Flintlock Reliability in Hunting Guns

Although this modern flintlock took this hog it failed to fire when another shot opportunity on a larger animal occurred less than an hour later.

  A few post back I discuss using a newly designed Rightnour  flintlock rifle on a hog-deer hunt on Georgia’s Ossabaw Island. On this hunt I had a flint dull sufficiently to fail to fire the gun. When I attempted to change the flint in the dark I lost the upper jaw on the cock and the jaw screw in tall grass. I had to rely on sticking a lit match to the pan powder to discharge the gun before taking it back to camp.

  This even brought home why the military powers changed from flint to percussion ignition in the 1840s. It was not that percussion guns were any more accurate or powerful, but they were significantly MORE RELIABLE. Guns with percussion locks were less likely to be disabled because nine external lock parts were replaced by a hammer and nipple.  Percussion locks were also less expensive to make and required less in-field servicing.

 Shooting flintlock guns with acceptable game-killing accuracy requires both physical and mental training to master the gun. The shooter must learn to hold the gun steady when an explosion is occurring inches from his nose. All instincts are telling him to push this source of noise and flame away from him as soon as possible, and it is difficult to learn to hold these “flinchlocks” still enough for accurate off-hand shooting.  

  I accept this challenge, and I often hunt with flintlock guns. In doing so I realize that I will not take as much game with them as with their percussion equivalents. I am now hunting with an original 1842 British .75-caliber musket that was the percussion equivalent of the Brown Bess flintlock used during the American Revolutionary  and Napoleonic wars. It shoots no more accurately than the flintlock, but is more reliable. In a later post I will let you know how it did on this year’s deer hunt.

  I always advise against a hunter choosing a flintlock as his first muzzleloading gun. It is always best to learn how to shoot percussion guns first and then take up the added challenges of the flintlock and matchlock once basic black-powder shooting techniques have been mastered using the more reliable percussion guns.

  In the 2011 issue of Gun Digest, I will be discussing shooting smoothbore guns. This issue will be out in August, 2010. I will also be discussing this subject in a new book ,  X-Treme Muzzleloading: Taking Fur, Fowl and Dangerous Game with Muzzleloading Rifles, Smoothbores and Pistols,  that will be published  in the first quarter of  2010.

Cooking North America’s Rabbits and Hares

Rabbits, steamed with onions until the meat easily pulls from the bone makes one of the best wild game meals

   I have had the luck to take on North America’s rabbits and hares from Arctic Alaska to coastal Georgia. Although some, like the jack rabbit, are a bit more challenging to eat than others; all may be cooked using the same basic method. The basic variable is that the larger, and older, the animal the longer it must be steamed until it is tender.

  Use rubber gloves when you might come into contact with rabbit blood and through the gutting and meat-washing steps.  

 Rabbits are the easiest of all small-game animals to skin. The hide can generally be pulled off the carcass once the initial cuts are made. I usually cut off the head and feet during the skinning process. Then open the body cavity cutting through the ribs and throw out the guts and lungs.  There will be a distinctive and mildly objectionable smell.

  After the carcass is washed, cut it into pieces including the front and rear legs, backbone back of the ribs and the front of the backbone above the ribs. I cut the ribs away to allow more room in the pot. Salt, pepper,  flour and brown in hot oil. Remove the smaller pieces, like the front legs as they are browned to keep them from overcooking.  If the rabbits are young, they may be eaten at this stage. However, with mature animals you will need to pour off the frying oil, add some onions and steam the rabbits for perhaps some hours to get them sufficiently tender to eat. Watch and add water as necessary to keep from drying.

  Be patient, the results will be worth the time and effort. Rabbit meat will pick up some taste from their diets. Jack rabbits, for example, will have a hint to a strong taste of sage depending on the age of the animal. 

  I have small game recipes in my books, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound  and also in  Crossbow Hunting.   Information on these books may be found elsewhere in this blog and at www.hoveysmith.com.

Cleaning and Cooking Wild Hogs

 

A good "eating-sized" hog ready for processing. It is now 7:00 PM and skinning and cutting up the animal will go on until about midnight.

 Wild hogs, or boars, are rapidly becoming the second most common species of big game animal taken in many U.S. states. High populations are found throughout the Southeast, Eastern seaboard, Texas, California and in Hawaii. Butchers and game processors will often not take these animals, leaving their processing to the hunters. Here is how to do it.

