Late Season Muzzle Load

Late season muzzleloader hunting in the Keystone State

By Karl J. Power

For muzzleloader shooting enthusiasts nothing beats Pennsylvania's late flintlock season. The Dec. 26-Jan. 11 hunt is as basic and fundamental as it gets for the "smoke-pole" purists.

While Pennsylvania now has an early muzzleloader season for antlerless deer only -- a management tool to reduce deer numbers -- the one-week season in mid-October is not nearly as popular as the late season extravaganza. In fact, most traditional flintlock hunters won't even bother with the October hunt. Reasons range from, "they let you take a deer with anything now, including in-lines and percussion caps rifles with scopes," to "It's just a lot more fun hunting in the winter with a flintlock only."

Many muzzleloader hunters who have a decade or two under their belt would not trade the late flintlock season for any other type of deer hunt. The challenge is greater, and the guns don't always fire, especially when the weather is damp. There's something about a winter hunt with traditional firearms that get us all ‘back to our heritage and roots' just like the way our forefathers hunted for deer.

Last year, flintlock hunters took 25,817 deer, only 2,127 of which were antlered bucks. Washington County, in the southwestern region, led the state in last year's flintlock deer harvest, with 86 antlered and 1,145 antlerless deer. Pennsylvania has had a flintlock deer-hunting season for 30 years, and it has remained very popular, especially among a fraternity of traditional purist-type hunters who shun the mere mention of an inline or percussion cap rifle.

Pennsylvania's late flintlock season requires only flintlock ignition, single barrel long guns (like the rifles designed and used prior to 1800) in 44 caliber or larger. While iron, open "V" or notch sights are the legal means of aiming -- the Pennsylvania Game Commission now is allowing fiber optic inserts on the open sights -- but that's as modern as you can be in the late season.

By the time the Christmas holiday is over and the season opens on Dec. 26 the woods are pretty quiet. The deer have had a break in the action, but they still are alert and somewhat spooky from the two-week regular firearms season that ran from Dec. 2-14.

With a little luck, the flintlock hunting enthusiasts will have at least a dusting of snow to help them out with seeing and tracking the deer, as well as to brighten up the late winter woodlands. There is, however, one amazing aspect to this challenging late-season hunt. If you happen to miss -- and you will -- you usually are much more likely to smile or laugh than be angry. There's no quick second shot in this hunting scenario, it's a do or die situation and Lady Luck (and a steady arm) must be on your side.

It seems with Pennsylvania's late flintlock season taking a deer is not the top priority -- being "out there" is the most valuable aspect of the hunt. Being alone (all alone in the late season woodlands is relaxing at best) and a chance to fill a deer tag is an added bonus. Even getting a shot is a benefit, but the experience alone is what it's all about. Sure, we all want to take a deer, that's what hunting is all about, but the harvest of a white-tailed deer is just one aspect of the mystique of the late-winter, last-chance deer hunt.

A black powder hunting alternative

There is yet another way to enjoy muzzleloader hunting in the late season, with guaranteed action and tons of fun.

A few years ago, several friends and I decided to hunt late-season squirrels with a muzzleloader. While we used smaller caliber rifles – 32-caliber percussion cap guns -- the enjoyment and challenge was incredible.

Talk about getting back to Pennsylvania-style basics, this definitely was the way to go. An interesting fact is that the Kentucky long rifle actually was developed in Pennsylvania as a squirrel-hunting gun, and basically this was what we were doing -- revisiting a strong Keystone State tradition.

The 32-caliber rifles were lightweight, had virtually no recoil, and were inexpensive to shoot repeatedly at a number of bushytails. It seems that the squirrel population in Pennsylvania, especially the southwest region, continues to grow at an amazingly high rate. In fact, the area is so abundant with squirrels, some "thinning" would be a very good idea.

The squirrels seeming to be everywhere -- find a patch of hardwood trees and they'll be there -- most hunters already know where to find them by watching them throughout the fall hunting seasons, especially during the deer hunting seasons when the squirrel activity was close to annoying.

The late squirrel-hunting season was scheduled earlier this year than usual. The season runs from Dec. 16-24; and Dec. 26-Feb. 8, 2003. The daily limit is six per day, same as the early October and November season.

Naturally squirrel hunting can be done with scoped .22 rimfire rifles or shotguns. But if you really want to have some fun, give black powder squirrel hunting a try. You can stick to traditional-type hunting with a flintlock, or "cheat a little" and go with an inline or percussion cap rifle. Most deer hunting caliber guns, however, are a little large for the small squirrels, so you might want to consider looking into an investment into a 32-caliber muzzleloading rifle.

Either way -- deer or squirrels -- the late season hunting opportunities with a muzzleloading firearm is a great way to enjoy wintertime hunting. It's also a terrific way to beat the holiday shopping "rat race" and the visits from relatives too!