Shovelbuck
Active Member
This morning was quite an experience. When I built my flint fowler last summer the plan was to use it for small game and deer. Today she put venison in the freezer.
Our gun season started yesterday and it's a season I generally don't hunt. 9 days of road hunting poachers is what it's turned into in my area. I decided what the heck, I wasn't bow hunting this year and needed some venison in the freezer. I hadn't shot a deer in two years!
I've been shooting the gun quite a bit anywhere from 25 out to 75 yards and am quite amazed as to the accuracy that can be achieved with one of these smoothies. 25 yards is three holes usually touching, 50 yards opens up to around 3 inches, and even at 75 yards, it's not too difficult to keep them inside 5 inches!
I thought long and hard about posting this as it seems that most deer posted here are monsters, so before anybody gets there shorts in a bunch I want to say I made a promise to myself last year that I was done chasing mature bucks only, and was hunting deer to have fun again. For me, that means challenging myself in other ways. Generally by using antique weapons, or copies of them. I've shot only two bucks in the last 10 or more years so I have absolutely no regrets for putting this guy in the freezer.
Anyway, here is this mornings trophy for me..............
A fat, good eating buck taken at 75 or so yards with a .62 cal. flintlock smoothbore, built with my own hands, no blind, no camo, just a plain old fashioned hunt.
Our gun season started yesterday and it's a season I generally don't hunt. 9 days of road hunting poachers is what it's turned into in my area. I decided what the heck, I wasn't bow hunting this year and needed some venison in the freezer. I hadn't shot a deer in two years!
I've been shooting the gun quite a bit anywhere from 25 out to 75 yards and am quite amazed as to the accuracy that can be achieved with one of these smoothies. 25 yards is three holes usually touching, 50 yards opens up to around 3 inches, and even at 75 yards, it's not too difficult to keep them inside 5 inches!
I thought long and hard about posting this as it seems that most deer posted here are monsters, so before anybody gets there shorts in a bunch I want to say I made a promise to myself last year that I was done chasing mature bucks only, and was hunting deer to have fun again. For me, that means challenging myself in other ways. Generally by using antique weapons, or copies of them. I've shot only two bucks in the last 10 or more years so I have absolutely no regrets for putting this guy in the freezer.
Anyway, here is this mornings trophy for me..............
A fat, good eating buck taken at 75 or so yards with a .62 cal. flintlock smoothbore, built with my own hands, no blind, no camo, just a plain old fashioned hunt.


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