Woods walks

[Grenadier1758]

Greasing the ball isn't difficult. You do need a double boiler to melt the grease. I've made a grease with bee's wax and with the cartridge assembled to the point of having the ball tied in the cylinder, you simply dip the paper wrapped ball in the melted mix of wax and oil. I use 1 part Bees wax to 7 parts of (very cheap) olive oil. All the oil keeps the cooled mix soft which makes it easier to load. Others may recommend a different grease or lubricant.

Something to consider when making the cartridge is to make a dowel form to wrap two layers of paper that will slide down the barrel. I do hold a few cartridges back that weren't dipped so that I can spit on the ball to effectively wipe some of the fouling down the bore.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Greasing the ball isn't difficult. You do need a double boiler to melt the grease. I've made a grease with bee's wax and with the cartridge assembled to the point of having the ball tied in the cylinder, you simply dip the paper wrapped ball in the melted mix of wax and oil. I use 1 part Bees wax to 7 parts of (very cheap) olive oil. All the oil keeps the cooled mix soft which makes it easier to load. Others may recommend a different grease or lubricant.

Something to consider when making the cartridge is to make a dowel form to wrap two layers of paper that will slide down the barrel. I do hold a few cartridges back that weren't dipped so that I can spit on the ball to effectively wipe some of the fouling down the bore.

I added the last lines with a bit more information.

Now when you go on your woods walk, pack just what you think you will minimally need, enough powder, ball and patch for about 30 shots (20 should be sufficient). Go with confidence. You wouldn't have been invited unless the inviter thought you were sufficiently up to taking on the woods walk.

 

[Capnball]

Greasing the ball isn't difficult. You do need a double boiler to melt the grease. I've made a grease with bee's wax and with the cartridge assembled to the point of having the ball tied in the cylinder, you simply dip the paper wrapped ball in the melted mix of wax and oil. I use 1 part Bees wax to 7 parts of (very cheap) olive oil. All the oil keeps the cooled mix soft which makes it easier to load. Others may recommend a different grease or lubricant.

I'm familiar with greasing .58 minies for my 1861 Bridesberg but I never made up the paper cartridge. I really like the exterior cartridge paper greased cutting out a step. I guess I have to mike the ball and paper to get the seal right. I'd like to get that powder portion of the tube small enough to dump the powder without too much fiddling around.

 

[Dibbuk]

I have enjoyed a variety of woods walks, and I have just two pieces of advice:

1) Tie everything to your bag, strap, or belt. EVERYTHING. The one thing you forget to tie will be the thing you drop when you are not looking.

2) I bring a plastic bag that newspapers are delivered in, and use it to hold any used patches, tissues, candy wrappers, or whatever. I know a lot of WW'ers just toss things on the ground, but I like to keep the path neat.

 

[Rudyard]

Depends on whose putting on the Woods walk but they Generally are a lot of fun .The best I knew where the Ed's' Green hats' & ' Lizards' Widow makers' . The' Little beards' & some art full UK ones . Rudyard

 

[Many Klatch]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the Big Bore advantage in shooting woodswalks. The larger the caliber you have the "easier" some of the targets are. It's a lot easier to split a .54 ball on the axe than a .32. It's a lot easier to cut a card or a string with a big bore. A Bess will really move a gong around.

Also in a lot of woodswalks pay very close attention to the rules. If they don't say single round ball only and you are shooting a smoothbore then it might be handy to have some shot along. If they say "stick the knife", that doesn't mean you have to throw it. Just walk up and stick it.

Almost all woodswalks will include hawk and knife and fire starting. Have the makings along just in case.

A fun part of designing a woodswalk is messing with peoples heads. One target I always enjoyed was the shooter having to stick their hawk in a block handle up. Put a charcoal briquet on the tip of the handle. Shoot the briquet. Next target would be hawk and knife.

 

[tenngun]

One our club put on one in ‘hostile territory’ every Indian you saw was out to lift your hair. A miss was the end of the walk for you as you ‘died ‘on the trail.
One easy to see target out on its own was and Indian back toward the trail setting on a log taking a er uh, using the log as a seat of ease. His gun leaned up next to him.
Most who ran the walk didn’t want to be a back shooter. The rules were if you didn’t shoot him he would shoot you in the back as he would trail you when done.
Our winner shot the Indians gun. We gave him extra points for not being a back shooter but rendering the Indian hors de combat anyway.

