Wet weather hunting?

[TLanoy]

Ok, I've got an old waxed canvas shoulder bag I can cut up and try and make a lock cover out of. As far as the bore, I can use the surgical glove tip method. Thanks for all the tips and replies. :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

Don't forget the range trips on rainy days. That's where it will all come together.

 

[Treestalker]

Those little finger cots are used in the defence industry for working on electronics. you may be able to get a few for nothing by looking in the dumpsters (get permission first :shocked2: ) or asking a worker to save you some used ones. The cap protecters are easily made from right size surgical tubing. Cheers, Tree.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I have a 3/4 lenght gun case that is made out of an old army wool blanket. It is split up to the front sling swivel and ties over the lock or scope. It was sprayed with water proofing years ago. I can use it with any gun ML or modern even my shotgun. I made it in 3/4 length so it would not be bulky and carry it in my pack. this case keeps rain and snow off my gun. Being 3/4 length means part of the lower stock is out in the open but that doesn't cause any problem just makes it less bulky.

 

[stinkyfeet]

Wet weather this is where a pop up ground bling comes in handy. Hint get a large one its tough to manuever a long barrel around and out the blind sometimes.

 

[Vaino]

One year while MLer elk hunting, it rained for 7 of the 9 day season...sometimes just a drizzle but at other times, heavy downpours.

Took no precautions w/ the caplock and left it loaded until a shot at game was taken....which didn't happen. So 9 days later it went "boom" w/o a hitch.

The flintlock had a "cows knee" which worked well, but after a shot was fired, the pan and surrounding areas were meticulously cleaned. BP residue is very hygroscopic and results in a wet mess if not cleaned off. Also, a fresh prime was panned a couple times a day....just in case.

Did extensive squirrel hunting w/ a flintlock in the rain and the above precautions always ensured a "boom"......Fred

 

[Rifleman1776]

With the percussion, the cap may be sealed with some clear fingernail polish in wet weather. Works fine. For flints, it can be just the hassle you described.
FWIW, in rain the animules usually just hunker down and don't move either.
Staying in the lodge near a fire is a great way to spend a rainy day.

 

[shmrck1]

just shoot thru it?

Yes!

snake-eyes

 

[Wes/Tex]

Moi too! Cow knee with good fit and a small roll of trade wool in the pan which can be slipped out and primed in seconds. Keeping lock area under arm pit; muzzle cover(tape is fine); wide brimmed hat and sometimes slumping over lock area also works. Hard driving rain is the pits and there's little you can do to keep things dry but light sprinkles and thin drizzles shouldn't keep you from shooting outdoors on poor days.

 

[BrownBear]

...Hard driving rain....

One habit or "solution" I've ingrained into my routine is to replace the cows knee right after firing and before loading. Helps keep the lock "sorta dry" and sure eases things once you've finished working on the front end of the gun and move on to work on the back end. If you're protecting the muzzle while loading, it's the only way I know to keep the lock out of the pouring rain at the same time.

 

[TLanoy]

Thanks fellas. I am thinking that light drizzle and sprinkles will be the way to go. If it's pouring down a steady flow, I'll be home with the cocoa! :grin:

 

[FishDFly]

Our deer are wimpy, if it is raining they do not come out at all. Actually nothing here moves when it rains. Even my cows stay in the heavy woods and seek shelter.

Really does not hurt my feelings, if it's raining I stay home.

Put another log on the fire.

 

[Supercracker]

When it rains around here the swamps flood and all the critters concentrate on the little islands in the cypress swamp. It's good hunting.......if you don't mind being soaking wet from the waist down the whole day.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Our deer are wimpy, if it is raining they do not come out at all. Put another log on the fire.

Lucky deer. In this part of NY ours are kept outdoors at all times. :wink:

If the deer are not moving and the ground is wet that's the best time for you to move quietly to them.

But it doesn't rain all the time hereabouts.

 

[FishDFly]

After looking at your picture, I have to join the ranks of our wimpy deer. Three more logs on the fire and another bowl of butter beans with corn bread.

You are having fun, I think.

First part of the season I hunt in shorts and a T-shirt sometimes.

My neighbor up the road told me if you get up to hunt and there is a heavy frost to go back to bed. Set the alarm for 8 o'clock and go hunt at 9 o'clock. The deer would move about 10 o'clock or so. He was right.

Here my favorite weather is a heavy fog, temp. in the mid 50s. Not hot or cold and the heavy fog tends to make the deer move.

 

[BrownBear]

Has nothing to do with historic accuracy, but for really wet weather I carry some small packs of "moist towelettes." A guy could probably do just as well with a rag soaked in some kind of drying agent and kept in a ziploc.

Whichever route works for you, when the gun has been wet down pretty good, using something like that to dry the pan and frizzen after a cleanup and before repriming really helps reliability.

I can't imagine using a fowler or double flinter on a duck hunt without it, since a whole lot of our duck hunting is in the wet, and hopefully you're doing a lot of shooting. Same for our snowshoe hare hunts: Lots of shooting and reloading because they're inclined to sit back under the edge of the brush rather than get out in the rain.

Taking 15 or 20 shots even in humid weather rather than rain will kinda redefine life and loading for you. :rotf:

 

[Patocazador]

In the Winter when cold fronts move through here, they bring rain, not snow. If you can brave the rain just before it quits, the deer start moving just as the rain lets up. The movement lasts until the sky starts to turn blue and the wind picks up. It usually gives you 2-3 hours of good hunting.

If you wait to go out until it stops raining, you've "missed the boat."

 

[Brokennock]

Funny how deer are. You always hear "Sun up" and "last half hour before sunset,"as the "best" times to hunt. My best spots seem most active an hour or more before sunrise and then again between 08:30 and 10:00. Weird thing is, some here have said the deer where they are don't move if it's too wet, or move late if there's a frost. In my case if the overnight temp is above roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit the deer are bedded off the property before legal light.

 

[FishDFly]

Funny how deer are. You always hear "Sun up" and "last half hour before sunset,"as the "best" times to hunt. My best spots seem most active an hour or more before sunrise and then again between 08:30 and 10:00. Weird thing is, some here have said the deer where they are don't move if it's too wet, or move late if there's a frost. In my case if the overnight temp is above roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit the deer are bedded off the property before legal light.

James Kroll wrote a book on deer and deer hunting which is the best book that I have read. He has taken a lot of his best deer between 10 am and noon. His thought is that hunters make them move as they leave their hunting area.

I have 2 blinds that I hunt, one is a morning blind. Go there in the afternoon and you will see nothing. The other is an afternoon blind, sitting there in the morning is a total waste of time. Early in the season it a 5 o'clock blind when the deer arrive, by Xmas, you have to be there by 3:30 at the latest.

To me the best thing for deer observation are game cameras.

They tell you when the picture was taken, the moon phase and temperature. I learn a lot by looking at the cameras and studying them.

They talk about nocturnal deer and I have pictures of a very large buck and they are all at night, not one day time picture.

Our deer are wimpy, if it's raining, they are not coming out.

We have had the ranch since 1965 and have a good grasp on the deer, where they will come from and their habits.