Hunting And Outdoor Sports
Novice flintlock hunter finds success on his first hunt with a ‘powder gun’
Novice flintlock hunter finds success on his first hunt with a ‘powder gun’
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✍️By ZRIntel Editorial Team📍Riverside, Pennsylvania
One of the best deer-hunting memories I have is the morning Betty and I came downstairs to a homemade breakfast prepared by Mom wearing our possible bags and powder horns and toting flintlock rifles. Not that unusual until you realize it was the first day of the firearms season.
My Dad did a double take and exclaimed, “Hey, you’re taking those “powder guns” instead of rifles.”
He really found that amusing as he looked for every edge he could get when it came to filling the freezer and getting meat to make his famous scrapple and ring bologna. His pride and joy was a Remington 3600 chambered in .30-06 that was a tack driver and the first new rifle he ever owned.
Dad did his hunting with a variety of lever-action Winchesters and Marlins that had been passed down through the family. Happily, a Model 94 chambered in .30-30 and a Model 336 chambered in .32 Special made their way into my possession.
As a boy, Dad’s job was to provide meat – from squirrels, ground hogs and deer – while his three brothers were each assigned other tasks helping run the family farm outside of Riverside. As sons of German immigrants, they understood to take their jobs seriously, and for Dad hunting was a job – not a sport.
Dad would pass on a 90-pound Y buck and hold out for a 120-pound doe during the three-day season. When the Pennsylvania Game Commission changed the regulations to allow doe hunting, even if having taken a buck, he made the most of the opportunity and happily gifted friends with his scrapple and bologna.
When Betty and I became ingrained with pre-1840 living history events and shooting flintlock rifles, Dad was amused with the smoke and smell of black powder. He was not, however, about to handicap himself by hunting with our rifles.
It was then that I made up my mind to convince Dad that he could and should take a deer with a .54-caliber flintlock in my collection. I used every argument I knew as a selling point – from pointing out how these rifles won two wars against the British to how frontiersmen like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett used them to become legends.
What finally convinced him to at least give it a try was seeing me drop a doe in its tracks with a 40-yard shot while hunting on the mountain between Danville and Catawissa. During the firearms season, I had missed a 5-point buck with my Remington 700 BDL while standing at the same tree.
“You miss a buck with a rifle, but kill a doe with a ‘powder gun’,” Dad said while laughing and shaking his head. Seeing my .54-caliber Southern Mountain Rifle in action, however, did raise his curiosity and he began checking it out while I field dressed the deer.
It was then I knew with a lot of convincing over the summer Dad would be willing to hunt with me in flintlock season. I stressed that a flintlock was just like any single-shot rifle – OK, well not exactly – and shooting open iron sights was the same as shooting a lever-action .30-30.
In a reversal of roles, I told Dad we would hunt side by side when we hunted in flintlock season, and I would coach him when it came time to take the shot. My wife gave up her full-stock .54-caliber custom rifle for his hunt, and I took care of the loading – ramming home a .530 patched roundball on 90 grains of FFFg powder.
That was a special Christmas as Betty and I helped prepare the turkey dinner; the cold turkey sandwiches – white meat, of course – for supper allowed for plenty of time to talk about the next day’s hunt. When Dad and I headed out for a friend’s farm near Riverside the next morning, my confidence had peaked that he would score his first powder gun deer.
A warm December sun made our hunt as comfortable as it could be as we still hunted through the snow-covered woods. Then, it happened.
Five doe came trotting up through the woods to our right and were following a deer trail that was visible in the snow. We picked out an opening that would provide a shot, I made sure Dad was on full cock and primed as he shouldered the rifle.
“When you’re ready, take your shot, but just remember to keep your cheek locked onto the stock and keep your head down through the shot,” I reminded Dad. Then came the roar and cloud of smoke that indicated the ball was headed down range.
Four of the deer bolted back in the direction they had traveled, but one big doe began running to the front. Before Dad could complain about the “powder gun,” the doe piled headfirst into a tree and collapsed, having been dead on its feet.
“Hey, these “powder guns” put them down,” Dad admitted, and it was then that I found myself with tears in my eyes. I knew that would be the first and last flintlock hunt for Dad, but it was one that allowed him to join the fraternity of those of us who were born out of time.
Over the years, I’ve taken deer in Pennsylvania’s firearms and flintlock season and a combined nine bears in Canada and Maine, but when I sit and reflect on past hunts, my memories are not about my previous successes. No, the best memory I have of a flintlock hunt is the one of Dad taking his one and only deer with a “powder gun.”
FLINTLOCK DEER SEASONS (ANTLERED OR ANTLERLESS)
Wildlife Management Units 2B, 5C and 5D: Friday, Dec. 26-Saturday, Jan. 24.
One antlered deer is permitted per hunting license year. One antlerless deer may be taken with a general license, antlered deer harvest tag and an antlerless deer with each required antlerless license or permit.
As the holiday season arrives, stories like these remind us of the rich traditions that shape our hunting culture. The transition from conventional rifles to flintlock rifles can seem daunting, yet, it forms a bridge to understanding our past and appreciating our present practices. As more hunters attempt to explore traditional methods, we see a potential resurgence of flintlock hunting. The implications for deer populations in certain areas will depend on how regulations are shaped moving forward. It’s essential to see how these experiences can enrich our community, linking generations through shared customs and sustainable practices.