Hunting PA

Getting Ready For Trapping

2009-10-31T15:21:00.002-04:00

Even though trapping season started last Sunday, still did not have my traps ready. So, today I boiled my traps in Black Walnut hull juice (to dye them black) then waxed them (to keep rust away). Hopefully some day next week I will get out and get some set. There is field of standing corn that I want to give trapping the edge a try to see if I can get some raccoon.

Got out rabbit hunting

2009-10-26T21:42:00.001-04:00

I took my dog out rabbit hunting, she jumped out a rabbit two different times for me to shoot. I carried a Remington 870 16 gauge shot gun. The smaller rabbit I actually did not think I hit, but my dog found it partially hidden under the leaves for me. That is one aspect of hunting with a rabbit dog that I had never really thought about before. I was glad to have her so that the meat did not go to waste.

The larger rabbit I shot twice rolling it. Then later on in the day when the smaller rabbit jumped out of a woods line, safety off, I fired, it swerved back towards the woods, safety on, it swerved back out, safety off, fired, back into the woods, safety on. That was probably on of the more interesting hunting shots I have every made with the safety going on/off some many times and some how I even managed to get the rabbit!

Final Day Of October Muzzleloader Season

2009-10-24T22:18:00.002-04:00

Today I went to a State Game Land to hunt. However, I did not see anything, but one grey squirrel. I spoke with three different groups of hunters and mostly people were saying that they did not see anything today, but one hunter did say that they saw an eight point on the game land today.

Fifth Day Of Muzzleloader Season

2009-10-22T21:31:00.002-04:00

I watched a small section of a field this evening for a couple of hours before dusk with my flintlock. However, I did not see anything.

Third day of muzzleloading season

2009-10-20T20:02:00.002-04:00

This evening I took my flintlock out to watch a field, I spooked about a 4-point buck, then towards at 6:30 I saw two antlerless deer come out. I guessed them to be at a long 100yard. Being greedy I aimed for the bigger of the two deer which was also about 10yards farther away. Puff. I picked the touch hole reprimed it then tried again. This time my flint did not make a good spark. On my third try I got a nice BOOM with a big cloud of smoke covering my view. Then I saw one deer going into the woods. Then I saw a second one going more slowly into the woods. After reloading I went and checked the field and woods for blood, but did not see any. I walked the distance off as being 120yards, which might explain the miss. So, I decided that after poking around woods I probably would not see to much more so I started walking for home. About 500yards later and one fence row up I jumped three deer. However, they where to far to identify, definitely to far to shoot at, and running to fast.

Second day of muzzleloader season

2009-10-19T20:03:00.002-04:00

Went out again today with my flintlock. It was nice not worrying about rain getting in my priming powder today. Unfortunately I did not see any deer today, but I did see a bunch of squirrels and a couple rabbits.

First day of muzzleloader season

2009-10-17T19:47:00.002-04:00

On the first day of muzzleloader season I ventured out into the rain a little before 7 o'clock with my flintlock rifle. After it was starting time I started still hunting into the woods. About two hours later and 200 yards I saw a deer standing about 75 yards away through the branches watching me. The top of its head was a little hard to see through the branches so I could not identify it as an antlerless deer. So, I held my fire and after a few more seconds it spooked then I saw that it was indeed and antlerless deer, but it was to late to fire. Shortly after it spooked a second deer came into view with its tail up and running. I was not able to tell for sure what the second deer was.

Checked Out a State Gameland Today

2009-09-30T17:11:00.004-04:00

Today I decided to check out a State Gameland that is more or less on the way home from where I go to college. Since I have only hunted there once very briefly in the past I have very little knowlege of that gameland, but from what I saw today it looks like it will be a promising place to hunt during the October muzzleloader season. The game land seems to have quite a few trails cut through the woods. The trail I followed today went to a grown up field and right before I reached the field I jumped two maybe three deer. In addition to those deer I saw a few other deer tracks here and there, so it looks like it might be a nice place to hunt.

Fine tuned my flintlock's sights some

2009-09-27T20:51:00.002-04:00

Now with PA's October muzzleloader deer season coming up it will be important for me to have my sights exactly on. So, I spent some time today shooting my flintlock and adjusting the sights to dead center. Before now I had adjusted the sights some, but that was not as important as just getting used to having sparks flying next to my face without flinching any.

Shooting off a bench rest at 25 yards I got the gun sighted in so that it put a round ball in the bulls eye pretty much every time. My next step will be to switch to my sabots and fine tune them at 100 yards.

