How do you load a muskrat?

[Lonegun1894]

A lady at work pulled me aside and said she had heard something about me, and then proceeded to ask me "How do you load a muskrat?" Well, I didn't really know what to say for a second. Then told her to just put it in a roast pan, with whatever vegetables she likes, but I think potatoes, onions, and carrots are always a safe bet, put in a couple cups of water, and then put a few strips of bacon over the meat just in case the meat is as low in fat as a lot of wild game, cover, and bake at about 325 degrees for an hour and a half to two, just based on the size of the critter. She looked at me like I had lost my mind, looked like she was going to gag, and then composed herself, and restated her question. "I was told that you hunt with those old antique guns, they call them muskrats, don't they?" Well, I finally realized what she was asking, and told her that yes, I do hunt with muzzleloaders, but MUSKETS were usually military guns, and mine are civilian or more accurately, replicas of civilians guns or more modern versions ( can't call a Lyman, TCs, or CVA an exact copy in good conscience), but they all work about the same way with fairly minor variations, and explained the process to her. Considering this is a nice and usually very proper lady, I'm glad I didn't tell her that I have never tried to get a muskrat drunk, but there's a first time for everything. I think she would have punched me for that though. So how many of you have ever slipped up like I just did and given a answer to something completely different when someone asked you a question related to MLing, but the exact terminology just sent you off into left field chasing some rabbit trail? Anyone? It can't possibly be just me, can it? :redface:

 

[BrownBear]

I'm sure this thread will get moved, but I'll contribute an account:

Four of us were on an early fall deer hunt and the biting bugs were fierce. Over lunch one of them asked the other for the bug dope. The conversation went like this:

Got any bug dope?
Bond dew? What's bond dew?
No, bug dope!
I don't have a clue what bond dew is, so how could I have any?
No! Bug Dope! B--U--G------D--O--P--E!!!!!!
Oh. Yeah, I got some.

Over 20 years later everyone calls him Bonddew. And most don't know how he got the name!!! :rotf:

 

[Zonie]

I think you did quite well under the circumstances. :grin:

I don't know that I would have assumed she was asking about cooking though.

I probably would have figured she wanted to pick one up to put it in her car.
In that case I would have said something like,
"Oh! You don't want to do something like that!
Those are pretty mean critters and it would bite your fingers if you grabbed it.
Worse yet, if it was dead it would stink up your car pretty bad. They are called muskrats for a reason you know."

Of course, that would have received the same vacant look your answer got. :rotf:

 

[Lonegun1894]

Brown Bear,
I think you're right that this will get moved, but it was a "loading question"... :redface: Do y'all ever explain to people how he got the name, or just let them wonder if they don't ask?

Zonie,
The only thing I can say for myself about the cooking directions is that this was just before our lunch time and everyone had been talking about food when she asked this out of the blue, and I have been accused of being willing to eat anything that is either not smart enough or fast enough to run away. For the most part, guilty.

 

[Wes/Tex]

How do you load a muskrat..."we filled his head with cannonballs and powdered his behind and when we set the powder off that muskrat lost his mind!" :rotf: :surrender:

My apologies to Bobby Horton fans everywhere! :haha:

 

[Keb]

Wes/Tex, I think it's Johnny Horton.
Longgun, did you ever tell her how to load a musket? I am curious to her response.

 

[Trench]

I had a similar experience with my mother-in-law, but without all the confusion. She for some reason kept referring to my rifle as a "muscle-loader" when I first started shooting.

Later, when I shot my first deer with it, I told her the story of the hunt. "You got it with only one shot?" "Yeah, Mom. You kind of don't have a choice."

I think your experience and mine are examples of two individuals who have no firearms experience whatsoever, let alone know anything about period pieces.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I was going to suggest you load the muskrat head first down a 6" bore artillery piece, as it's just large enough to allow the muskrat to fit, but not so large to allow it to back up nor turn around and cause a separation or gap between it and the powder when you ram it down snug but not hard..., assuming we're talkin' about loading live muskrat...,

:shocked2:

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have given Rev. Rifleman presentations and speeches for many years. I always make sure the person doing the intro knows my rifle is a "flintlock muzzle loader". And, without fail my intro always refers to my gun as a "musket loader". Oh, well.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Wes/Tex, I think it's Johnny Horton.

