Huntng with milsurps 2013 edition

[vintage hunter]

Blue tongue disease you say, that's a new one on me. I'll have to look it up. Not aware of any disease here yet but I killed on last season that pretty much fit the bill as having chronic wasting disease however when I contacted the DNR biology dept they had absolutely no interest in obtaining it for study. According to them the closest reported cases are in one county of West Virginia. DNR law enforcement closed down and fined the pants off one of those ''canned hunt'' outfits a few miles way 3 years ago for smuggling in deer and several exotic species in under the radar and according to a news paper article some of the deer were brought from Ohio and West Virginia and some escaped back into the wild upon arrival.
Not much stirring this morning except this curious old doe....and several bushels of skeeters.

[jmoore]

JM, do you have to use round ball, or can you use a minie ball?

As long as it's a .45 caliber or larger and is muzzleloading just about anything goes. Sabots, Powerbelts, Minies, Maxis, round ball, buckshot...

[gsimmons]

Thanks, JM. I used to live in MI. and they had a round ball only rule(I don't know if its changed).

[jmoore]

Blue tongue disease you say, that's a new one on me.

Also called hemorrhagic disease, I believe. Non threat to humans but it's bad on deer especially during drought. One lingering sign is that the survivors often have interrupted hoof growth, so it looks like they are shedding their "toes".

Squirrels are eat up with the "wolves" right now. Nasty insect larvae that grow under the skin. Must be very painful! Supposedly isn't a health threat, but I don't much care for attempting to salvaging the unaffected areas, so will let them alone until the weather cools a bit. Did have a good hunt with the .22 rf SMLE last season, so maybe some more milsurp trainers will get to the woods this season.

[vintage hunter]

Thanks for the blue tongue info JM. ''Wolves'', a.k.a. ''Wobblers'' around here, I'm familiar with. They are the larvae of the Warble fly. They also show up on rabbits from time to time and my dad told me back in the 30's and 40's they would be so many on the cows sometimes the infection would kill it if left untreated. He said Grand dad would use a coke bottle to pop the larvae out of the hide and then pour on an antiseptic/antibiotic of some sort to clear up/prevent infection. Unheard of nowadays. He also worked the farm with a mule and picked cotton by hand in those days, Now there are GPS guided tractors with air conditioned cabs working that same land. How times have changed in a few short years.

[seabot2]

Jmoore, funny that you mentioned hunting with your P1853 musket. I was thinking of doing the same with mines. I've got a Euroarms 3 band ,that I always wanted to try on deer or wild cattle. I just haven't had time to go hunting for a long time due to work. Hope to hear about your hunt with it.

[A. F Medic]

I have a Parker Hale two band musket (.58 cal.) and I would be interested in how many grains of black powder you use

[seabot2]

Medic, I use a 45/70 case full of FFG Black and a 500gr Minie ball cast on a Lee mold. It's been a good target load for me. For hunting I may have to increase the powder a bit.

[gsimmons]

The service load was 55-65grs. depending on what lab. or arsenal loaded it.

[jmoore]

I have a Parker Hale two band musket (.58 cal.) and I would be interested in how many grains of black powder you use

With the thin skirted Minies I find that about 50gr of Goex is about right, depending on the rifle. The longer barreled US rifled musket might do OK with 55 to 60gr, but that's about it. The '53 Sergeant's rifle will blow out the skirts sooner. The Hornady bullets will take more, but I usually stay at 60 gr max, just because these muzzleloaders are not modern production! I don't reckon a deer could tell the difference anyway.