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rospigan

MH
Posts:372

12/09/2007 3:48 AM
Thanks a lot Cj and Stu! It sounds like you have a lot of fun with your muzzle loaders. When I think back to all the roe-deer I have killed, lost count at 150, I think I could have taken perhaps 40 - 50% of them with a muzzle loader, of course provided I knew the gun and had the skill to handle it. Modern rifles are much more efficient than the muzzle loaders but I do not think they are more fun. On the contrary I often feel like I am only slaughtering the animal and cant feel the real joy of a successful hunt. There the bird shooting has a definite advantage. When the dog flushes the bird you can never be sure of the outcome. There probably is a muzzle loaders club in each of the Scandinavian countries and they do things in the old fashion way at their meetings. Clothes, food and surrounding must be authentic to the era of black powder shooting. However they cant hunt. There are also bow hunting clubs around but bow hunting is not permitted in every country - yet. In Finland it was permitted recently, a couple of years ago. You need a bow hunting license that you get after passing a shooting test, some theoretical test also I believe. The Swedes cant hunt with bow in Sweden but have for a long time travelled to other countries to practise their skill on hunting grounds. Today they often go to Finland. I believe Sweden will also in the near future permit bow hunting but actually it is a matter of political correctness so you never know. In about 1980 I bought a powerful compound bow when I visited the USA with some ship. In those days we had nothing that could stop the arrows in a sensible way but most often they broke and I found practising too expensive. I sold the bow to a friend but he too found the shooting too expensive. Since then the bow has collected dust. However today you could just buy one of the big rolls of hay, place it wherever you want, and there is your back stop that can decelerate your arrow without breaking it to pieces. Torsti Borta Med Vindens Kennel "Ask not what your dog can do for you. Ask what you can do for your dog." www.rospigan.net

farmd69

JH
Posts:27

12/11/2007 3:32 PM
Torsti, If you don't practice with broadheads you don't even need bales of hay. All you need to do is a cardboard box filled with paper (The original layered target) and for a backstop....I hung up 3-4 light bedsheets hung loosley around 80cm apart. The arrow may go thru 1 but will not make through all three. THe sheets must be light and allowed to wave. its the drag that stops it. I used to practice shooting into my garage before my grandfather came home. He had too many cans containing volatile liquids to allow shooting but I lived in a city and wanted to shoot....so I did. The modern in line muzzleloader is every bit as deadly as any centerfire rifle once you get used to it. I was fortunate enough to be one of the first persons in NJ to succeed harvesting a deer with a muzzleloader. Back then there was no scopes and it had to use a percussion cap. Being left both handed and eyed I had a problem with the percussion cap shattering onto my face. I picked up one of the first in-line muzzleloaders. It was based on a H&R single barrel shotgun converted to 58 caliber MinnieBall. I even cast the bullets myself. Only using 70 grains it was deadly accurate. If it was brown....it went down. I would not hesitate to use that caliber on ANY big game. During the Civil War (US of course) it had a reputation to be able to go through 5 rebels before is slowed down. The minnieball ALWAYS completely passed through the deer from whatever angle (Including the famed Texas Heart Shot) at over 100 yards. One note: Unless you hit bone the animal did run but it was ALWAYS recovered quickly. ted ________________________________ > From: rospigan@brevet.nu > To: working-gundog@web.whc.net > Subject: [working-gundog] Muzzle loaders. > Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2007 11:37:14 +0100 > > Thanks a lot Cj and Stu! > > It sounds like you have a lot of fun with your muzzle loaders. When I think back to all the roe-deer I have killed, lost count at 150, I think I could have taken perhaps 40 - 50% of them with a muzzle loader, of course provided I knew the gun and had the skill to handle it. Modern rifles are much more efficient than the muzzle loaders but I do not think they are more fun. On the contrary I often feel like I am only slaughtering the animal and cant feel the real joy of a successful hunt. There the bird shooting has a definite advantage. When the dog flushes the bird you can never be sure of the outcome. > > There probably is a muzzle loaders club in each of the Scandinavian countries and they do things in the old fashion way at their meetings. Clothes, food and surrounding must be authentic to the era of black powder shooting. However they cant hunt. There are also bow hunting clubs around but bow hunting is not permitted in every country - yet. In Finland it was permitted recently, a couple of years ago. You need a bow hunting license that you get after passing a shooting test, some theoretical test also I believe. The Swedes cant hunt with bow in Sweden but have for a long time travelled to other countries to practise their skill on hunting grounds. Today they often go to Finland. I believe Sweden will also in the near future permit bow hunting but actually it is a matter of political correctness so you never know. > > In about 1980 I bought a powerful compound bow when I visited the USA with some ship. In those days we had nothing that could stop the arrows in a sensible way but most often they broke and I found practising too expensive. I sold the bow to a friend but he too found the shooting too expensive. Since then the bow has collected dust. However today you could just buy one of the big rolls of hay, place it wherever you want, and there is your back stop that can decelerate your arrow without breaking it to pieces. > > Torsti > Borta Med Vindens Kennel > "Ask not what your dog can do for you. > Ask what you can do for your dog." > www.rospigan.net

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