What your wild hog can be. Roasted, smoked backstraps and black eyed peas seasoned with smoked hog meat.

Initial skinning cuts on a wild hog. Once the skin is removed, the excess fat is also trimmed away.

  Very often wild hogs do not come out until just about dark. If you hog hunt more than a few times, you will find yourself with a dead hog and darkness rapidly approaching. Rig a place where you can hang a hog , cut it up and have sufficient light to see what you are doing.

  Process hogs as quickly as possible. At least get the animal gutted, the hide off and the meat in the fridge within a few hours if you do not have a walk-in cooler big enough to hang a gutted carcass. Hogs, and bears, should always be cleaned when wearing rubber gloves. They can carry some very bad diseases that may cause debilitating illnesses if introduced into the blood through a cut on the hand.

Getting ready to "dump" the entrals of a small hog. Unless the animal is gut shot, there is little smell or mess.

  “Deer processed” hogs are skinned and cut up just like deer. I make sausage, take roast, the backstraps, ribs, liver and heart for my use. I sometimes skin and smoke the head to make Brunswick stew. The best-eating hogs are the young ones and sows. I shoot whatever hog happens to be in front of me, and they have ranged in size from 12 pounds to over 400.

  The keys to having good hog meat are to cool it quickly, always use gloves when cleaning or handling the meat, cooking it slowly, serving it well done and applying a little smoke to some meat to use for seasoning vegetables. Much wild hog is bar-b-qued, but roasting, sausage making or even using ground meat in chilies all turn out well.

Flame tipped wild hog ribs on the grill.

  Recipes may be found in my books, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound and  Crossbow Hunting. 

Sausage making from shoulders and cut meat from other parts of the hog.

Ossabaw Island hunt with Crossbow and Flintlock

A view of the marsh off Ossabaw Island, one of Georgia's "Golden Isles"

  Hunts on Georgia’s coastal islands are a different kind of deer hunting experience, particularly when done with a RMC flintlock rifle and Horton 175 lb. Super Max crossbow. Ossabaw Island is an almost magical place in the fall with huge oaks and palm trees dripping with Spanish Moss and good hunting to be had if you are willing to walk far and drag back.

Tent camps are needed for the 3-day hunts. A charter boat brings hunters to the island.

  The island is part of a GA WMA and the quota hunt is open to out-of -state and in-state applicants. There are gun hunts for deer and hogs and primitive weapons combination hunts (early Nov.) during which two deer may be taken along with an unlimited number of hogs.

  This year I chose a Rightnour .50-caliber flintlock rifle and the Horton Super Max crossbow. For the hog I set up over a wallow at an abandoned water-well head and took a pig at 35 yards. For the deer I walked in about 1 1/2-miles and took it adjacent to the marsh. The shot here was at about 8-yards. The Grim Reaper head with its extra-long blades took out the animal nicely leaving a good blood trail about 100-yards long.

A handy plastic sled (L.L. Bean Catalogue) for dragging out deer.

  On these hunts you are taken out on trailers (take a cushion with you), put out  before daylight, picked up to come in for lunch (and to bring your game in) and put out again for an evening hunt. Before hogs could be shot, success rates on deer were often about 100 percent. Now that hunters are also fooling with hogs, deer success rates have declined to around 50%.

Roasting pig taken with RMC flintlock.

  If you are willing to walk to the best areas away from your drop-off point, hunt all day and drag your game back some distance; your probability of success on this hunt is very good. If you sit in one spot and expect to be overrun by bunches of deer and hogs you are likely to be disappointed.

A crossbow deer taken from GA's Ossabaw Island. Although limited to about 40 yards, crossbows are very effective for island hunting.

 Ossabaw hunts are among the state’s most popular hunts and it generally takes two or three attempts to be drawn. There are also archery hunts, parent-child hunts, cartridge gun hunts and hog-only quota hunts. The archery hunts are held first. These are often in hot, very buggy weather and are the easiest ones to draw.  

Rifle, crossbow and point furnished by manufacturers.

 

Choosing Bullets for Muzzleloaders

Round balls in 12-gauge and .50-caliber were used in the double-barreled muzzleloading rifles on the L. and R., and a skirted PowerBelt was used in the middle gun.

  Outside of putting the bullet in the right place, the next most important thing is that the bullet  is of appropriate size, weight and design to destroy sufficient tissue to quickly kill the animal.  Muzzleloading bullets come in four basic designs, round balls, elongated bullets, saboted projectiles and skirted bullets.

