Winter Shooting

I would have been out shooting in the -8 Kansas weather we have but have finally caught whatever the rest of my family had been hacking and coughing over! The wind was brutal here so that made it feel like -30. I keep wondering if I would have what it takes to live in really cold places like that. I guess if survival was the game then a guy should have already been prepared with wood to burn and meat in the cache. Winter would provide plenty of time for thinking about plans for when the weather got better.

-7 with wind chill of -29 here in Southern Illinois. Got out to check the live stock. Too cold and windy for me to shoot. My shop is heated, will likely see if I can find my bench top. Below 20 is when I start to slow down.

-2 in North Arkansas with wind chill of -22.

It's 50 in southern Florida today and they're breaking out the down parkas!

freedom475 said:

View attachment 184746So how cold is too cold for you fellas to break out the flintlocks? I think I reached my threshold this morning..-37° F!
The wind chill said it was -53F LOL
Had to feed the livestock with a hand sled this morning. Sure is beautiful in Montana!

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No such thing as too cold. Semper Fi.

I'm ok down to +15 or so if there's no wind. If the wind is blowing even +40 is no fun for me if theres wind.

Yesterday I blew. Snow for myself and two neighbors at about -12 but no wind. Wore sneakers on my feet. No problem with no wind.

This morning at 10:00 it was 0°F. where I live. As far as shooting goes, I give it up when the temperature is in the low 40s. It isn't the shooting, it's the loading as another has pointed out. Cold fingers just make it miserable.

If it is below about -15, I just don't go out unless I absopostively have to. Of late I have taken to loading the muzzleloader indoors if I have a milk jug to shoot, tossing the jug out into the snow and shooting it from the porch. When I gets warm I will pick up the remains.

I can remember hunting at lower temperatures than I have experienced recently... but I was much younger than. Today I like to think that I am smarter than that... though some have argued to the contrary.

oh, this whole post is making me cold just reading it ... it's pouring rain and about 40 F here in southeast Vermont ... wind blew over my woodpile last night ... used to be dependable frozen over by this point ... hope it doesn't mess with the bears' sleep cycle ...

Crooked Creek said:

As an assistant Scoutmaster we held our '93 winter Klondike Camp and it was about -5 air/-30 wind chill at night. If I recall correctly, it was the record for the coldest Klondike Camp for our Council.

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As an ASM in the Sam Houston Area Council, at Winter Camp at Camp Strake years ago, I took my wall tent and cast-iron wood stove. Got the stove going, and let the boys come in to warm up. It was down into the 30's outside, but in the 70's inside the tent. It was cold for SE Texas. Like today: 26 degrees at Noon.

About 50F for me.
I got a call from a friend yesterday. He told me it was -55 that morning at his place. I didn't ask if he was out shooting his flintlock because he told me he was trying to get the car started.

I haven’t lived to be 83 by being stupid! BS on shooting in extremely cold conditions!

Sun City said:

I haven’t lived to be 83 by being stupid! BS on shooting in extremely cold conditions!

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Ive lived to 76 and been pretty stupid too frequently. Probably about time that I follow your lead!

Train track in Illinois this morning.

The coldest range day for me was -34. That was a couple years ago but I'd probably still do it. My range is behind the house so I'm close to a coffee pot and heat if I need it. I try to shoot several times a week if I can. I figure if I keep snowblowing the range I better use it.

freedom475 said:

So how cold is too cold for you fellas to break out the flintlocks? !

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I go into hibernation when the temps get below freezing.......

I’m good to about 32F. After that it’s just not any fun. I did all the necessary stupid stuff in my youth. At 75 I’ve learned to enjoy myself rather then challenging myself.

jdw276 said:

Kinda rough today,

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is that a picture of our friend Ranch Roper?

I'm very eager to shoot my new (to me) Brown Bess carbine but I think I'll wait until it warms up a bit. I freeze my fingers at work on a fairly regular basis and the more I freeze them the more they seem prone to going numb. Since I don't really know what I'm doing with flintlocks yet it would be best if my fingers worked at least a little. Not enough experience to say, but it does seem to me that flintlocks would be easier to prime in the cold than caplocks.

As I get older the temperature goes up. i used to shoot competition with unmentionables during the winter no matter what the weather was. I remember bundlping up with a snowmobile outfit and trudge threw a foot of snow to get to the target at 200 yards and temperatures well below freezing. Now when the temperature goes below 32 it depends on other things. Is the sun out, is the wind blowing, is it snowing or raining, etc.