I hunted with my flintlock for quite a few years a while back and it is a little challenging. The first thing is to always do whatever you can to keep the pan dry. In snow I would put a piece of leather over the lock end of the gun and then remove it when I was ready to shoot. As far as accuracy goesI found my .58 cal to be just as accurate as my shotgun.With a flitlock your have to do the things it takes to shoot a modern gun even better. You have to follow through on your shots and eliminate flinching as much as possible. When using a flintlock in a treestand you have to be very careful. It isn't like a modern firearm that you can just take the shell out of when you hoist your gun up. Most of the time I just hunted on the ground to avoid this problem. A round ball can do a lot of damage actually. My father and I have taken a lot of deer with his .45 cal and my .58 cal very effectively. Just like other methods of hunting you have to make good shots for good kills. I hope you have fun hunting with your flintlock. It makes for a good hunt.