Hunting PA

I saw a few deer today.

Around noontime I saw three cross a pipeline. Two of them were bucks and looked to be about 4-point size. The third did not have antlers, but as it crossed it was right next to one of the others so I could not shoot.

This evening when I was watching a wooded area I saw one antlerless deer. It was about 75 yards away and had a little brush between us. It was getting pretty close to quitting time so I decided to shoot. When I fired, my flintlock hesitated for part of a second. I held pretty well on the target, but chances are I moved some. Anyways the deer must not have been hit because I saw it walk away. I went and checked for blood, but did not find any.

Since, I still have a buck tag that can act as a anterless tag I went out hunting again today. I hunted around home some, but did not see anything not even any tracks in the snow. For the evening my father and I went to a state game land and put on a short drive, but did not see anything.

Finally, I shot a deer with my CVA Silver Trophy Hunter III.

I shot it with my .50 caliber flintlock using 50 grains of 2F black powder, under a round ball I cast with my Lee mold, held by a pillow ticking patch lubricated in crisco.

I shot at the deer from a kneeling position from about 50 yards away. It ran, so I reloaded. After reloading I went to where it had been standing to look for blood. I then looked out further into the woods and saw it laying looking at me so I shot it again, which then crippled it enough for me to then finish it.

Its not the biggest deer, because its a button buck, but buck or doe they always make good eating. My family always processes the deer ourselves. We do everything: skinning, quartering, butchering, and grinding. The last few years we have gotten into making jerky, which when made with the right spices it is one of the tastiest ways to eat deer. But a good roast in the crock-pot is pretty hard to beat as well.

The hide I fleshed out and have soaking in water. I want to leather tan it. So, I will soak it in the water for 1 1/2 to 2 weeks then the hair should slip right off. While I do not fully have the entire tanning processes bug free, perhaps I will do an article sometime about what I have learned about tanning.

Most of the corn on the farms near where I hunt have their corn picked now. Today we drove the woods in hope of finding deer since they do not have the corn to hide in. We did not see any deer, but did see a few tracks.

It turned a bit snowy today–that will help a lot in tracking deer to see where they are at.