mnprohunter

Anyone have any mistakes to share that you learned from involving hunting scenarios and blackpowder? Might save us all some of the same headaches someday.

cayugad

With flintlocks.. change the powder in the pan often.

With a cap lock, put a tire valve stem cover over the cap and lower the hammer on to it. It will keep water off it, and acts as a second safety.

With all rifles, know how to store them properly if you are going to not unload them during the night for the next days hunt. I never had a lot of luck with that, but a lot of people do.

MountainDevil54

sidelock / Pull the nipple to make SURE there is powder in the drum.

Inline / Invest in a good scope. Mine went bad the day before hunting season [:'(]

corey012778

good eye relief scope, or have the blood running or break a scope on your forehead.

have back up scope, if they crap out on you, you have something to fall back on[:@] found that out the first you I started

gleason.chapman

If you leave you gun loaded an extended period of time, make sure you put an old rag down the barrel to identify it quickly as loaded. This also keeps moisture from getting in.

Always keep extra 209 primers in your truck and the little orange discs.

Alwayskeep all your daily hunting stuff all together all season, always put it back in the same place.

Always clean and sharpen your knife the day you use it.

Buy 100 packs of disposable latex gloves from Walmart and use them for gutting/cleaning and always keep extra in your knap sack.

Alway empty your pee bottle every night back at your truck (you MUST have a truck for loading deer easily).

I say always a lot in these things above, since I don't do it always and that produces the fumble and frustration.

Very bad to double load your gun or forget it loaded.

Very bad to pull out your knife and it is dull and dirty.

Very bad to get all the way up in your tree stand pull your gun up and NO primers in your pocket and none back at the truck.

Very bad to have to take a pee and your pee bottle is full AND frozen.

Very bad to start to gut a deer and realize your don't have any latex gloves.

Been there done all of them, try to minimize the fumbles.

Chap

spaniel

- Never shoot a 10-pt buck on an 80-degree day without first planning what you are going to do to save the meat

- Never try to cram a 10-pt buck stinky in full rut into the trunk of a sedan to drive it 2/.5 hours to the nearest butcher you can trust

- If stupid enough to do both of the above, never continue to show your stupidity by convincing your wife she should go with you to make a weekend trip out of it.

- If you are really stupid enough to do all 3 of the above, at least be smart enough to have bought her Christmas present early and give it to her immediately as that is all that will save your hide.

Don't ask me how I know about such things...

I do not miss living in the city and not owning a truck. Things are so much easier now.

lemoyne

I don't always use the truck, so I made a carrier that fits in the Reese hitch on the Jeep and the van; it is quite easy to load and carry two deer in it,just keep a tarp handy to keep the road dust off. Lee

oldsmellhound

When you have a 30 yard chip shot at an unmoving deer, make sure that you cleared your flash hole before loading the rifle- otherwise you get a "pop" instead of a "boom", and you get to watch a white tail bounding away

If you're going to shoot a deer and you're a 1 mile uphill hike from the nearest road, make sure you have a plan to haul your deer out (ideally a someone younger and fitter than you to do all the work).

corey012778

make sure you have all your tools you are going to need.

driftrider

Don't forget to oil your bore after you clean your rifle...

Don't forget to remove all the oil in the bore before you load the rifle!

Don't buy a gun that needs the little red/orange disks, because you will forget them at home or run out, and no store within 30 miles will have any in stock.

Shooting black powder without a bullet seated make a nice deep boom, shooting smokeless (only in a 10ML) without a bullet makes a pretty fireworks show. Unfortunately neither impress deer very much!

If you remember your powder measure, you'll forget the powder can... and visa versa!

Pistol bullets need sabots. If you buy them separately, put them together as soon as you have both or you'll leave one at home![:@]

Mike