Saturday, October 14, 2006

Muzzleloader Hunting


Today was the first day of our muzzleloader deer season. I have owned and used muzzleloaders for over three decades. My first muzzleloader was a Navy Arms 58cal. Zouave rifle. The original Zouave rifles were used by some troops in our civil war. I learned the art of muzzleloader shooting with it and spent many an enjoyable hour shooting and hunting before there were any special muzzleloading hunting seasons. The top photo is a close-up of the lock mechanism.

Firing the Zouave
These photos are from my 1970’s archives

The years have sped by and much has changed in the world of muzzleloading; special seasons, new types of muzzleloaders, substitute black powder, and modern projectiles with much improved lethality. Today I find myself using some of the advantages afforded us by these changes. I now hunt with a scope sighted modern in-line rifle with Power-Belt projectiles but I continue to use the real thing when it comes to the black powder. The photo above was taken by my wife while I was sighting in this rifle a couple of weeks ago.


Today the preparations paid off with the harvest of a nice doe.

2 comments:

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Great post! I like the use of the old photos, from your slides I assume!

Great shot of you at your range as well.

Nice "harvest" today!

Coy Hill said...

Chad,
The oldies are scans from my b&w negatives with a little ps magic thrown in:-)