 Traditionalist can rightly claim that patched round balls of sufficient diameter can kill any of the world’s game. The trick is that they not only be large enough but also sufficiently hard for penetration on large species like bison, Cape buffalo, elephant and the like. I have hit, but failed to kill, with round balls that were too soft to penetrate deep enough in heavy animals because the bullets deformed into rounded discs.

  For deer and average-sized hogs, .50-caliber patched round balls do well with about 100 grains of FFg black powder equivalent. Moving up to elk and big boars a .54-caliber is appropriate. For big African species the 8 and 4 gauges are,  and always were, recommended  while 12-gauge balls could be used for things like zebra and wildebeest.

.54-caliber fired and unfired T/C MaxiBall from boar

 Bullets with their longer length allow more bullet weight for the 1:45-1:22 twists barrels that are designed to use them, which includes all in-line and many side-lock rifles.  I have shot more Thompson/Center MaxiBalls in .50 and .54 calibers than any other type of elongate projectile. These bullets work best if they hit bone before they go through the lungs in order to insure expansion. I have lost game with high-lung shots that hit the animals, but did not yield good blood trails.

 Saboted bullets use a plastic cup between the bullet and the barrel. This cup has to have an appropriate composition to stand the heat and pressure generated by the powder charge in order to give good accuracy. Also, they require that the barrel be whipped every few shoots to keep the plastic residue from gumming up the barrel. One quick follow-up shot can be managed, but if you shoot more than three or four times, you need to clean the barrel to be able to force another bullet down the bore.

  I like the Barnes type solid copper bullets when used with sabots. These will expand even on small animals, and the solid copper bases continue to drive through the animals.   I have also had success with Thompson/Centers’ Shock Wave spire pointed .50-caliber, 250 grain sabots on deer-sized game using both 100 and 150-grain charges.

Fired and recovered bullets from Cape buffalo and ostrich

  In most modern designed rifled muzzleloaders I use the PowerBelt bullets. I like the .50-caliber, 295 grain weight for deer and used 444 and 530 grain .50-caliber PowerBelts in Africa on ostrich and Cape buffalo.   Power belts bullets are made of copper plated pure lead, except for their now-discontinued steel tipped Safari bullets that I used on Cape buffalo.

  This bullet has the plastic skirt common to all PowerBelts, a pure lead midsection to engage the rifling and a steel point. The pure lead 444 grain bullet expanded to about 70 caliber and remained in the body of an ostrich. Although of heavy weight, this bullet would not have done the job on a buffalo.   

 No bullet will compensate for poor shot placement, but choosing an appropriate bullet for the gun and game will help insure success. For recommendations on inexpensive muzzleloading outfits see other articles in this blog and my book, Backyard deer hunting:Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound.

Some products furnished by the manufacturers.

Buying Used Crossbows

After much struggle, a kill was finally made with Horton's Steel Force Crossbow. Both the author and another hunter missed deer with it because if its terrible trigger pull.

 The axiom that potential buyer of used crossbows should keep in mind is, “Good crossbows are seldom sold, but less good ones often are.”  While economic necessity might force someone to give up his favorite hunting crossbow, it is much more likely that only death or disability would part a user from a crossbow that had consistently performed for him.

  Crossbow technology is being upgraded every year. About every decade it would pay to take another look  and see if any new crossbow offers sufficiently increased capabilities to justify buying a new one. The majority of crossbows seen in pawn shops are the less expensive models, older ones with less desirable features or are somehow broken. Archery shops are better places to look, because their owners would be less likely to take in poor or non-functional equipment.

The author though enough of this Fred Bear Crossbow to take on an Alaskan hunt, but the company no longer makes crossbows.

  Crossbows to avoid at any price, even free, are those that are huge, ugly, have a pseudo-military look about them, those that shoot arrows using standard knocks and  those made in China with strange camo patterns. Hard looks need to be given to crossbows by Bear Archery and PSE. These may be shootable, but parts (other than having custom strings made) for older crossbows may no longer be available.

  One of the most common crossbows that shows up is the Horton Steel Force, which was for years the least expensive crossbow in that company’s line. These had terrible, non-adjustable triggers that were extremely difficult to shoot. These have now been discontinued and should have been. I can’t recommend them for anything.  

 I recently shot an example of an O.K. used crossbow. This was a

A used Barnett Revolution, that if priced at about $150 would be a reasonable hunting crossbow for stationary shots.

