf: Hope you got a biggun' tied out :thumbsup:

ahem.....yeah, good luck with that. :rotf:

Here comes a biggun...oh manure, I have to lose the cow's knee, remove the frizzen brake, pick the charge, prime the pan, close the frizzen, cock the hammer, set the trigger....where'd the biggun go????

 

[Stumpkiller]

No. Grouse are hard enough to hit when the pan is primed already.

Hereabouts whitetails come and go in a few seconds as they pass through limited windows in the undergrowth. I couldn't get the priming flask out and uncapped before the shot opportunity was past. And when still hunting that would be too much movement at the deer's eye level.

 

[Spikebuck]

Since you said "game" and not "deer" I'll answer this way. For deer, primed and 1/2 cock while hunting. For squirrels, I don't prime until I see them because I usually have all kinds of time.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Assuming the 'game' is deer, I stay primed. In the Ozarks hunting deer and quail have a lot of similarities. Now you see 'em, now you don't. I stay primed. Even squirrel hunting with a smoothie I stay primed. For safety, my habit is to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I'm primarily talking about deer but I've done it both ways. I suppose it's probably a bit safer and certainly more sporting to wait until your game is spotted and I do so occasionally but I'd guess that 80% of the time, I'm primed and on half-cock. I know guys who hunt all the time at full-cock and personally I think that's just insane but to each his own I guess.

 

[smo]

Thanks for the replies. I'm hunting in a place "now" where I can see 60 yards in almost any direction so on those damp / moist mornings I'm not priming the pan. I have a priming charger on a lanyard around my neck tucked inside my bibs. I keep a small feather in the touch hole to keep moisture out. If a biggun' does get away it's not the end of the world. It just means I'll be hunting him another day. If someone else kills him there will be another one move in and take his place. I am hunting from an elevated stand with camo around the railing and would not attempt to try this from the ground ...unless I was in a well concealed blind. Look at it this way "If the world gives you oranges...make a screwdriver. :wink: :haha:

 

[Hierophant]

This is will be my first year hunting with a flintlock, but walking around with the pan empty seems to me about equal to walking around with my centerfire rifle totally unloaded. Yeah it's safe but...

My plan was priming pan full, half-cock and a frizzen stall.

 

[ncmtmike]

certainly primed :blah:

 

[Bob J]

When I am night hunting hogs from a treestand, I get into the treestand before dark and prime for any hogs that show up before nightfall (had a big un' walk by a few weeks ago and it didn't stick around long enough for me to prime :redface: ). But after dark, I dump old pan powder and often do not reprime until hogs show up at the feeder. this way I am assured fresh prime despite damp night air. If I was using 3f, I wouldn't be as concerned, but my priming dispenser will only work with 4f.

Deer hunting I prime as soon as I'm in the stand and re-prime every 45 min. or so.

 

[roundball]

Anyone here who don't put powder in the pan until the game spotted? :hmm: :idunno:

I hunt with the gun loaded, pan primed, full cock, hammer stall in place...no different than carrying my modern rifles and shotguns

 

[Wes/Tex]

Same here, for all the good it did me tonight. 77 degrees at 6:00 and the deer know better. Cooler air coming, so they say and I'll get a better chance!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I hunt primed with a hammer stall. When I use a caplock it's capped, and depending on the hunting type, sometimes a spent modern cartridge covers the capped nipple, and sometimes not. (Uncapped and quail hunting = few or no birds).

LD

 

[Dphar]

Anyone here who don't put powder in the pan until the game spotted? :hmm: :idunno:

I often hunt in "occupied Grizzly Bear Habitat" I don't walk around with an unloaded rifle.

Dan

 

[Dphar]

Don't have a frizzen stall either.

Dan

 

[B.Habermehl]

Powder in pan, half cock and hammer stall on. I usually hunt from a tree stand. So normally there is ample time. The hammer stall is flipped off after I pull the hammer back to full cock when I see game. I am a belt and suspenders type of guy when safety is involved. BJH