A muzzleloader by any name is still a muzzleloader

© By Othmar Vohringer

Yesterday my wife and I drove to the Lower Mainland to visit with friends and family. Apart from the Coquihalla summit where it was icy and slushy on the highway the drive went smooth.

On arrival in Langley my wife attended to family matters and I meet up with a member of a gun club who had previously asked me for my opinion on a muzzleloader shooting program. Apparently the club wants to get more members involved in muzzleloader shooting and the man wanted my input on how to achieve that. “What do you think Othmar” he asked, “Should we make two programs, one for traditional flint and cap lock muzzleloaders and one for modern in-line muzzleloaders? The way he said “in-line muzzleloader” gave me the impression that he was not thinking very highly of them.

Since I was asked for my opinion I gave it to him regardless of his feelings he might harbor against in-line muzzleloaders. “If you want to make the front stuffer shooting program popular then why not include in-line muzzleloaders too instead of making two different programs. After all a muzzleloader is a muzzleloader and there are more people shooting in-lines these days then other types of front stuffers.” I had a fair hunch of what the guy was about to say before he opened his mouth. The look in his eyes was telling me what was about to come.

Sure enough, as suspected, I was subjected to a lengthy monologue of the usual in-line rhetoric. I am not going to bore you with its entirety. Suffice to say it ended with, “…and they just don’t look like muzzleloaders.” Other key phrases where “unfair advantage” and, “Inline muzzleloaders are unethical.”

Hang on a minute, what exactly did the guy mean with “unfair advantage”? Well here is the narrated explanation. An in-line uses a different ignition system and uses the much hotter shot shell primers, rather then the slower burning ignition of flint or percussion cap. This means the likelihood of failing to fire or delayed ignition is reduced to almost zero in an in-line muzzleloader. Maybe I am missing the point but to me that is a good thing.

So what’s up with the argument that modern in-line muzzleloaders are unethical? There is no such thing as an unethical hunting tool. Guns are tools without a brain and without feelings. It’s the person using that tool that makes the decision to act ethically or not. You can use a hammer for what it is intended and drive a nail into the wall or what it is not intended and smash someone’s skull with it. Does that make the hammer an unethical tool? Not likely. It’s the same with a hunting tool.

Another argument that came up was that in-line muzzleloaders hit the targets, made for the softer impact of traditional muzzleloaders, too hard. That’s easy to fix. In that case you either build stronger targets or make a stipulation that in-line muzzleloaders can’t use high powerd loads when the shooter uses the traditional muzzleloader shooting trail. The good thing about muzzleloaders is that you can up- and download the load to your exact needs. You're not reliant on factory loads like the ones used for bolt-action rifles.

Before I moved to Canada I owned and shot a Thomson Center Renegade with cap lock ignition, shooting round balls and lead conical bullets. I also owned and shot a Thomson Center Black Diamond in-line muzzleloader loaded with saboted pistol bullet, pushed out the barrel at lightening speeds and power by 150 grain of Pirotex pellets. Unfortunately I ended up selling them both, along with all my other firearms because I couldn’t be bothered to get involved with the endless and expensive paper trail to get all my firearms across the border into Canada.

In the near future I am going to buy new muzzeloaders. I have set my eyes on a Thomson Center Triumph Bone Collector. Sadly Thomson Center doesn't make the Renegade anymore. The next best choice to the Renegade in my opinion is the Lyman Deerstalker. Why two different muzzleloaders you may ask? Simply because I can and because I like to shoot and hunt with both types. For me hunting and shooting is all about having fun. and not about fitting into a category. But I digress.

Having experience with both types of muzzleloaders qualifies me to give my unbiased opinion on the matter of traditioanl v. modern front loaders. I have shot round lead balls pushed by 50 grain of black powder from my Black Diamond gun and I have shot sabots with pistol bullets pushed by 150 grains of Pirotex from the Renegade. While it is true that the Black Diamond, with a faster rate of twist, was less accurate with a slow load and the Renegade was equally less accurate with a fast load pushed through a barrel with a slow rate of twist the difference was minimal. What I am trying to say with that is that both types of firearms can be up-loaded and down-loaded and still maintain acceptable accuracy. With that said, an inline muzzleloader could be used on a target trail built for traditional black powder guns without destroying the targets designed for slow and soft loads.

As for the argument that a modern Inline looks like a centerfire rifle, you’re right it looks like a centerfire rifle but that is where the similarity ends. A modern inline is still a traditional muzzleloader because the shooter still has to build each load individually and push it from the front down the barrel. The only difference is that due to a better ignition and the capability of handling bigger loads you’re able to shoot a bit further with it then with a cap lock or flint muzzleloader. Mind you, I tweaked the Renegade and built up a load using a conical bullet that retained enough power and accuracy to take any deer sized game out to 85 yards without any problems.

