Author Topic: I must be getting old  (Read 1370 times)

Offline JohnyMac

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I must be getting old
« on: October 19, 2013, 09:15:25 PM »
Well the early black powder deer season here in PA. started today.

I was sitting in my favorite acorn grove and about 6:00PM a nice 6 point buck wondered through about 75 years out. By the time I glassed the deer to make sure he had at least 6 points (Law in PA) he had passed.

Well I smiled to myself glad to know there were some deer out here when all of a sudden he comes back into the grove and starts walking towards me. I drew a bead on him in the diminishing light and at about 35 yards squeezed the trigger.

klack..., swish... Boom! The smoke finally clears and the buck had ran about 10 feet and was looking back at me with an expression of "what the heck was that?"

Then merrily walks away twitching his tail. Stops at about 50 yards and looks back at me as I am frantically reloading my flint lock and sounders on without a care in the world.

By the time I was reloaded I walked over to where he stood when I pulled the trigger and no blood. Followed his trail for about 100 yards and no blood. Thank God it was a clean miss however what is my problem? I am deadly with that flint lock out to 75 yards.

I guess my eyes must be getting old.  :facepalm:
 Well I have 6 more days of the early season left.  ;)
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Offline special-k

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2013, 10:16:16 PM »
Forgot the projectile?
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Offline JohnyMac

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2013, 11:20:20 PM »
Thanks for asking Special-K.

Nope! I thought the same thing and looked for the patch which I found. Perfect cross pattern on the patch I used around the .526 lead ball. It wasn't burnt through either.

Man O' man, do I have to put a scope on the flint lock?  :facepalm:

PS: That ain't legal in PA, on a flint lock  ;)
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Offline Kentactic

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2013, 02:09:19 AM »
First thing I thought was what special k said. My second guess isn't so nice.. lol
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Colombo

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2013, 02:44:13 AM »
klack..., swish... Boom!

duck..., stick tongue out at smoke pole wielder... move and reassess!

Offline APX808

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2013, 09:10:20 AM »
That sucks John, hopefully you'll get one in these 6 days remaining.

Offline sledge

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2013, 03:37:07 PM »
So JM, I'm curious, exactly what does getting old feel like?  :lmfao:

I'm thinking that you could save money and get the same results by just chucking rocks at those deer.   :trolling:

You know that I'm playing buddy.  LOL!  Keep worrying the hell out of those bucks!



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Offline JohnyMac

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2013, 05:21:08 PM »
All good!  :lmfao:

Yes APX I do have 6 days left (thank heavens) as long as it doesn't rain. For some reason black powder does not like moisture.  :facepalm:  ;)

Don't worry Sledge, I am good at worrying those deer.  :lmfao:
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Offline Reaver

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2013, 02:50:44 AM »
  I am deadly with that flint lock out to 34 yards.

Fixed it for ya... ;-)
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Offline JohnyMac

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2013, 08:35:04 AM »
RvR, I am still mentally whipping myself!  :whip:

What are you going to do. Take your experiences and learn from them is the best you can do.
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Offline Kentactic

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #10 on: October 21, 2013, 01:07:28 PM »
I'm not very savvy in flintlocks but could it have been a dud? Perhaps the projectile didn't get a good seal and just flopped out the barrel at slingshot velocities?
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Offline JohnyMac

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #11 on: October 21, 2013, 09:04:15 PM »
Thanks Ken but not this time.

The ball (.526") was wrapped in a .022" cotton patch - .526 + .022= .548. The swamped Colerain barrel has lands at .538 and the groves are .548. It should have been a perfect fit. I may have loaded the gun with a .530 ball plus the .022 cotton patch would have made the projectile + patch (.552) too big for the barrel which would have made the RB go high. When I loaded it I remember thinking that this load was tight.

I cast some .526 balls today and threw all of my .530 balls into the lead melter so it would not happen again. When I reloaded the rifle with the newly cast balls today it loaded like I remember it - Tight but smooth as the ball was rammed home.

Two things:
My neighbor across the road stopped buy this morning to check on a .22 we are rebuilding for his son's 10 year old B-Day present on the 23rd. We got to chatting and he asked me a question which drived me to the rules & regs for early BP season here in PA. Well it turns out that only anterless deer can be taken with a doe permit during the early BP deer season  :facepalm: O'my God! I almost took an illegal deer.

That's what happens when you hunt in two different states. The laws may be similar but are never exactly the same. The good lord was watching out for me this time.

I went out this afternoon and although I did not see a doe I did have some great experiences.

First, a grouse zig zagged up to me with caution then started scratching the ground. Then charged me and stopped about 15 feet away loudly clucking away. I can only think he/she was not happy with me being in his/her woods. Then zig zagged away clucking all the way.

Second, I heard a twig snap behind me so I slowly turned around to check out the sound. There about 60' away was the neighbors black Newfoundland dog walking towards me. Then I noticed that Snickers had a brown snout and I figured out it wasn't Snickers but a 100# or so black bear. He or she stopped about 40' from me to my right and sat on the edge of the meadow I was overlooking.

The bear kept sniffing the air and looking all around. He/she finally climbed onto a log and sat on it's haunches and continued to sniff the air. Well this lasted about 5 minutes or so and then the bear cautiously crossed the meadow which probably prevented any does from coming within killing range of my flint lock. Which is 34 yards thanks to RvR's keen observation.  :lmfao:

The hunt continues.  ;)


   
« Last Edit: October 23, 2013, 09:43:14 AM by JohnyMac »
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Offline thatGuy

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2013, 01:31:28 AM »
We're all getting old JMac.. I'm not going to complain for lack of a sympathetic audience!

Do me a favor and shoot, skin and ship me that bear next time ;)

Offline JohnyMac

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2013, 09:49:55 AM »
You got it TG  :thumbsUp:

What I didn't write after I left my ground blind I walked down the dirt road to glass a hay field near by. I ran into a part time neighbor who was up here archery hunting.

We exchanged some current hunting stories and when I told him about the bear he replied, "I have a half dozen trail camera's out and the mountain is crawling with bear this year." He went on to tell me that there is even a brown bear that he guessed would go north of 400 #'s.   :o

Maybe I should get my PA. bear stamp.  8)
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Offline crudos

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2013, 01:12:03 PM »
As long as we don't see the photo of JM wrapped up naked in the bear skin rug afterwards.  ;)

Offline JohnyMac

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Re: I must be getting old
« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2013, 08:29:50 PM »
Crudos...I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth with the thought of that  ;D  :lmfao:
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