Another interesting aspect of shooting today was that it was raining while I was shooting. At first I figured rain and a flintlock would not work out for more than a few shots, but I was actually able to do a lot of shooting.

Just one more month till muzzleloader season!

2009-09-19T10:17:00.005-04:00

According to my calendar just one month from today will mark the start of the October muzzleloader season! This will be my first opportunity to take my CVA flintlock deer hunting. In preparation for the deer season I have been working on different loads to see what will be best to use.

The 1 in 48 rifling twist of my barrel I have found does not accurately shoot a round ball very well past about 50 yards--so bad that in a pattern of three shots at 100 yards it is likely that at one or more of the balls will completely miss the target. I have found however, that the T/C saboted bullets, that Trader Horn sells, shoots pretty accurately even at 100 yards. So, that means that I will not be shooting round balls for the most part when it comes to deer hunting. For a hunting load with the 24o grain sabots I have been using 100 grains of 2FF black powder, which gives quite a bit of kick. Because of the kick I have limited the amount of target practice I have done with the sabots and focused on shooting round balls with 60 grains of 2FF since that load has a relatively light kick. Because, my gun's 1 in 48 twist is still slower than the 1 in 28 rifling twist that most guns designed for shooting sabots have, I am using 100 grains of powder to give the sabot maximum spin. In the future though I will have to experiment with lesser loads of powder to see if it shoot as accurately.

Got Bonus Antlerless Deer Tag Today

2009-08-25T14:41:00.002-04:00

Today I got my second antlerless deer tag in the mail. The first round antlerless deer tag already came. So, this leaves me with the possibility of getting two antlerless deer this year and if I do not get a buck during regular rifle season I will have the option during flintlock season of using my buck tag as an antlerless tag also. Lots of deer meat to eat this year hopefully. :-)

Sent In For The Second Round Of Antlerless Deer Tags

2009-08-06T17:36:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday I mailed in for the second round of antlerless deer tags. I already mailed in for the first round a few weeks ago and it did not come back so, I should have atleast one antlerless tag this year!

The PGC's new license system seems like it will work much easier than the old write by hand way. Now they just print out your license and any stamps you need right there at the store. Also they swiped my driver's license when I bought the license so supposedly next time I buy a license all my information will be automatically be filled out. That should help those lines that always seem to appear when the time to send in the antlerless deer tag grows near, move a little faster. Another new thing they added to their is system is a pre-printed antlerless deer application, so as I recall you just needed to pick the WMU and sign my name on it. So that is another bit of a time saver for the hunter.

Also new this year is an online game harvester reporting system which will supposedly save the PGC money on postage for the report cards. While using the online reporting system is optional I would encourgage everyone to use it because the PGC saving money is a good thing--espacaily in view of the fact that increasing lisencing fees is a topic that has been poping up the last few years.

Fourth Of July Groundhog

2009-07-04T15:15:00.004-04:00

Went groundhog hunting on the 4th of July with my brother. My brother took a .22 rifle and I my flintlock. We found a groundhog and got within 25 yards of it; the plan was for me to fire then my brother was to fire after me in case I missed. Well, I got my fiber optic sights lined up on it and fired. Promptly I heard click...crack then the groundhog fell over. My my brother did not waste any time before shooting after my misfire! We did not see any other groundhogs that hunt, but we had a great hunt.

Last Saturday Of Spring Turkey Season

2009-05-23T21:42:00.003-04:00

Finally I saw a turkey while I was out hunting today, two turkeys actually. However, to my dismay they were both hens. It did not matter to some extent what the were though, because I saw them right after I stepped out of the car so I would not have been allowed by PA law to shoot a gobbler since I was still to close to my car. At any rate they spooked and took off running towards the patch of woods that I had planned to hunt. So, I continued to set up on the very edge of the woods a little away from where they had diapered, but never saw or heard them again. With the exception of what sounded like a very distant gobble I never heard anything from that spot.

Later in the morning at about 11:00 I decided to slowly move calling every now and then in an attempt to locate a gobbler I could try calling in. After going about 50 yards I made my first call since I left were I had been set up. My call was answered with a distant gobble that came from much deeper into the woods. I proceeded to set up at a near-by location that offered a big tree to put my back against and fairly good visibility. After about an hour and half when I called I got an answering gobble more to the left, but closer than before. However, noon came bringing quitting time without hearing or seeing anything of the gobbler.

PA Antlerless Deer Application Date 3 Weeks Sooner This Year

2009-05-12T14:24:00.006-04:00

This year "the [Pennsylvania] Game Commission will begin selling licenses [on] June 15." After which one month later county treasurers will begin accepting antlerless deer applications on July 13. So, make sure you remember to buy your hunting license early this year otherwise you may miss out on your antlerless deer tag if your WMU sells out fast.