Barnett Revolution split-limbed compound crossbow. This crossbow was about 10 years old, was apparently seldom fired and had a functional scope. I chose some new carbon arrows for it, gave it some 100-grain points and it shot very well. Like most crossbows of that era it had a long  trigger pull. If your target was stationary and if you were shooting from a rest, this crossbow would work. How much is worth?  I would say, $150.

The Horton Hawk in this picture has been used to take gators up to 12-feet long.

 I have also had a Horton Hawk, that is of a  later time period, but used the same compound-wheel technology. These had better triggers and some components might still be available. This might also be a reasonable purchase for about the same price. I leave mine rigged for alligator hunting and have taken several of the big reptiles with it.

    Go with used crossbows by makers who only make crossbows like Barnett, Horton, TenPoint and Excalibur.  Work through archery shops if possible. Shoot before you buy. See if the money asked won’t get you into a mid-price-range new crossbow. Only if all of these considerations are favorable, should you purchase a used crossbow.

For more information on crossbows, check out my book Crossbow Hunting at www.hoveysmith.com.

Some crossbows and components were furnished by the manufacturers.

Mossberg 500 and 835 Shotguns

Four Mossberg shotguns. From the top down, 835 Ultramag, 12-gauge Model 500, 30-gauge Model 500 and .410 Model 500

  Mossberg pump-action shotguns have remained among the least expensive repeating shotguns on the American market and have been produced by the millions.  These guns in varying condition are common on used-guns racks, and those who are now looking for inexpensive hunting tools are finding them attractively priced.

Mossberg with effective turkey pattern shot at 40 yards

  The question is, “Are these guns worth having?”  Often they don’t look too good because the aluminum receivers are easily scared and don’t retain their finishes terribly well. They were also low-cost guns to begin with, and their owners often did not take care of them.

 These guns are found in 12, 16, 20 and .410 gauges, and the 835 will even chamber the 3 1/2-inch 12-gauge hull and function with any smaller 12-gauge shell. Unless they have been treated terribly, or someone has disassembled them and not put the “extra parts” back where they needed to be, these are very durable guns. If repairs are needed, the parts are available.

 Options for 12-gauge and 20-gauge guns include slug barrels, barrels with interchangeable chokes (except for the 410 and 16 gauge), a muzzleloading barrel for the 12-gauge 500s  (you must also disassemble and clean the entire action after you shoot black-powder or most substitutes)  and ribbed barrels.  Barrels and chokes are not interchangeable between the Model 500 and 835,  so be certain that your replacement barrel is for your gun.  Unless you are a young shooter or a small individual, I would recommend the 12-gauge guns.

 I add weight to the 835 to make it really shootable by pouring lead

Adding weight to the Mossberg 835 is necessary to make it really shootable with heavy loads

shot fixed in melted beeswax into the hollow buttstock and using a piece of steel re-bar for a plug in the magazine. This increased weight tames the gun sufficiently so that I can shoot 3 1/2-inch 12-gauge turkey and waterfowl loads in it without loosening teeth. (Seriously, this gun is much too light to shoot with these  heavy loads without adding weight to it.)  The newer barrels also come with muzzlebreaks, but I would also add the extra weight to guns fitted with them. 

 In short, the Mossbergs are good, inexpensive, versatile guns that with a little care will take your deer, waterfowl and small game year after year. They also allow you to shoot a variety of shell lengths in 12, 20, and .410 gauges without making any adjustments to the gun so that you don’t have to shoot the most expensive shells all the time.

The 12-gauge Mossberg 500 was provided by the manufacturer, the others were purchased as new or used guns.

Hunting Knives for Deer and Other Game

Knives like this Schrade folding knife and the "Sharp Finger" are what most American hunters think of as hunting knives.

  As I demonstrate in Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound, almost any steel knife that has a sharp edge may be used to process deer and similar-sized game animals. Larger game such as moose and elk

With a sharpened edge, this old Kamp King knife did fine for skinning and cutting up this deer.

require bigger tools, but for deer anything with from 2-4 inches of blade length will serve.

 If you want to save the hide it pays to use a knife with not too much “prick” on the point. Spear pointed blades such as the one on the old Kamp King knife shown in the lead photo will do very well for skinning without jabbing through the hide with nearly every cut.

Case XX changer using interchangeable blades to accomplish a variety of tasks.

 Milti-bladed knives have a place in that they offer a variety of blades that can be used to open the hide, take off the skin and sometimes even saw blades. Such knives may have interchangeable blades, like the Case XX Changer, or only two with different point styles.