 

[22ceejay]

Our club has one in the spring each year. We have about 15 stations separated aprox 30 yards or more along a nice path/trail on one of our members property. A lot of fun! Mostly metal gongs or other various metal targets along with an axe to split your ball on and bust a clay target on each side. Maybe a "hunters" surprise target or two that is unmarked so you have to keep a keen eye out. We do a timed fire starting (flint and steel) a hawk throw, anything your imagination can come up with. Do it with honesty and enjoy the challenge. Loading and cleaning is the hard part, but a bit of practice in your yard prior to going is well worth the time, keep it simple, take a range rod or a delrin type that is less likely to break. Safety First!!!! Go and have fun, aim small, miss small!

 

[gerryherd]

Things worth knowing in advance are how many shots (so you can take enough ball with 2 or 3 spares in case you drop one on the ground), & whether metal loading range rods are allowed. Take a few extra caps or couple extra flints. Maybe precut and pre-lube enough patches. Have some tow or a few cleaning patches to handle a fouled bore. Best prep I can suggest is to load up your pouch or bag (or pockets) with your possibles and go to whatever range you practice on and see if you can fire the same number of shots as the woodswalk without having to retrieve something from your shooting box in the truck. Enjoy!

 

[LRSmoker]

In the NE states we have “Woods Walks” and “Primitive Biathlon’s “. Woods walks are generally quite relaxed comparatively speaking , can have very challenging targets, are more of a social event with a lot of talking ( increasingly the chances of dry balling ) and are at a slow pace. Now Primitive Biathlon’s are a timed event run on wooden snowshoes ( or if there’s not enough snow you must carry the snowshoes ) with a fixed number of targets on a defined course. These are for the more competitive individuals and scores are based on number of hits. Only one shot per target, misfires are a automatic loss and the gun must be empty between stations. I have found that the individuals that attend these events are like most muzzleloader shooters to be the best. Since Covid I’ve not been able to attend a single one with the border closure and really miss my friends. If you can possibly attend a “Woods Walk” DON’T miss the opportunity for a great event.

 

[Capnball]

I have enjoyed a variety of woods walks, and I have just two pieces of advice:

1) Tie everything to your bag, strap, or belt. EVERYTHING. The one thing you forget to tie will be the thing you drop when you are not looking.

2) I bring a plastic bag that newspapers are delivered in, and use it to hold any used patches, tissues, candy wrappers, or whatever. I know a lot of WW'ers just toss things on the ground, but I like to keep the path neat.

Good tips.
Approximately how long does it take to complete a woods walk?

 

[Capnball]

In the NE states we have “Woods Walks” and “Primitive Biathlon’s “. Woods walks are generally quite relaxed comparatively speaking , can have very challenging targets, are more of a social event with a lot of talking ( increasingly the chances of dry balling ) and are at a slow pace. Now Primitive Biathlon’s are a timed event run on wooden snowshoes ( or if there’s not enough snow you must carry the snowshoes ) with a fixed number of targets on a defined course. These are for the more competitive individuals and scores are based on number of hits. Only one shot per target, misfires are a automatic loss and the gun must be empty between stations. I have found that the individuals that attend these events are like most muzzleloader shooters to be the best. Since Covid I’ve not been able to attend a single one with the border closure and really miss my friends. If you can possibly attend a “Woods Walk” DON’T miss the opportunity for a great event.

Oh I'm very jazzed about doing one (if not more) of these events. I'm going through a checklist of things I need to address on both myself and my gear to at least not make a fool of myself. Most things I throw myself into I do well. I haven't looked forward to something as much since I did a 2000 mile motorcycle camping trip through Canada solo. I did that when I was 60.
I'm having some new and improved parts installed in my knees next month to replace my original issue knees (which have significantly slowed me down over the past couple years.) I haven't been hunting in years, maybe this will kick start that part of my life again. I really couldn't imagine becoming so old and banged up that I couldn't take a walk through the woods any longer. Thanks for the Tips
Neil

 

[Carbon 6]

The variety and creativeness of design in a woodswalk can level the playing field, putting shooters on more even ground. They can be extremely fun and challenging. By far my favorite target shoot.