More information on the these and other recent PGC license changes can be found here.

Below is the "2009 Antlerless Deer License Application Schedule" from the PGC's site

Monday, July 13: First day resident antlerless deer license applications accepted by County Treasurers (Mail Only)

Monday, July 27: First day nonresident antlerless deer license applications accepted by County Treasurers (Mail Only)

Monday, August 3: If antlerless deer licenses are still available, County Treasurers accept antlerless deer license applications from residents and nonresidents for unsold tags (Mail Only – first round, one unsold tag per applicant)

For WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D only, applicants may apply for an unlimited number of unsold tags, by mail only, limit of three applications per envelope.

Monday, August 17: If antlerless deer licenses are still available, County Treasurers accept antlerless deer license applications from residents and nonresidents for a second unsold tag (Mail Only)

Monday, August 24: Over-the-counter sales begin for applicants who desire antlerless deer licenses (unlimited) in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D

Monday, Sept. 14: Regular and first round unsold licenses are scheduled to be mailed

to successful applicants

Monday, Sept. 28: Second round unsold licenses are scheduled to be mailed to successful applicants

Monday, Nov. 2: If antlerless deer licenses are still available and the applicant has not exceeded his/her license limit, County Treasurers accept antlerless deer license applications over-the-counter

Antlerless deer licenses are issued without restrictions or regard to the Commonwealth applicant's county of residence.

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=511&q=176494#antlerless

About Halfway Through Turkey Season

2009-05-12T14:19:00.002-04:00

Turkey season is close to halfway over and I still have not seen a turkey, but I have heard more gobbles this season than any other though.

This morning I went out hunting from 10:00 to 12:00. However, I never heard anything.

First Week of Spring Turkey Season

2009-05-02T20:30:00.005-04:00

Monday: Heard turkeys, but none showed interest in coming in.

Tuesday: Same thing as Monday, but different location.

Wednesday: Tried getting into the woods before first light. I woke up at 4:30 AM and got in the woods soon enough to see three pairs of deer eyes reflecting back the light from my flashlight. Heard a raccoon two different times that morning, but never I heard a turkey.

Saturday: Got up at 5:30 AM--when I arrived at my hunting location it was pretty light out. Heard one gobbler, but he seemed to have his mind made up as to where he was going. So, I paralleled him (he was good a 200 yards+ away) by going every 100 yards or so then setting up calling for a time then continuing on. Eventually I reached the edge of a field where a fairly close one gobbled, so I set up and called. Silence--then yelps from a cross the field. A few minutes later a shot was fired from the same direction. After that I waited around and called for a while, but never heard anything more.

First Day Of Spring Gobbler Season In PA

2009-04-25T14:15:00.002-04:00

The first day of spring turkey season was a great success--considering my past spring turkey hunting career(not a turkey). And, while I did not see any turkeys I enjoyed it immensely.

At 5:00 AM I woke up and arrived at my hunting spot shortly after first light. Throughout early morning I spoke with two gobblers who sounded like they had a hen with them. A couple of times they got within 50-100 yards or so of my position, but they never came in. Then once when they were a little farther out I heard one gun shot at about the spot where I heard the last gobbles.

Figuring that was probably it for the day, I took out my apple and ate it. About 20 minutes later I head one lone gobble (which leads my to believe the other gobbler is now dead) so, I put on my gloves and pulled down my face mask and called again. After a short wait I heard another lone gobble, but this time closer. So, I waited, but he never came in or gobbled again.

Even though I did not see are get anything, I had a very interesting opening day of spring turkey season, because I actually heard something that responded to my calls.

MuzzleLoader -- Building A Round Ball Loading Block

2009-04-02T11:09:00.001-04:00

To speed up the loading of my flintlock I made a loading block. This loading block, which I made with the intention of using for target shooting, will allow me to pre-place a patch and ball together, so I will not have to play around with individual patches and balls when I am shooting.

Ideas of making my own loading block first came, when I saw a few in some books I was reading. My first step in building one was to draw a design of the loading block on graph paper, since I had no pre-made plans to follow. Because, my gun is .50 caliber or 1/2 inch big, making the holes line up properly on the graph paper was easy for each box on the graph paper was equal to 1/4 inch. After playing around with various designs I decided on a design with 1/4 inch spacing between two side by side rows of five holes. Then on the outside of the rows I left 1/4 inch, which so far has seemed to be strong enough. To allow the block to be tied onto a string I put a 1/2 square centered on the block at one end. Finally after making the basic design marking where the holes would go was easy, because each 1/2 square of graph paper had an intersection point that marked the center of the square.