 

 A little “hunt magic” is incorporated into knives that use part of the animal to make the knife. The extreme is in the Germanic knives which actually use a hoof for the handle and many knives which incorporate stag handles. An

European hoof-handled knife with pouch.

 American company, Silver Stag, (www.silverstag.com) will take your antler section and make a specialized knife from it with an appropriate-sized blade with, or without, a schrimshawed picture. I can’t think of a better way to commemorate a young hunter’s first kill that was just too small to mount.

  Yet other types of hunting knives are specialized in that they are mostly designed for either killing game or skinning. These are often large fixed-blade with Bowie blades with a sharp point or even cleaver shaped with rounded edges.  Killing knives can have blades that are over a foot long and are very nearly short swords.

A variety of custom knives for killing and skinning from Italian makers, although the Bowie deisgn (L.) has American origins.

 There is much variety and interest in hunting knives. I often write about this subject in Knife World and in the Krause knife annuals such as “Knives 2010″ which are now on the stands.

Squirrel Stew, Part 2.

Squirrel stews are often the first wild game meal of the season and frequently the first game cooked by new hunters.

 Squirrels are among the most underutilized game animal in North America. The two common species, the gray and fox squirrels (there is also the red squirrel of the Arctic and the Albert squirrel of the Southwestern desert mountains), may be taken with .22 rifles, handguns (in some states), muzzleloading rifles (almost everywhere) and both muzzleloading and breechloading shotguns. These are often the first game animal taken by young hunters.

Cleaned squirrel and hide.

  Cleaning the animals are easier when they are warm. Squirrel hides cling tightly to the carcass. The best way is to cut around the body and then pull the hide in opposite directions with both hands. Clean and wash the squirrels and freeze until you have the five (or so) it takes for a stew.

 I like to first salt, flour and brown the cut-up squirrels in hot oil. There is no need to cook completely done,  just brown.  Boil the meat in a pot until the meat falls off the bone. This will take an hour or two. Remove and debone the meat. Then add canned corn, stewed tomatoes, cut-up onion, 1/4 of a bell pepper, salt and pepper to taste to the squirrel meat and water. You will need to add more water as it cooks. If the end result taste too “fresh” add a little more salt. Also try a tablespoon of vinegar and see if you like that additive.   

 Play around with the recipe. You can spice it up or cook it bland or put in other things like cut-up potatoes. Almost anything works except carrots.

 See my books, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound and Crossbow Hunting,   for details. Be patient, it is going to take some hours to finish up the stew.  The squirrel can also be browned and started in a crock pot while you are out hunting and the stew finished when you get back.

Persimmons: Good for Cooking, Eating and Game

Big seedless Japanese persimmons are more available than the wild products, but are not as tasty.

 

In early Fall when the persimmons start dropping, the outdoor world goes wild for them. There is almost nothing out there that will not eat ripe persimmons, including my dogs. If I am picking them up, I have to be quick or my “hound dogs” will get them before I do.

  Persimmons are so easy to cook, or even eat raw, that many recipes have been developed for them.  With soft, ripe persimmons all that needs to be done is to mash them through a sieve to remove the seed and rime, mix them with nuts and raisins (or almost anything else), add a little flour for thickening, chill, boil to kill any bacteria and you have a pudding.

First attempt at bread using Japanese persimmons, whole-wheat flour and almonds. Needed sweetner and dried fruit for added flavor.

  The pudding can be enriched by adding an egg, and if you want perhaps a little sugar substitute.  Some added sweetner in the way of sugar, honey or dried fruit is needed with the large Japanese persimmons which are seedless, big and not nearly as tasty as our wild products.  Add two eggs, more flour, put into a crust and you have a persimmon pie. The problem is finding enough wild persimmons to do it.

 On the Georgia coast there are

Ripe persimmons, ready for consumption by man or beast.

persimmon trees that are nearly two feet in diameter and as tall as a two-story house. Most of the trees that we now have in the Southeast are growing in over-cut lands and are much smaller. After storms, deer go from tree to tree to see if any “deer candy” has fallen. The seeds show prominently in their droppings when they are feeding on the fruit.

  I gather some persimmons and freeze them. When I deer hunt I spread a persimmon mush on nearby trees as a scent attractant.

The end product of persimmon seeds after having gone through a deer's digestive system. When these seed are lightly covered with soil they will germinate.