You're right. Somewhere between brain and fingers the senior moment struck! :redface:

 

[hawkeye2]

I think you are on the right track but I would just set my Airedale on that rat and I imagine that muskrat would load himself and I'll bet you wouldn't even have to ram down! :grin:

 

[Zonie]

In the intrest of keeping this muzzleloader related so it doesn't get moved I'll mention that I'm always amazed at the number of people who use the wrong terms for our weapons.

Maybe I'm not helping to educate some of them but there's a reason under certain situations.

Many times while shooting a caplock rifle I've had fathers walk up to me with their kids while I'm loading.

They usually tell their kids something like,

"That's a musket he's loading/shooting." It's just like the ones the Pilgrims used."

or,

"That's an old time gun like they used during the American Revolution. They couldn't shoot over 100 yards with them."

The reason I don't correct them is because they are with their kids and the way I figure it, they don't need a stranger to tell them their dads wrong.
I'll let both the father and the kids enjoy the years when dad is still smart in the kids minds.

Now, if it is a couple of older people who are acting like they know it all and they are a lot smarter than me, I'll point out every little error they make. :grin:

 

[Lonegun1894]

Keb,
I did explain to her how to load a muzzle loader, and was told that that sounds like a whole lot of unnecessary trouble and I should just get a modern gun so I can just go buy some ammo at walmart. She said she shot a .22 many years ago and thought that loading it was too much trouble, so the ML must be about useless. I just told her that I trust my ML as much as a modern gun and it shoots just as well as anything made today, with the main difference being that it takes a few seconds more to load and that once loaded it is just another single shot gun, but takes more skill and knowledge to use and hunt with to keep it working. Then she just rejoined the conversation the others were having about lunch so I guess it just seemed like too much trouble or she didn't have any interest after all. I kind of expected that though. She's not much of a gun type anyway.

 

[nkbj]

Once knew a gal that referred to her husbands muzzleloaders as blankety blank old black ball guns. :haha:

 

[mhb]

Then there was the fellow who inquired (on another forum) about proper ammunition for his 'mussel loader'...
I advised him in the strongest terms (and with tongue firmly in cheek) that molluscs of any type made poor projectiles on the grounds of size, shape, and poor ballistic coefficient - not to mention the possibility of damaging the bore by abrasion or wedging of the oddly-shaped bivalve shell. I did recommend that, if he must use marine critters for his shooting, he should try snails or, perhaps, barnacles, due to their relatively cylindro-conoidal shape and availability in useful diameters - but that he should not expect very good results as compared to the customary lead ball or bullet.

mhb - Mike

 

[Len Graves]

The fact that the public use incorrect terms for our Ty pe weapons is very tempting to " answer them like they asked" . I have come close, but feel we owe the memory of our fathers a little respect and so answer correctly ( I hope) . I had a display rack of rifles I had built beside my tent when a man said looks like you got a lot of muskets there. my response was to explain that they were hunting rifles and the term was more properly used om military arms. He told me "I know a musket when I see one . You must be a stupid SOB" . I told him that I was sure one of us was. Also when asked about that "musket loader" I explained that it was a fusil but I was a musket loader seeing as how I load muskets. some folks have very little humor in them .

 

[mhb]

Len:
It is certainly true that some folks have little, if any, sense of humor - and, when coupled (as often seems to be the case) with a wealth of dearly held misinformation, this makes them an inviting target for a bit of poking.
Like you, I try to give information as correctly as I am able - but just ever so often, the old Devil whispers in my ear (or it may be the spirit of my stereotypical drunken hod-carrying Irish Ryan great grandfather, and I can't help myself. I can certainly imagine the spirits of the reserved English Bentons and Moores, and the dour Scots Grays shaking their heads and frowning disapprovingly, but, to be fair, they get their turns, too.
I promise to be good (well, as much as possible) in my postings here among kindred spirits.

mhb - Mike

 

[Dean2]

I have always had a wide and pervasive sarcastic streak. When I drove transit buses in my youth my favourite question was "Hey mister, how long is the next bus?" Well mam, most likely 45 feet, same as this one.

You can imagine my response to "Hey Mister, what do you shoot with your muscle loader" Well sonny, I am real partial to split tail doe but other things can be shot too. :grin:

 

[Lonegun1894]

Would that be the kind of doe with no closed season and no bag limit? Or at least that is what I was told in my younger days by a man who, well, I'm sure embellished his exploits, or tried to get me to live up to them. It was always good for a laugh but I never tried to follow that advice. Glad I didn't nowadays.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

LD