Father-son hunt with traditional flintlock makes smoke and memories
Father-son hunt with flintlock makes smoke and memories

Editor's note: Tom Hill of Norman teaches traditional muzzleloading to Boy Scout troops, Women In The Outdoors classes and at various kids camps across the state.

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This story is about Hill's son, Sam, and his first deer hunt with a flintlock. Oklahoma's nine-day muzzleloader deer season opened Saturday.

Last year, my 13-year-old son, Sam, was drawn for a muzzleloader doe hunt at Fort Cobb through the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's controlled hunts program.

We had just a few weeks to get ready for this magical occasion. We had to scout the area and Sam had to decide what rifle he wanted to use.

Sam has been shooting a traditional muzzleloader since he was 5, so it was not going to take much to get him ready. He just needed to decide if he was going out with an ugly gun or a true muzzleloader.

(An ugly gun is my description of the modern in-line, scope-sighted muzzleloaders. For me, using one is like taking Alka-Seltzer tablets. You drop two pellets in and away you go.)

After about three minutes of thinking, Sam said he was going to hunt with a flintlock "to do it right.”

He had waited two years for this weekend. The year before, Sam had been drawn for the same hunt but missed it because I was sent to Lousiana on National Guard duty when a hurricane struck.

This year was a second chance to make smoke and memories. Sam decided to hunt with a Thompson Center .50-cal. Hawken Flintlock with patched round ball. After much shooting, we decided on 80 grains of 2f powder.

I told him he would have to be proficient at 75 yards or it was the ugly gun for him. A little incentive never hurt anyone. He shot from sticks, rests and my shoulder. He was going to be ready for any situation.

We scouted the area to see if we had to contend with the open plains of western Oklahoma or have more of the hardwood forests like eastern Oklahoma. After visiting the area, we found that we would be near the lake and have decent timbered draws to hunt. His 75-yard range was going to work fine.

The weekend of the hunt finally arrived. Sam and I went to our area and made a walk-through and put together a brush blind near the lake's edge in hopes of catching an early morning doe coming down for a drink.

After Pop-Tarts and coffee (the breakfast of champions, I'm told), we made our way to the blind. Sam loaded his rifle and primed the pan. Now for the next phase, the waiting.

After about 45 minutes, I'm thinking about what our next strategy might be. As my mind wandered, I felt a tap on my arm. Sam moved his head to an opening in the trees across from us. Our quarry had just arrived.

The doe was out of Sam's range, so we had to hope it would come toward us, then move toward the lake.

During this wait the mental checklist is being acted out. Can you see the sights? Did you prime the pan? Do you have a good rest? Then the final question. Can you make that shot?

Remember your breathing. Phoosh. Boom. Smack. Three beautiful sounds and then the best smell on earth as a cloud of white smoke drifted back over us.

Sam asked, "Did I hit it?” The ball had found its mark. The doe wheeled around and bounded back into the brush. Sam reloaded and we waited a few minutes before tracking the deer.

The brush was thick, but after a short time we found the blood trail and followed it to where the doe had laid down. Smoke and memories had been made. It would be a time shared with my son that would not be forgotten.

This year, Sam was drawn for another muzzleloader hunt at Fort Cobb. The results were the same, except this time Sam had opted to use a conventional in-line muzzleloader.

"You know, Dad, that was too easy,” Sam told me after harvesting the doe.

During the deer muzzleloader season, Sam says he is hunting with a flintlock.

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