Through the years, I’ve used myriad methods to put wild pork in the freezer. Muzzleloaders, big bore airguns, centerfire rifles and handguns, compound and crossbows, traps, you name it. But until this last week, I had never hunted with anyone using a flintlock to acquire wild pork chops. This story will consume all the space I’m allotted for this column so let’s jump right in!
I’ve been on a quest to harvest three or four ‘eater’ wild hogs, not big old boars but rather fat little porkers weighing up to about 100 pounds. My buddy Joe Dunn will be barbequing both domestic and wild pork for our upcoming Rev de Voux in Greenville March 12 at the Top Rail Cowboy Church. Thus far, I have managed to put one in the freezer and with the multitude of wild porkers near my home, I see no problem in shooting a few more for our big get together.
This past weekend I joined my friends Larry Weishuhn, Jeff Rice and Gary Ables at Jeff’s place in Wood County. Our plan was to film a segment of our weekly video “A Sportsman’s Life” for Carbon TV and hopefully complete my wild pork ‘shopping list’ in the process. We did get some good footage for our show; Larry used his Taurus 44 Mag. revolver to take a big boar that made for great sausage but definitely didn’t fill the bill for my barbeque hog shopping list.
Ables has shot and hunted with his flintlocks since the seventies and is well versed in shooting this most challenging of black powder weapons. He brought a couple along on this hunt including a beautiful replica 50 caliber made by Jacob Feree from Lancaster County PA. Everything has to be just right in order for a flintlock to go BOOM and send it’s patched round ball to the target. The powder has to be kept dry of course, which in itself is a challenge during damp conditions. The flint must strike the frizzen perfectly so as to create spark to ignite the powder in the pan. Cleaning must be done in a meticulous manner so that the flash in the pan is directed through the ‘touch hole’ and to the primary charge upon which the round ball is seated. Shooting and hunting with a flintlock is indeed a challenge and that’s exactly the reason Ables enjoys hunting with his ‘smoke poles’.
“I still shoot my center fire rifles occasionally,” says Ables, “but I absolutely love the challenge that hunting with my flintlocks presents. These old style firearms take me back to an era that I find absolutely fascinating.”
Our ‘pork procuring’ plan was for Jeff and Gary to hunt and film together with the flintlock while Larry and I hunted over a corn feeder on a remote section of woods. We were set up about 50 yards from a feeder that hogs had been hitting on a regular basis. Larry consistently shoots 3 to 4 inch groups with his handgun at 100 yards so we both felt more than confident as we climbed into the four by six foot Snap Lock hunting blind.
We were hunting during a period of drizzle and raindrops were falling from the oak we were sitting under onto the top of our blind. Conditions were perfect for a late afternoon hunt. The woods were damp and still as there was very little wind. Visibility was very good as the trees had long lost their leaves. There was just enough chill in the air to cause wild critters to get up and moving in search of an early dinner. Wild things have the innate ability to predict the weather and I believe the wild hogs knew it was going to get very cold later that evening with the passing of a northern. It was one of those late winter afternoons when we just knew game would be moving. We spent a very quiet hour or so in the blind when I caught movement off to my left. A boar we later estimated at about 170 pounds slipped out of the woods and made his way to the feeder. By the time he settled down to crunching corn, Larry had the red dot sights settled on the boar’s left shoulder. At the shot the big hog bolted to our left and we later recovered him by followed an easy trail about 150 yards. A big boar is one tough critter and it takes a well placed shot to anchor him. Larry’s shot was well placed!
Throughout our hunt, we kept listening for the far off sound of Gary’s flintlock to discharge but all we heard was the hooting of owls back in the woods and a pack of hungry coyotes about to begin a night of hunting. Back at camp, our friends told us about sighting hogs across the creek and others that didn’t present an ethical shot. That’s hunting and we were all happy to have one hog on the ground. After a tasty camp dinner of seasoned pinto beans and grilled sausage, we made plans for the following morning. Larry and I planned to do some more filming while Jeff and Gary headed out with the smoke pole to see if the hogs might be up and moving.
It turned out that Larry’s boar was the only hog taken on our short hunt. Our buddies were still hunting and got well within flintlock range of a boar they described to be about the size of the one Larry had taken. Seems the click of a leg of a shooting tripod on the ground sent the boar galloping back into the bottomland. Big boar are hard wired for survival and it doesn’t take much to spook them. What a great time in the outdoors we spent together. We left camp making plans for Gary to return for round two with his flintlock and the boar of Wood County. May this lifestyle go on forever!
The video of this hunt is currently on Carbon TV www.carbontv.com. Contact outdoors writer Luke Clayton via his website www.catfishradio.org
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