 

[LRSmoker]

Oh I'm very jazzed about doing one (if not more) of these events. I'm going through a checklist of things I need to address on both myself and my gear to at least not make a fool of myself. Most things I throw myself into I do well. I haven't looked forward to something as much since I did a 2000 mile motorcycle camping trip through Canada solo. I did that when I was 60.
I'm having some new and improved parts installed in my knees next month to replace my original issue knees (which have significantly slowed me down over the past couple years.) I haven't been hunting in years, maybe this will kick start that part of my life again. I really couldn't imagine becoming so old and banged up that I couldn't take a walk through the woods any longer. Thanks for the Tips
Neil

As is generally the case in this sport most of the participants ( unfortunately ) are above 60. I would say that the majority of us have some sort of health issue. There are people that attend and are very competitive that have had various parts replaced like knees or had heart issues. One doesn’t have to run a Biathlon to have a good time and there are also different categories so you can go with what you feel up too. These events are good for the moral during the winter months and especially with the pandemic going around they are a good way to socialize relatively safely outdoors. You will probably want to have a couple of ball blocks, paper cartridges and I’d recommend bringing along a range rod. Ball blocks you can make out of a piece of board and paper cartridges are also home made so there’s no big investment involved to have a lot of fun.

 

[Capnball]

As is generally the case in this sport most of the participants ( unfortunately ) are above 60. I would say that the majority of us have some sort of health issue. There are people that attend and are very competitive that have had various parts replaced like knees or had heart issues. One doesn’t have to run a Biathlon to have a good time and there are also different categories so you can go with what you feel up too. These events are good for the moral during the winter months and especially with the pandemic going around they are a good way to socialize relatively safely outdoors. You will probably want to have a couple of ball blocks, paper cartridges and I’d recommend bringing along a range rod. Ball blocks you can make out of a piece of board and paper cartridges are also home made so there’s no big investment involved to have a lot of fun.

Yup, I'm already looking into paper cartridges (solves a ton of problems)
I'm also looking to replace my wood ram rod with custom one piece brass rod that'll fit in the rod groove. I have a couple brass range rods but they look like too many pieces. Less parts cause less problems.

 

[mushka]

I will be doing my first woods walk in Feb of 21. We call it a trail walk as there ain't no woods around here. My biggest hurdle will be loading from a bag as I normally load off the back of my truck with a stand for the gun. Promises to be fun as well as challenging for me. Looking forward to it with trepidation.

 

[Capnball]

I will be doing my first woods walk in Feb of 21. We call it a trail walk as there ain't no woods around here. My biggest hurdle will be loading from a bag as I normally load off the back of my truck with a stand for the gun. Promises to be fun as well as challenging for me. Looking forward to it with trepidation.

Look forward to hearing about your experience. Post a few pics if you can also. Here's wishing you buckets of beginners luck!
Neil

 

[Many Klatch]

In our club woodswalks, we only allow Flintlocks. If that is the case then the rules are "Fall of the Hammer". If you pull the trigger and you get a Klatch then that is a miss. We will allow you to replace the flint and carry the gun loaded to the next station if it is close by. If Caplocks are allowed to participate the "Fall of the Hammer" requirement is suspended.

BTW. If you are a 6 O'Clock hold at 25 yard paper shooter you will be at a disadvantage. Figuring out your hold on a diagonal piece of string at 12' or a charcoal briquet at 20' (must hit the briquet, not the string) is difficult with a 6 O'Clock hold. I set up a target at a Western once where the target was a glass bead stuck on the branch of a small dead juniper at 10 feet from the firing line. To hit that you had to calculate the distance from the top of the sight to the center of the ball and hold accordingly. I think we had 3 hits on that target that day.

 

[Capnball]

I'm sure there's some amazing shooters out there. The competition is second to the wealth of knowledge these guys bring to the event.

 

[Canute Rex]

The main problem I run into at woods walks is the variety of ranges.

I'd recommend you try a horizontal line target. Use masking tape and spray paint to make a 1" horizontal line on some pieces of white cardboard. Use a dead center hold, right on the line, at 50 yards, 25 yards, 10 yards, and 5 yards. Maybe even 10 feet. See how high or low the shots go. In a lot of woods walks you'll find yourself shooting at something small 10-15 feet away and you'll be stumped as to hold-over or hold-under.

It's also useful to shoot at square, diamond, and round spot targets. There's something different about shooting at a gong as opposed to a usual ring target.