DanceswithSkunks

I haven't handled or inspected a Traditions Penn. About ten years ago a friend of a friend had a traditions flintlock that was nothing but trouble. The construction and design looked like a 6th grade shop project that went terribly bad. I would look for a used T/C Hawken or Renegade in good condition and change the lock to a L&R replacement made just for the T/Cs. Minimal inletting will be required. The Lyman Great Plains Rifle would be my second choice. I'm itching to work up a flinter this winter. Either a .62 Jaeger or a halfstock Hawken in .58. The hang up is the barrel. Just can't decide on make model and over all length. Getz is out of business so I will probably be going with a Colerain barrel, and have it cut down and re-crowned. As far as the care and feeding of flintlocks I would recommend reading this article written by Chuck Dixon. The man has forgotten more about black powder weapons than most will ever learn. His shop is less than 30 minutes from my parents place and I always make it a point to go out and visit and talk with Chuck whenever I'm in the area. http://www.cherrytreefamily.com/muzzledixon.htm

If you don't have any dreams, they'll never come true.

If you're having trouble with grouping broadheads, you may want to change your FOC. Increasing your broadhead weight will tighten up those groups. You'll lose some velocity but if you can't hit where you're aiming at, all the velocity in the world won't make a clean kill. I haven't shot a field point out of my hunting bow in about 15 years. I practice with broadheads and use a 3 spot target to keep damage to a minimum. 3 shots at 20 yards then the rest are 35 to 70 yards away . Making a hole in the same spot from 20 yards won't help you much. Practice at longer distances. Shooting from longer distances magnifies any mistake you have in form. When that buck of a lifetime shows up at 20 yards or less it's pretty much a gimmee shot if you maintain your form.

I have a laminated chart I got from an Easton rep about 25 years ago. It's mainly for aluminum arrows and lists 3 to 5 shafts per draw weight/length ranging from stiffest to weakest spine. There are 3 columns. Recurve, wheel compound and cam compound. It also has variances for tip weight. I've shot shafts that are not recommended by the chart just to see what flight characteristics they had. Back in the day when over-draw bows were the craze, remember overdrawn bows?, Guys would spend an entire day at the pro shop where I worked part time trying different shafts and tip weights looking to get an extra 3 FPS arrow velocity. After several hours, jokingly, I would mention that if you want speed they have things called rifles now. They would always refer to my bow as Dave's SCUD launcher.

Come February I'll be building another flintlock if I can find a barrel. Getz is out of business more or less. Green Mountain sells some but I'm looking for a barrel with a 1 in 32" twist 1 inch flats. Hard to find unless I spend a few weeks on the phone. Lyman makes the Great Plains Hunter with the faster twist but the quality has taken a downturn as of late. I may buy a Lyman GPH in kit and brown all the metal and steel and spend a month finishing the stock. Raising the grain is time consuming if you want it done proper. Still looking for a T/C Renegade 58 bore Flintlock. I found some Renegade precussions in 56 smooth bore.

I've been participating in the post Christmas Flintlock season in PA for 36 years. If I could choose but one season to hunt, it would be the flintlock season.In the past two decades the season has become tainted. The SRA areas, shotgun bow ML only, had a post Christmas Antlerless season coinciding with the Flintlock season. Then when WMUs came in to affect antlerless tags were no longer allocated and issued on a County basis but by WMUs which comprised parts of several counties. So the SRAs became a special weapon area based on County lines and had little if no impact on the antlerless kill. Soon portions of 5C and 2B that were open to rifles had a month long doe season after Christmas while the Flinters and archers had 2 weeks. The pre season deer density in 5C went from 72 deer per square mile to about 17. This year things have changed. The extended antlerless season is now back to the SRA Counties only. As far as NY goes I could see a real granular blackpowder sidelock iron sights only season enabling hunters with unfilled tags to fill them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6j5hiOeahs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeHGWDgIshk

A properly tuned bow isn't going to forgive anything. You torque the handle, punch the release, cave in your draw from holding it at full draw too long, forgetting to follow through because you want to see if and where you hit the deer, not bending at the waist on downward or upward shots etc. Knowing what proper form is and maintaining that form during all of your shots whether it's a target in the backyard or a deer out afield.is the foundation of accuracy. I shoot a 52 pound draw weight with XX78 2213s. The last buck I took was at 33 yards quartering away. It entered at the 2nd to last rib went through the liver, heart, both lungs, took out the elbow joint on the far side and buried itself 3 inches deep in a tree root on the other side. The amount of energy lost by an improperly tuned bow is an amazingly large percentage that many just can not comprehend.

