doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Deer hunting with old British double rifles

Just to warm the cockles of the many antique gun-loving hearts here:
Today it is pouring rain here in northcentral PA, and so I holed up in the cabin, put out some doe pee at 85 yards uphill at 5:30am, and have a fine British double rifle at each of two windows upstairs, and a 1937 German combination gun at another window. If I can't take them for a walk, then by God, they will do sentry duty, and perhaps take an inquisitive doe.

Best of luck.

I like your determination and your blind choice...Geo

Thank you! Many years ago we learned to use the cabin as a hunting blind in the same horrendous conditions as we face today. If we stay out of the woods for a few days before deer season, these skittish animals can usually be induced with doe pee to come by for a visit. If we are quick enough to spot them, we can fill some tags. And yes, it is nice to have a bathroom and kitchen at hand

Thanks, Brent! Yesterday was beautiful out, but the breezes were variable, and the several deer that did come near me winded me before I could get a solid bead on them. Frustrating.

Yup, what's for breakfast and how's the coffee. Sounds kind of nice.

Best blind I have ever hunted out of. But the drawback is no self-respecting racked buck will ever appear anywhere within rifle range of it. A big buck is just too wary. So we are contented to fill our doe tags here, when we can. Makes for a super short drag and yeah, fresh coffee. Getting older has its benefits

Gotta wear orange inside?

Orange bathrobe should take care of it...Geo

Rob and Geo - YES! We must wear our orange inside, too. 250 square inches on chest, back and head combined.

tell us bout de gons...could one of them be a double percussion gun, by moore, by appointment to the queen? shoots a .69 caliber, belted ball?

shipped dat one to pa years ago...

north central pa, as in potter county?

interesting! sounds like a very nice gun you sent here.
these are hammerless boxlocks from 1884 and 1888, and a German combination gun from 1937 in 7x57R and 16g.
Alex Henry .500 BPE double (1884) is cased complete and I use the original reloading tools to reload today.
Charles Lancaster .450 BPE double (1888).
But a deer or two would have to appear for these to get some use.

pamtnman,
For 20 years we have called the front porch of our hunting cabin " blind number 1". At least 3 does have been taken there, two of them different member's grandson's first or second deer. Also coyotes, beavers, crows, and a whole pile of carpenter bees have been taken from blind number 1.
Mike

Love it! In 2018 my son and I went out on "Blind Number 1" to discuss whether or not we should head out into the pouring rain to hunt, or if we should stay inside. We already had a doe and a button buck down, it was his first PA buck, and as we were standing there watching the sheets of water come down, a beautiful eight point and a doe walked out of the woods right in front of us. "You get on the doe, I am on the buck, fire when I say three," I said.
On the count of three, both our guns fired and both deer went down, not even fifty yards from the front porch. I have a great photo of the boy with four deer in the driveway. Two bucks, two does. Serious great memory. But now we will call the porch Blind Number One, thank you.

Never say never. Even old "wise" bucks make mistakes when on the trail of a hot doe. I've seen them do dumber things than walking within 80 yards of a cabin, during the rut.

SRH

I heard about an old not so wise buck that fell off a house boat chasing a young hot doe...

come on jOe, dat aint nice...

Stan - you are right. It just did not happen today.
Ed Good, the homeless joe guy is blocked on my account, so I do not see what he writes.

Early this morning I filled a DMAP tag on an old doe, using my favorite mountain gun. 1990 Ruger RSI International .308 full stock, with open sights. Later in the day I took another doe. Nothing here has died at the hands of a classy double rifle, yet.

pamtnman,

Back when I had a Lang double rifle, I had to kill a deer with each barrel. But after that, I decided that, nice as it was, double guns are overkill for whitetails and I would rather put the money towards a shotgun or two that would get more use. So it went down the road.

Best of luck on your quest.

Brent, what a fabulous set of pictures and gun! Thanks for posting those. What got me into double rifles altogether was the opportunity for an immediate followup second shot, after missing with the first. It has to do with the way I mostly hunt deer and bear, which is stalking high up in the steep and playing the wind. I usually bust deer in or near their beds, and as I have aged, my eyes are not what they used to be. That immediate second shot, without any bolt throw or lever action, cheek welded to the stock and eye still on the quarry, is everything. But like a lot of antique gun guys, I bought a lot of double rifles that are impractical for that kind of hunting, and thus became "stand" guns. Suitable for sitting under a ground blind or roof, good out to 100 yards with my eyes and the tiny sights, although I know from practicing with them that they are capable of excellent accuracy well past that 100 yard self-imposed limit. There is also something enjoyable about hunting with open sights and black powder. Open sights I have hunted with since age 8, and while several years ago I dallied with a 1952 Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage with a Nikon scope, and actually killed several deer with it one year, the scope ended up getting thrown off somehow the next year, and as the morning deer scattered from the errant shots, I grabbed an open sighted rifle and brought two to hand.
Which is a long way of saying these guns please me, they suit me best, and they produce. I understand your statement above, and in fact I have had the same thinking about the Lancaster .450 double, which has taken one deer with each barrel. From stands, not stalking. Anyhow, good conversation and I really enjoy your pictures above. Great gun, nice kills.

I do not own a double rifle, but I do have a Sauer combination hammer gun in 12ga/.43 Mauser. I never could shoot it with the folding leaf sights, but put one of these on the top-rib and found it perfectly
satisfactory...Geo

<https://www.seeallopensight.com/>


Of course I only use the combination gun after I have my meat in the freezer and get cocky.

Shot one deer with my Janeck percussion buscheflinte. Had a .577 R.E.A.L. bullet in the left rifled barrel and a 28 ga roundball in the right smoothbore barrel. Did not have to use the roundball.

Geo - That is a really neat sight system. I have not seen it before this. I lack the strength to mount something like that on a classic antique gun. And I am with you on hunting with the antique gun ... I usually do it after the .308 has put something on the ground, and now I can afford to make mistakes.

Hal - That .577 REAL must have done the job right on the spot. Lot of lead