My wife and kids got me everything to go in-line muzzle loader hunting for my birthday, I have been talking about getting one for some time now. I went up to the club and tried 2 different bullets and had the rifle sighted in for 100 yards and was ready for the first day of the season. What I wasn't ready for, was the "first day of muzzle loader season"!
We woke up, at camp on Saturday morning to find there were hurricane force winds and almost enough rain to float and ark, yet we still went out. We saw several deer during the day. Unfortunately they were either a half-mile away or traveling at mach 1 as they went by us. You would think that after having to go back to camp and dry off three times during the day, we would have enough sense to stay in. We didn't.
I got back in my stand at 5 o'clock and settled in for the rest of the day. At 5:15 I saw a doe at 125 yards, standing broadside. I put the crosshairs on the deer and pulled the trigger, my rifle went "pffft". I fumbled around and got another primer in, the deer was still standing broadside, and I pulled the trigger again. This time it went "pffft - wosh - bloop", and I watched the bullet fall out of the end of the barrel. The deer was still broadside.
I took out the breech plug and looked down the barrel to make sure there was nothing in it. What I saw was the deer standing broadside. Now I am in full panic mode! I reloaded the gun, put in a primer, put the cross hairs on a still-standing broadside deer and pulled the trigger. The rifle worked flawlessly, and after the smoke cleared I got to see the tail of the deer waving goodbye as it ran into the woods.
You would think I should have been able to stay calm after all that happened, I wasn 't! My son explained to me, as he was laughing, that black powder does not like wet weather. I know this now. But I reminded myself that, "A bad day of huntin' is still better than a good day of workin'!"
Good luck to all you hunters.
- Tom Hamilton
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