Wood to make the loading block came from an old skid that was probably made out of popular. After tracing my design from the graph paper onto the wood and marking where the holes should go; I drilled the 1/2 inch holes with a drill press. Next, I cut out the design with a band saw. Then, to smooth it out I used a combination of a hand held sander and a dremel tool fitted with a sanding drum.

At this stage a patched round ball would push into a hole, but they went in rather hard and seemed to be ripping my patch some. So, I wrapped some sand paper around a socket and sanded out the insides of the holes until a patched round ball would push in with moderate pressure and would not tear the patch. Then, I sanded the whole loading block by hand to make it nice and smooth. With the sanding all done, I then applied a couple coats of a linseed oil and black walnut finish.

With my loading block now finished the question is does it work? The answer is yes, it is much easier to load ten shots all at once now, then it is to fumble with patches and individual balls when out target shooting. Sometime, I will probably make another version of my loading block that will hold fewer round balls. This ten shot version works well for target shooting, but it might be a little bothersome to carry on a string around my neck, because of its weigh--besides in muzzle loader hunting you typically only get one shot at a time not ten.

Sasquatch In A Bag--Bigfoot Has Died

2009-04-01T00:01:00.005-04:00

It seems the old Indian legends of Bigfoot have finally been proved with the recent release of Sasquatch Jerky from jerky.com. Now for the low price of $499.99 a bag you can own and eat the of proof that Bigfoot exists. Even the USDA now recognizes the existence of Bigfoot, because the jerky was "inspected and approved by the USDA."

The jerky is also said to be made from "fresh hormone-free Sasquatch meat" that is "low in calories and high in protein," which makes it a very healthy choice for your diet! In addition at $62.50 an ounce you are sure to chew your Sasquatch Jerky very slowly, which will cause those wishing to lose a few pounds to drop pounds like lead weights!

Happy April Fools!

MuzzleLoader -- The Loading Procces For My Flintlock

2009-03-24T22:44:00.000-04:00

Loading my new flintlock gun at first seemed a little complex and time consuming, but with the practice of around 30 shots I have become much better at the process of loading. The process I have developed so far is information from what people have told me, what I have read, and what I have learned from my small experience. The loading process is as follows:

Loading Preparation:

put ramrod in the gun to check against the unloaded ramrod mark to be sure the gun is unloaded.
run a rubbing alcohol soaked patch, cut from a T-Shirt, down the barrel followed by a dry patch of the same material. (This removes oil or if the gun has just been shot it helps remove the fowling.)

Loading Powder:

measure powder from my powder horn into the powder measure. (It is important for both accuracy and safety that an exact amount of powder is put down the barrel, which is partly why a powder measure is used.)
after closing the powder horn, pour the powder from the powder measure into the barrel, being careful not to miss the barrel any, since a lighter powder load might affect accuracy. (In addition to the aforementioned reasons for using a powder measure, it is also important that it is used for safety. Safety, because if powder were to be poured directly from a powder horn or flask and an ember from the previous shot is still present the resulting explosion would not be pleasant.)
tap the gun butt(end of gun stock) lightly on the ground to settle the powder.

Loading Projectile:

align the lubricated patch over the muzzle the same way for consistency. (Note: a patch is never used on a conical or sabot bullet only on round balls.)
place the round ball over the patch.
start the patch and ball with the ball starter.
push the patch and ball down the barrel until it is seated on the powder charge. If fowling is present it often takes a little extra pressure to get it down to the mark.

Priming Pan:

put hammer at half cock and prime with a small amount of priming powder (around 1/4 of a pan), then close frizzen.

Product Review Pineapple Jerky

2009-03-14T20:50:00.001-04:00

Recently my newest advertiser--Jerky.com offered me a chance to write a review on a free sample of their jerky. That jerky was Pineapple Jerky:

The Pineapple Jerky is grown in the United States on an island called Maui, which is the second largest of the islands that make up the state of Hawaii. In a day and age when Chinese and other overseas products are common, finding a product made in the USA made is a pleasant rarity.

Being made in the USA however, does not necessarily guarantee good taste. At first taste the jerky comes as a surprise, because it does not have the sweet pineapple taste found in canned pineapple, nor does it have the taste the artificial taste of pineapple candy. Instead the taste is similar to what is found when a whole pineapple is bought from a store then cut and ate fresh.

