Pennsylvania Game News - January 2017 - 65

electrical tape over the barrel.
Moisture also can enter the barrel
through the touch hole.
A small quill from a feather makes a
far better touch-hole plug than a wooden
toothpick or match stick, both of which
can break.
Moisture also has a nasty habit of
"riding the seam" between the rifle stock
and barrel.
This can allow moisture to sneak past
the inside of the pan and dampen your
priming powder. The moisture also can
freeze inside your lock and cause misfires
and mechanical malfunctions.
To prevent this from happening, use a
small amount of bore lube to seal off the
small gap between barrel and the stock,
forward of the lock.
Finally, pay attention to keeping the
frizzen dry.
Oil from your fingers, grease transferred from the loading process, and moisture must be kept clear of that steel face.
Anything that decreases the friction
caused by the flint striking the frizzen
could leave you with a rifle that won't fire.
While walking through the woods in
rainy or snowy weather, hunters can carry
the rifle with the lock under the armpit of
their jackets.
But it's a good idea also to create a
lock "raincoat."
Originally, these were created from the
leather made from a domestic or game
animal. But bear in mind, that if the leather
has been "rain-proofed" with oil or grease,
it could be transferred to the frizzen.
Lock raincoats can be made of other
materials, as well, but avoid the use of
plastic, particularly thin sandwich wrap.
This stuff allows condensation to build
up and - worse - it will laminate the cock
and frizzen if you happen to fire the rifle
with it in place.
62

In spite of the best preparations, there
will be times when the rifle gets wet and
the powder in the pan and barrel unexpectedly turns to liquid "ink."
It's not a hopeless situation as long as
you're carrying the materials you need.
You can pull the bullet using the same
method for pulling a "dry ball" loaded
without powder.
Use a stout ramrod with a threaded
screw attached to pull the bullet, then
swab the gooey powder and replace it.

Finding Winter Whitetails

In my opinion, the late season is the
most challenging time to hunt whitetails.
It's long past the rut, and deer in many
areas have already faced a lot of hunting
pressure. They have changed their agenda
considerably.
To be successful, muzzleloader hunters
must redesign their strategies, as well.
Deer at this time of year often retreat
to survival zones.
Tree stands and ground blinds typically
are less effective than they were earlier in
the season. The old-fashioned still-hunt
and drive techniques are among the mosteffective methods for finding deer.
The weather plays into all of this, too.
Late-season whitetails dislike wind.
It robs their bodies of heat and causes
the burning of precious calories that aren't
easily replaced. Wind also makes it difficult for a deer to hear predators.
This is why whitetails like to bed down
on the leeward, or downwind, side of a
mountain or hill.
Leeward sides allow the wind to bring
the predator's scent over the hill without
seeing them, thus freeing up the two
senses - sight and hearing - to concentrate on anything coming from below
their beds.
Don't overlook conifers.

Pennsylvania Game News - January 2017

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