hunting in the rain

[white eagle]

man its raining and I don't know if I should even bother hunting today
black powder and moisture aren't real friendly :coffeecom

[waksupi]

Rain is good for hunting. I've taken some of my largest animals in the rain.

[Fly]

Well a tip I took from the ole timers of the past.Load your rifle in a warm dry place.
Drip a drop of melted bees wax on your cap & nipple & clean off excess wax & off
the top of the nipple where the hammer strikes.

It has worked for me, many times.
Fly

[fishhawk]

Ahhhh whats a cap? that that new thing they got? that ain't never going to catch on!

[quilbilly]

I've been hunting in the "monsoon" rains with FFF Goex on the Olympic Peninsula for the last 25 years including days with over 5 inches of rain. The key is a good, high quality poncho instead of a rainsuit and one of those cheap plastic tubing pieces called a "cap guard". The cap guard does two things - 1. I helps keep the damp air from infiltrating under the nipple and 2. It helps focus the flame down the flashhole to burn out any fouling that might have gotten in for better ignition. I have left charges in the guns as long as 3 days of hunting with few if any misfires. Last I heard, Blue Gray Products was making those cap guards (i bought a whole lot a few years back) but there must be other sources. I will be out looking for a deer this afternoon and for a change it is not raining (wooo hoo!)

[mooman76]

I have hears rubbing some bore butter over the nipple works, being careful not to get it inside and aquarium tubing cut into little pieces to slide over the nipple. By the way, what's rain?

[Hellgate]

You also may want to put a piece of electrician's tape over themuzzle to keep water out. Works for snow too. They sell a "muzzle mitt" which looks like a miniature condom to roll over the muzzle. You can get them in the form of "finger cots" at most pharmacies for a whole lot less. They are for covering the finger to keep it from getting contaminated during medical exams or applying ointments with the finger. They are about $5/gross (144 cots) last time I bought some.

[cajun shooter]

In the days of old the Frontiersman used a piece of leather called a cows hoof or something similar. It covered the entire firing mechanism and kept the rifle ready to shoot. Maybe Track of The Wolf would carry them.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Always carry a "cows knee" with you. (Leather wrap that fits over the flintlock). When it is pouring the deer in my river bottoms hunker down in the thickest, nastiest stuff about and wait till it all slacks off. Drizzle or light rain is OK.
Mike in Peru

[Steve]

+ 1 Qillbilly on the tubing. It also holds the cap tight and it cant slip off. I used one this evening even though the weather was nice. I took a fork horn after watching six doe pass my stand. My mom said they just took in four doe at the food pantry. So it was a good day. Steve S.W. MI.

[PatMarlin]

Rain's good for fishin' too. Bites ON!

[Steve]

I will hunt or fish or ride a motorcycle in the rain, but I generally refuse to work in it. Muzzle loaders and Harleys are not delicate flowers, though some seem to think so. My wife says I'd be a wealthy man if I could get paid to ride motorcycles and hunt.

[piwo]

I've done fine with my double barrel percussion shotgun in driving rains, but no luck at all with the flint. No matter what I do the pan gets wet and thats the end of it. Don't have a proper "cows knee", tried to make one or some equivalent but never worked in a really good rain. water running either up or down the barrel (delpending on how it's been tilted" just seems to find a way into the pan. Gonna try some candle wax with an unloaded rifle to see if I can seal with that in addition to judiciously trying to keep it covered. Theory sounds good, in practice maybe not so much. ML season starts 17th here and rain is in the forcast for a good piece of the early portion. :(

[XWrench3]

if you are hunting with an inline, i certainly would not worry about it. when i bought my first m.l. it was a Knight BK-92. i went to a demonstration and Tony Knight was there. he threw one of his rifles into the stream on the property, and left it there while he talked. probably 10 minutes or so. he pulled it back out, shook it with the muzzle pointed down to get the water out, and fired it. he claimed that he had left rifles in water over night, and they still fired. if you get that much water into the gun, you still should have no problem. plus, i have hunted several season with that (percussion cap) gun, with no problems. and yes, some of that was in the rain. my new rifle has a 209 ignition, and i just do not even give it a thought anymore. if you are talking about a flintlock, then of course, stay home.