Another aspect to food, while not as important as taste, is its texture. The texture of Pineapple Jerky is slightly pliable, but tough to chew. Since the product is called Pineapple Jerky the texture aligns rather well to the name Jerky.

Today in a world that is salting, sugaring, and preserving food, what is added to food has become an important aspect to people who are trying to be health conscious. In this department the Pineapple Jerky has come out on top, for according to the label, only honey is used to sweeten it; Pineapple Jerky does have sugar, but it is a natural sugar. And since no salt or other preservatives are listed on the label Pineapple Jerky appears to be free of those often used food preservation products.

The lack of artificial preservatives may explain one possible down side to Pineapple Jerky, because if you are planning on storing it for more than the official best if used by time of six months the taste quality will start to diminish. In addition after only three months it will start to turn brown, but will still be fine to eat (my speculation on the change of color is that it must undergo a process similar to what happens to cut apple chunks when they are left set out). However, the color change might be used to assess the freshness of the pineapple; so maybe it is better that way, especially when that is combined with the fact that artificial preservatives are also avoided.

Finally, no food is worth buying if it costs to much. When first looking at the price aspect of Pineapple Jerky, the phrase "FREE SHIPPING" is found on the product page. Therefore, the price you are looking at is the price you pay just as if you were at a normal grocery store shopping. What is that price? $9.99 for a bag, weighing 1/4 of a pound, containing 5 to 8 slices. On my request Jerky.com gave me the coupon code "HUNTINGPA" to include in this post. Using the promotional code HUNTINGPA at Jerky.com should give you 10% off a purchase that includes Pineapple Jerky in it. So, that really makes the jerky $8.99 a bag, which works out to roughly $1.38 a slice. When comparing the price of canned pineapple with Pineapple Jerky, the canned pineapple wins, however, there is a difference between Pineapple Jerky and pineapple in a can. The difference is that the texture of jerky is very chewy, meaning a slice of Pineapple Jerky will last much longer than a slice of canned pineapple. Despite its higher price, Pineapple Jerky with its refreshing taste could make a much better treat after a long hard day of hunting than canned pineapple ever could.

Pineapple Jerky from Jerky.com can be found on this web page.

Beef Jerky - The widest selection of U.S made jerky products to fit every budget.

Bought A New MuzzleLoader Gun -- CVA Trophy Hunter III Flintlock

2009-03-11T12:20:00.015-04:00

Because of a recent purchase I made, two new hunting seasons have been added to the list of Pennsylvania season's I can participate in! Muzzleloader and Flintlock hunting season are now available to me, because of the flintlock rifle I recently bought. Early Muzzleloader season here in Pennsylvania last year ran from October 18th to the 25th, with flint lock running from December 26th through January 10th. So, that means 6 days + 14 days = 20 extra days of deer hunting per hunting year.

The gun came with an agated flint which worked O.K.--for a time, but soon became dull. I tried to knap it with a small deer antler, but with no success, so I just reversed it which then gave me a good spark again. Then when I was in a sports store the other day I bought a piece of English Flint, which some say is the best flint for a flintlock gun. After trying the flint for one shooting session of four shots I cannot yet attest to its durability compared to agated flint, however, it seems to be doing fine so far.

As can be seen in the picture above I made a mark on my ramrod. This mark is a recommended "safety" feature for muzzleloaders, because it and another mark I placed farther down the ramrod show whether the gun is unloaded, loaded, or loaded without either powder or projectile. The mark that cannot be seen also serves to help me be more consistent while I am loading, because it lets my compress my load the exact same amount every time.

Because my CVA Trophy Hunter III has a rifling twist of 1:48 I can shoot conicals, sabots, and round balls. However, it can shoot none of those three really well, just O.K. To shoot round balls well the barrel would have to have a twist rate of some where around 1:66. In contrast conicals and sabots like a rifling twist of around 1:28. So, my gun is in the middle of the road, which will allow me to shoot any kind of bullet instead of being restricted to one certain kind.

My 2008-2009 Fur Season Totals

2009-02-22T15:23:00.002-05:00

My trapping in the 08-09 fur trapping season is over. My season totals are:
1 Red Fox
2 Grey Fox
1 Possum

1 Tuft of raccoon hair in a trap.

PA District 2 Fur Auction

2009-02-21T20:41:00.002-05:00

On the second to last day of trapping season, PA fur district 2 held their fur auction which I attended. Fur prices unfortunately took a nose dive this year, so I received less per fox hide than I did last year. The prices I got this year are as follows:

Red Fox = $5 (had a small spot)
Last year I did not sell any red fox.

Grey Fox = $25
Last year = $35