This is the 21st century and we’re faced with huge problems that could end the hunting and shooting tradition for the next generation if we do not wake up to the challenges we face. I am glad that with sound reasoning and knowledge I was able to convince my hunting club acquaintance that with a little good will and respect all types of muzzleloaders can be combined into one. I am also pleased to see that the guy realized that we’re faced with more important issues then who shoots what. It is my hope that in the future we can concentrate more on what unites us all and less on what divides us. We’re all in the same boat and the sooner we realize that the better our future will look.

Image courtesy of Thomson Center Arms


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit


Tags: Muzzleloaders, Thomson Center Arms, Black Powder Guns, Lyman Deerstalker

Pennsylvania Permits Crossbows

© By Othmar Vohringer

Crossbow hunters can add another state to the growing list of states that make crossbows legal for all hunters.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners approved in a meeting on Tuesday crossbows as legal hunting tool in all archery season. This was the final step in a previously approved motion this past October.

With that move Pennsylvania’s antiquated hunting rules have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Previously it was only lawful for handicapped hunters to use crossbows.

In order to appease the sizeable portion of bowhunters that protested this decision the Game Commission amended the original draft and excluded the use of any magnifying scopes with the exception of red-dot type non-magnification scopes. The commission also reserved the right to vote on the decision again in 2012.

However, this did not prevent the assembled traditional archers from giving the commission an earful of the usual totally unfounded fears and negative hype about crossbows.

Personally I welcome this decision and think it is about high time to make the crossbow a legal hunting tool everywhere. Here in Canada we use crossbows for many years and it has proven a great asset to bowhunting and the recruitment of bowhunters. It might also be interesting to mention that none of the often fabricated negative aspects of crossbow hunting have been noted.

Pennsylvania is the 25th. U.S. state legalizing crossbows for all, not only disabled, hunters. Some states have created special seasons for crossbows, while others have included crossbows into the archery season – in my opinion that is the right place for crossbows – and still other states have made the crossbow legal for all hunters but added species restrictions or the hunter has to take a crossbow course.

To find out the specific crossbow regulations check with your states wildlife agency (DNR), or your Canadian province hunting synopsis.

Image courtesy of Excalibur Crossbows

Related articles:
Where I Stand On Crossbows


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Pennsylvania, Crossbow, Bowhunting, Archery, Pennsylvania Bowhunters, Pennsylvania Permits Crossbows

Extend your hunting season

© By Othmar Vohringer

When I visit other blogs and hunting forums I occurs to me, that ones deer hunting season ends most hunters consider it a done deal until the spring when turkey season opens up. Granted the whitetail deer is the most popular game animal. But the hunting season does not have to come to an end when deer season ends.

No matter where you live in North America you are able to hunt all the way through winter and into the spring right up to turkey season. As hunters we are also wildlife managers. With that I mean that hunters are the wildlife agencies most important toll to manage wildlife populations in a healthy and sustainable balance. With that said we should take advantage of all hunting opportunities.

North America has a huge over population of coyotes. No matter where you live coyotes are plentiful to the point where they are considered a nuisance. Not as wildly distributed but equally successful are wild and feral hogs. A resent study has shown that the wild and feral pigs are the fasted growing game species. These animals multiply so quickly that many jurisdictions regard hogs a problem animal and want them eradicated.

So far wildlife agencies have not had much look in persuading hunters to take care of this problem and thus are faced with the only other solution available. Wildlife agencies are left with no other choice but to hire professional animal control people. These professionals trap, poison and “hunt” coyotes and pigs from helicopters.

What upsets me personally about this drastic wildlife control measures is that:

The media jumps on these mass slaughter events and calls these pest control operations “hunters” and with that thoughtless remark gives us real hunters a bad rap in the public opinion. But more upsetting then that is the fact that the animals that are killed in these eradication operations are wasted. The killed animals are often left where they dropped dead to rot.

After deer hunting season is over don’t put your guns away. There is still a hunting season going on. Coyote hunting is great fun and you do an important service to the community. Coyote hunting is also a good way to open doors to land that has been denied to you in the past. With the calving season coming up many farmers are worried and wonder how many of the newborn calves will end up becoming coyote food.

Knocking on a farmer’s door and offer him to thin the coyote population out on his land might just be the ticket to gain permission to hunt deer too. It worked for me in the past. As a side benefit, coyote fur prizes have gone up over the last two years. A few prime pelts will pay for more then just a box of ammunition. In the current economical crises this has great appeal too.

Wild hog hunting is a great challenge and again farmers are glad when you offer to shoot a few hogs of his land that cause havoc on his cropland. Wild and feral hog provide some of the best pork you will ever eat. The way I see it. As hunters and wildlife managers we should step up to the plate and control wildlife populations even if it is not our favorite game animal. Extending our hunting seasons beyond deer season keeps us in good shooting condition and our hunting skills honed and gives relief to the off season boredom that seems to plague so many hunters. I know several places near our home that are overcrowded with coyotes and I will be heading out this week to talk to a few cattle rangers in the area, I already brushed up on my coyote calling skills.


