Oct 25, 2019 4 min read

Counting flowers on the wall, that don’t bother me at all. Playing solitaire until dawn with a deck of 51. That’s part of an oldie describing the feelings of boredom.

On the other side of the coin, it’s that time of the year again when outdoors people find so many things to do that it is all they can do to keep up. Should I go squirrel hunting or should I take the bow and sit watching and waiting for that 10-point buck that has been feeding in the back yard? Maybe I should check those creeks feeding into Lake Erie?

The man who helped me by dragging out my last two deer from the woods, Bert Snyder of Scenery Hill, made a decision and evidently made the right one. Bert is the first hunter who I have heard was successful during the fall muzzleloader bear season this year. Note I said muzzleloader not just flintlock. Embracing the difficulty of a flintlock, Bert decided to leave his percussion muzzleloader at his camp near Burtville in McKean County.

For those who have never shot a flintlock here is my explanation of why this old design is so difficult to shoot: First, a measured load of black powder is poured down the barrel followed by a patched ball. Then, a dish-like pan that has a small hole near it that leads to the barrel, where the main charge is located is filled with a very small amount of powder. To shoot it at a target or an animal, the hammer is then cocked back, and when the trigger falls a piece of flint hits what is called a frizzen and this creates a shower of sparks. Usually, this sparking is pretty darn close to somebody’s eyeballs and causes a little jerk of alarm. This shower of sparks ignites the small amount of powder in the pan. Lastly, the pan, hopefully, ignites the main charge in the barrel and the gun goes off. It feels like a time lapse of two hours between the gun firing and when the trigger was pulled. On top of all that, if any part of the powder gets damp or the priming pan loses its powder because of careless carrying, well you know.

I must admit that I tend to flinch when the priming powder is ignited and I think my beard is on fire. I also must say that Snyder showed confidence in his shooting ability using this old primitive style rifle to down a bear. Daniel Boone couldn’t have done better. Congratulations to Bert “danl boone” Snyder. I admire what he did so much I just might allow him to drag my deer from the woods this year, too. Incidentally, I have heard that more than 600 bear have been taken so far.

• Archery season has been slow so far. Perhaps it’s the warmer-than-usual temperatures or the abundant food preventing deer movement but things should be picking up soon. I have spotted a few rub trees made in the last couple of days. A buck rubs a tree to strengthen its neck muscles and the mark on the tree is secondary. The velvet is nothing more than exterior blood vessels and will slough away even without the presence of trees.
• Welcome to Washington County Sportsmen’s Warehouse, which is located at the Old Mill Shopping Plaza. It seems like a good fit.
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• s a person who worries about what we leave our children with when my generation is gone, I wonder about the wildlife. Will they ever hear a grouse drumming? Come to think of it, what has happened to our state bird, the grouse? Going a bit further, will they hear or see a Whippoorwill? Do you remember when the evening sky was full of Nighthawks darting and swooping about feeding on insects? It worries me that for every gain there is a loss, and maybe the gain in the field of energy is paid for with the threat to other creatures. I am sure there are some critters that haven’t been seen by our children ever and by some readers for a long time. Will they ask, what happened?