1st blackpowder hunt

So this weekend my dad and I will be out for our 1st traditional muzzleloader hunt in Colorado. I have a bear tag and my dad has a mule deer tag, excited is an under statement lol I am starting to have a million questions go through my mind. I have all the equipment need, I just have some questions about getting ready like do yall pop a couple caps at the trail head or at home before you head out? How do you ensure your powder stays dry? ( I have an empty 22 short casing attached to each rifle to plug the nipple). Am I overthinking things like I usually do lol I am sure all of these questions are just nervous jitters but I wanted to double check, thank yall for taking the time to help out this green horn.

Here's an old idea we have used for years.

Most muzzleloader hunters are concerned with the muzzle, (a huge hole) that is wide open to the elements. Use a rubber balloon over the end of the muzzle or electrical tape. I like the electrical tape, it's easier to throw in your essentials kit. One piece over the end of the barrel, a couple of wraps around the barrel to help hold it in place, and it’s waterproof. Leave it because it is safe to shoot right through it. It will not affect the flight path of the bullet.

The other area of most concern is the nipple or flash pan of the gun. Your coat or rain jacket are often used because your wearing them. A "cow's knee" can be made, or simpler yet is a cleaning glove, one of the rubber orange ones. Cut the hand part of the glove off right at the wrist or the smallest part of the glove. Then slide it down the barrel until it covers the nipple and trigger mechanism. The cool part about this is it protects the nipple from the water, but it is also hunter-safety orange when it is on your gun. When you are ready to fire, pull it over the stock of the gun and you ready to fire. The neat part is that you can use the fingers of the glove to cover the muzzle of your gun. Stronger rubber than the traditional balloon method.

Most condensation is caused by taking your gun out of a warm environment, such as your car or house, and putting it into a cold environment. It also works in just the opposite way, taking it from somewhere cold and putting it into a warm place. Condensation will form on the metal parts of your muzzleloader, and this includes the barrel, both on the inside and outside. The only solution we have come up with is to just leave it outside in a case. Try to leave it at the temperature it is outside. I leave mine outside in my scabbard in the truck or in my tent.  I leave my load in the gun for days at a time and don't worry about it at all.


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"CO_MTNman" aren't you the young man that we built a "GRRW.CA Hawken Kit Carson" rifle for, built by Carl Walker?

No I am afraid you have me confused for another, I haven't had a rifle built for me....so far anyways. Thank you for the solid tips and tricks. I'll definitely give the tape over the muzzle trick a try and try and sew some cow knees up. It'll be a series of day hunts since the area we are hunting is so close to the house so I'll just be sure have leave the truck heater off while driving to and from the trail head

Sorry for the mistake, on another website site there is a guy that uses the same or close too website name that we built a rifle for. He's out of Colo. Springs, Colorado.



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It's quite alright, I have the same name on another forum as well and here's the kicker I am out of colorado springs as well

A little late but I never popped a cap prior to taking a rifle into the bush, even the wet bush. In rain I always taped a baggie over the muzzle and another over the nipple area.

Thank everybody for the tips, everything worked out just fine for our little excursio. We ended up just popping a cap before loading and I ended up taking 22 short casing and making a leather strip to tie off on the trigger guard and kept the casing over the nipple and I am assuming everything stayed dry because at the conclusion of our last evening hunt we emptied both rifles the fun way into a tree and they both went off without a hitch. We ended up not even laying our eyes on a single deer throughout our 4 days but that's the way it goes I suppose

What you're doing, CO_MTNman, works so I don't see any great need to change anything.