You're lucky Mr Big didn't wind you and come push you back to your vehicle.

ar·row (r) n. 1. A missile having a straight thin shaft with a pointed head at one end and often flight-stabilizing vanes at the other, meant to be shot from a bow. 2. Something, such as a directional symbol, that is similar to an arrow in form or function. -------------------------------------- fling [flɪŋ] vb flings, flinging, flung [flʌŋ] (mainly tr) 1. to throw, esp with force or abandon; hurl or toss 2. to put or send without warning or preparation to fling someone into jail 3. (also intr) to move (oneself or a part of the body) with abandon or speed he flung himself into a chair 4. (usually foll by into) to apply (oneself) diligently and with vigour (to) 5. to cast aside; disregard she flung away her scruples 6. to utter violently or offensively 7. Poetic to give out; emit n 1. the act or an instance of flinging; toss; throw 2. a period or occasion of unrestrained, impulsive, or extravagant behaviour to have a fling 3. (Performing Arts / Dancing) any of various vigorous Scottish reels full of leaps and turns, such as the Highland fling 4. a trial; try to have a fling at something different

I wonder if she'll be there when those batteries come up to full charge or get replaced? You could always sneak up on her with a trail cam.

Losing powder out of the pan can be overcome by tuning the lock. Remove the lock from rifle, close frizzen and hold up to a white background. There should be no space between the frizzen and top of the pan where the two edges meet. If there is a gap use a small flat sharpening stone and remove the high spots. Another spot where the priming powder exits is between the lock and barrel. That would require some touch up work on the inleting of the stock. I check and change my priming powder all the time. Open frizzen have a look, rap the side of the stock to re-position the powder or change it. I also have a touch hole tool I made from an old toothbrush. Cut the handle down so the overall length is about 3 or 4 inches. On the cut end, heat up a paperclip the diameter of your touch hole, and when it's red hot stick it in the cut end of the brush. Brush out the pan then poke the touch hole and put fresh powder in the pan, close frizzen give the stock a rap, check position of powder and close her up.

I won a State Championship with one of those "relics". And I'll outshoot your sorry ass and high tech high speed POS any day of the week. My first deer kill was with a Bear Grizzly 35 pound recurve.

We got rid of the king 240 years ago. We speak American English.. well most of us do.

Sounds like you have too many gunners and not enough hunters in that area. In 2000 the Zone I hunt in PA went with basically an unlimited doe tag program. opening day I heard over 300 shots from 6:30 till 10AM. Then from 1PM till dark it was the same thing. 75K tags available for a 4 county area in SE PA 5C. Hunters could go buy them over the counter at $4.25 a piece. Anti Hunters went there and bought 50 of them and would walk outside the courthouse, rip them up and scatter them. Sheriff Deputys would cite them for littering. LOL They thought they were saving deer by buying all the tags and not using them Next year Game Comisssion raised it to 82K. Back in the '60s and to this days still there are Old time camps that buy Doe tags and burn them as a tradition the night before Buck season. They didn't realize if the doe harvest was too low they would raise the allotment next year. Hunters back then could get one Doe tag if they were lucky. Hunters would drive 4 hours one way to mail them the day before they went on sale.

Those pictures look awfully wet. That stream looks like it leaves it's banks after a light rainfall. Better find something that can tolerate being flooded on occasion.

Wet years also put more minerals in to the vegetation. Has there been an increase in the average rack size this year? There's a farmer near one of the spots I hunt that farms about 1,200 acres. He puts in 110 day corn and harvests it in September. He also has 3 dryers for the corn. Finding standing corn around in October is a chore.