[jlchucker]

I haven't hunted with a muzzle loader for several years now, but this thread brings back a somewhat fond memory--even though I saw nothing that day. In the 1970's I had a CVA Mountain Rifle I'd built from a kit. A reliable and accurate gun that in many ways I wish I'd kept. This was before black-powder seasons in VT, and I'd take this rifle out on the last day of regular season if I hadn't gotten a deer by then. This particular year, my rifle had been loaded (with fffg black and a patched round ball) for about a month. I'd put the cap on and off when I'd take the gun out. The last day of the season was a miserable one--with spitting snow, sleet, and some rain. I had the woods entirely to myself. I was out from noon until close to dark. had covered my hammer with a greased piece of leather (as mentioned in other posts), and saw nothing all day--but still, weather notwithstanding, it was a good day, in the quiet woods. You guys have all been there on days like that, no doubt. Anyway, come dusk and time to go home, I figured I'd fire off the load, then clean the gun for the year when I got home. The gun fired with no problem after being out in that kind of weather for several hours. A friend of mine ended up with that gun some years later and shot several deer with it--his first muzzle loader. He hunts in all kinds of weather, and never had a problem with that caplock rifle.

[piwo]

I haven't hunted with a muzzle loader for several years now, but this thread brings back a somewhat fond memory--even though I saw nothing that day. In the 1970's I had a CVA Mountain Rifle I'd built from a kit. A reliable and accurate gun that in many ways I wish I'd kept. This was before black-powder seasons in VT, and I'd take this rifle out on the last day of regular season if I hadn't gotten a deer by then. This particular year, my rifle had been loaded (with fffg black and a patched round ball) for about a month. I'd put the cap on and off when I'd take the gun out. The last day of the season was a miserable one--with spitting snow, sleet, and some rain. I had the woods entirely to myself. I was out from noon until close to dark. had covered my hammer with a greased piece of leather (as mentioned in other posts), and saw nothing all day--but still, weather notwithstanding, it was a good day, in the quiet woods. You guys have all been there on days like that, no doubt. Anyway, come dusk and time to go home, I figured I'd fire off the load, then clean the gun for the year when I got home. The gun fired with no problem after being out in that kind of weather for several hours. A friend of mine ended up with that gun some years later and shot several deer with it--his first muzzle loader. He hunts in all kinds of weather, and never had a problem with that caplock rifle.

I left my muzzleloading percussion shotgun loaded with patch and ball for over a month and hunted two weekends in driving rains. Sat in the basement in between hunting sessions... When I left the woods the last day of the season that year in January I fired both barrels and not a hesitation. Percussion is a reliable system so long as you keep the nipples covered and dry. Much easier then Flint, but a strategic drop of water will render it just as useless!

Good stuff!!

[waksupi]

I hunt and shoot flinters quite a bit in the rain. Cow knees never worked real well for me. A thin layer of wax between bolster and barrel does the most good keeping water out of the pan. Water follows the barrel channel. My channels are also sealed with beeswax.
I use a piece of virgin wool that is long enough to reach from the balance point, to the wrist, and over hang on both sides quite a bit. This stays in place pretty well, especially if the rifle is carried cradled. When it's time to shoot, it easily slips off, and falls to the ground out of the way.

[Janoosh]

FishHawk, my testosterone level has to be very high (as in having the testicles) to hunt with my Flintlock, let alone hunt with it in the rain. It shoots well at the range, I just lose faith in the system (or is it myself) when I take the flintlock out into the woods. I'll have to try blocking the barrel channels.

[white eagle]

I took you advice Waksupi and I did head out although I didn't
bag any game I did manage to get a shot at a deer even though I missed
I did see a bunch traveling along the oak ridges in small clusters