Larry A. Smail's Blog

The target

This morning I went to practice some with my fifty-caliber flintlock named Old Jacob. Some may remember from reading past entries here of how I faced so much difficulty in the last two deer seasons.  I shot ten shots and failed to bring home any meat during last year’s various deer seasons. the year before I shot eight shots. Some of misses were difficult to believe. However, within those eight shots I still harvested three deer. I sensed things were happening with my eyes, but didn’t really seem to grasp how bad my vision had evolved.

I visited the eye doctor and had a  number of tests done. New glasses didn’t seem to help. Gloomy days and low-light conditions of mornings and evenings were hazy. The last years despite new glasses didn’t work. I believe the difficulty was from trying to align two primitive flintlock sights and seeing the target clearly. I think I was subconsciously raising the front end of the flintlock to better see the front sight thus shooting high.

Well, a few things have happened since last deer season. One is that I had primitive peep sites installed on my fifty-caliber.  Secondly, I, once again, went to the eye doctor and received new glasses. Thirdly, I had another pair of glasses made without any bifocal lens. I am hoping for much better shooting.

In July I shot a few rounds with the new sight, but decided to not shoot  until I had the above mentioned glasses bought including the set without bifocals.  However, before acting on the new glasses I had a health issue. I guess I should say I had a potential health issue. Through lab work the doctor discovered a positive reading of potentially that dreaded C-word. I found out definitely in mid-September that the reading was a false reading. I acted on the glasses

My stepfather began having issues and we recently discovered the extent of his health. He does have cancer. As I type this  entry his chemo will begin in less than a week.

I had a day to accomplish some things for the rest of the week is going to be busy. I gathered up my flintlock shooting gear and a cardboard and I left to shoot a few rounds.

The above target has given me some hope The lowest shot was the first one. I adjusted how I used the peep sight and shot a nice group at thirty-five yards. The highest shot was at forty-five yards. these shots were completed without a shooting bench. I could see a slight sway of the front sight. I could use more practice for confidence.

The early muzzleloading season for deer begins on October 19th. Also, the week has Pennsylvania’s first muzzleloading season. The temperatures will determine if I hunt bear or not. Since I will be, most likely, hunting alone I have to think ahead as to how to get any bear out of the woods. The second step is to drive to a bear check station to be determined and then to a butcher while cool temps rule over the area. I don’t want a bear that much to sacrifice the meat if at all possible.