Maximum draw weight can also be determined by extending your bow arm straight out and drawing the bow back as slow as possible without moving your bow arm above horizontal. I've seen so many guys "Sky Launching" their bows. They point it up in the air and yank it back for all it's worth then bring it down and try to find their anchor point and everything else. I shot tournament for years and when I started a practice session the first ten arrows were shot with my eyes closed. I had excelsior bales stacked 6' high I got 5 feet away and focused on my form with my eyes closed. There was no sight picture. Just form on the draw anchor hold release and follow through. I would pick up a used wheel bow now and practice with it till next summer then consider another bow closer to the season next year. Equipment doesn't make the archer. If you're going with a release versus fingers I would recommend a Fletchmatic Concho Rope release. It prevents string torque the same as the string loops guys install on their bowstrings to use with caliper releases. A string loop just adds more weight to the string. My string has 1 knock point and a peep sight. No silencers tubing hanging off the peep etc. http://fletcherarchery.com/products/release-aids/fletchmatic-concho/

I believe this year had a bumper crop of hard mast, acorns. Deer will forsake most other food for acorns when they are available. They use the carbs to produce tallow, the fat that lays along the top of their back. During years of big acorn production I have seen deer during gun season with 2 to 3 inches of tallow along their back. I would find a stand of hardwoods with a lot of Oak trees. White Oak being preferred over Reds. White Oaks produce acorns every other year. Reds produce every year. The last 2 weeks of September and first 2 weeks of October I make it a point to hunt hardwoods with plenty of Oaks. I sit all day. Deer will feed and bed in hardwoods until Acorns become scarce and move out in to Ag fields at night. If you have room to plant trees on the edge of a field opening I would go with Sawtooth Oaks. They produce at 7 years and need to be out in open away from competing species. I put about 50 of them in and they have tons of droppings around them every year but they don't get visited till after dark. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_acutissima

If you're never shot a bow, I would seriously recommend an older wheel bow. You get a hard cam bow and bad habits will show up with it. Heaven forbid...The T word... Target Panic. If you can find an old Jennings T Star you'll pay around $100 for the bow. If it has an Ace in the Hole quiver that goes with it that would make the deal even sweater. Those quivers are the best I have ever used. Get your draw length measured. Most competent bow shops should have a 10# draw weight recurve they use for measuring draw length. If there is any doubt what your draw length is make sure it can be reduced. You get clothing on to hunt with and things change. My draw length is 29" but my bows are set to 28.5 " A shorter draw length will help you with back tension and pulling through on your release and follow through. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=Jennings+T+Star+Compound+Bow

Cougars are easy. It's the Elusive Red headed MILFs down in Tamba Bay during February that I like to pursue.

If I could gobble like a big ole tom, I would. Well at least until the GF beats me unconscious.

OK OK OK . It's from Kalifornia. Can we get back to discussing tactics and techniques for hunting the elusive Chupacabra now?

Someone was using Andro400 in the feeder. He had a testosterone overload. Probably that Bob guy.

Nice racks are a great thing. I like the spread between tipples about 18" plus.

A properly tuned flintlock will have a faster lock time than a side lock percussion rifle. A good frizzen, using German agate milled flints, 4F powder in the pan, red hot touch hole liner, and a quality set trigger is the way to go. Also, your pan charge is very critical. I see so many guys load the pan up to the brim with 4F and have a lock time that you could measure with a sun dial. Your pan charge should be no larger than the size of an eraser on the end of a pencil. I use a 2 grn pan charger and one charge is all I need. Once the charge is in the pan, rap the opposite side of your lock, left side for a right handed lock, with the heel of your hand to move the powder as far away from the touch hole as you can. Most think that that the pan charge burns it's way in to the breech. Wrong! It's the hot gases that are created in the pan that move through the touch hole that ignite the main charge. The touch hole acts like a venturi in a carburetor accelerating the gas velocity thus making it hotter {ie sheer temperature}