Flintlock's in Poor Weather
 

What are you flintlock hunters doing to keep your powder dry when rain or snow storm hits you?

I like to keep it simple and use a cows knees, carry half a dozen alcohol swabs, small rag to first wipe the dew off and just your typical common sense stuff.

Who goes to the hardcore extreme?

I tuck the lock under my arm when walking to a stand. Once in the stand I have a small piece of plastic tarp (it ripped so I can cannibalize it) that as I sit, I lay that over the lock. Being plastic it will shed the water very nice away from the lock.

Also if its humid or damp or rain/snowing I change the powder about every 30-45 minutes. Open the pan brush it clean, wipe it out with a patch, new powder and close. I have done all of this in the field and when it came to crunch time, in a snow storm, I shot a doe. The rifle went off perfect. Also if its real damp I put 3f instead of 4f in the pan.

I have a molded pice of plastic that fits over my lock that I made. It runs about 4 inches past the lock on both side and wraps around to the bottom of the weapon. I have a piece of rope tied onto it for quick removal and so I don't lose it when I have to take it off. Works great in pa flintlock season

We don't use stands. We hunt. :p

hey, using the stands and box blinds in Oklahoma was nice! I had a good view of the area. Course, we use mountains here, but the stand is a hell of a lot short of a climb lol.

I pretty much do the same as you MD but that wet, heavy snow can be a SOB to clear from your sights when it's time to shoot... been there!


BPS

Or like today. Its in the high 50s and all the snow in the trees is melting. You cant walk through the woods with an uncovered frizzen like that. I tried it and it still seems to splash its way to the flint or frizzen with your arm over it. Then factor in the mud and snow. Keeping balance is hard under those conditions and you can't carry it pointed down because if you slip, even with a bore cot, that muzzles going straight into all that muck.

When hunting private lands in Wisconsin, the punishment for trespassing is not something you want to experience. So while we "walk" our own property, we also do pre season scouting to see where the deer are moving, feeding and bedding, and what trails they use. Then tree stands allow us to ambush them as they wander around. Some land owners are real "touchy" when they catch someone on their property. Some events even lead to violence.

When I hunt the federal forest, we don't use stands. Well ... some people actually do. But in the federal I find a good fresh track and then start walking it down. Trying to see where the deer are heading.

Like to see a picture of what that looks like

You mentioned walking to the stand on keeping the gun dry. I was just saying we don't use stands and it's harder keeping the gun dry when you're walking around in the weather the whole time. It's pretty hard to keep the gun tucked under your arm for the whole hunt.