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Coyote Hunting, Wild Hog Hunting, Wildlife Conservation, Hunting Season, Wildlife Management

How Fast Time is Flying By

© Othmar Vohringer

Looking at my last post, I realize it has been almost two weeks since I wrote on my blog. I could swear it had been yesterday. How fast time is flying by and before you turn around its spring again.

A good portion of my time between Christmas and right up to January 17 had been used up with the organization of the Ice Fishing Derby. Leading up to the event I was busy with promoting the event on the radio, in the newspapers and on the local TV station. The ice fishing derby turned out to be a resounding success, thanks to the many hard working volunteers, with over 260 people turning up at the event. The weather was beautiful. If it had not been for the thick layer of ice covering the lake one could easily have been fooled into thinking it is spring.

You can read my article about the event on the BC Fishing Blog.

The day after the fishing derby I went back to Mammette Lake, where the derby was held, as a guest of the fishing TV show “Chilliwack Dart & Tackle Fishing Report”. The show's host, Fred Wardroper, has kindly invited me to talk with him about the derby, the community sprit behind the derby and fishing in general. The filming took almost all day and of course while we were there we tried to catch a few fish too.

As a side note. I had an interesting conversation with the producer of the show, involving plans for the near future of which I will write more about as soon as things start to take shape.

Spring is soon coming and that means two things for me. Turkey hunting season and hunting shows. This year I will, for the first time ever, hunt turkeys in my own home province, rather than travel to America like in the past years, and field test a few new turkey calls form Heirloom Game Calls.

Talking about new turkey calls. I have great news. Brian Warner and I agreed to introduce the “Othmar Vohringer Signature Line” turkey calls. These calls will be exclusively sold through my website and on my seminars and turkey hunting courses. The lineup so far includes a box paddle call and two pot calls, one with a slate and the other with a glass surface. I just hope that these special calls will be available in time for the turkey hunting season. Heirloom Calls are top of the line hand crafted quality calls and poor Brian works day and night just to fulfill demands.

Every spring I look forward to head out on my seminars tour on hunting trade shows and mingling with other hunters. These trade shows are great places to socialize, meet new people, see new products and get industry news. However, the economic situation has made it harder to get all the dates that I usually attend. I looked forward to give my first seminar in British Columbia at the biggest hunting show in this province. But instead I got a phone call from the shows event manager, informing me that unfortunately the show had to scale down on special events due to exhibitors pulling out in the last minute and therefore they had to cutback on seminar speakers too. Me being among the ones they could not hire this year.

The good news is that I been promised to be definitely invited back for next year. But there is more good news. The Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club will host my turkey hunting course on March 15 and you can read more about that event and program on Wild Turkey Fever. For those that are interested in my seminars and hunting courses, there are still a few open dates available, visit my website for more information or contact me directly.

The response to the Big Deer Contest on Whitetail Deer Passion has been phenomenal and I decided to run another contest very soon to give everybody that couldn’t take part the first time a chance to enter. Stay tuned for more to come on this event very soon.

Now that things are calming down again. I hope. I will be back to my usual regular posting on this blog. There are already a few topics lined up that I would like to share with you all.

Photos courtesy of Heidi Koehler


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Ice Fsihing, TV Fishing Show, Ice Fishing Derby, Heirloom Game Calls, Turkey Hunting Seminar, Hunting Trade Shows, British Columbia

PETA features celebrities as targets in new video game

© By Othmar Vohringer

The notorious animal rights organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) launched a new video game. According to a press release form the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, PETA in a seasonal effort to push their radical anti human agenda unveiled the video game “Holiday Snowball” in December.

The objective of the game is to throw snowballs at different characters in the game. The characters are, how could it be otherwise, celebrities that are deemed by PETA as “notorious animal abusers”. The celebrities included are fashion designer Donna Karan, one of the few clothing designers that still uses fur despite home invasions by PETA gang members. Other human targets included in the video game are; Madonna (she wears fur) Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders, Charlton Heston, the Olson Twins (they wear fur too) and Sarah Palin. Sarah is included because, unlike many other celebrities she does not bow down to political correctness, she has the guts to admit on national TV that she is a hunter and proud of it.

In short, the featured celebrities - the ones that are still alive - are people that haven't surrendered commonsense to the scare mongering tactics and attacvks of PETA, unlike the former Baywatch bimbo and frequently surgically enhanced Pamela Anderson, official spokesperson of PETA. Talking about her, I wonder how many animals had to die to enable her plastic surgeon with the skills needed to “beautify” that women.
The objective of the game is to throw snowballs at each of the characters. The first stage of the game has players throwing snowballs at Madonna, Karan and the Olson Twins in shopping mall.
Once the players accumulated enough points in a given timeframe in first stage of the game they are taken to the next level. The second level takes place in a graveyard where the object is to force the Colonel Sanders and Charlton Heston, both evil looking animated, back into the grave from which they escaped by hitting them over the head.

The third stage pits the user against the horse trainer Larry Jones, who last year was controversially involved in the death of a racehorse. The final stage of the game present a bikini and fur coat wearing Sarah Palin. Sarah attempts to shoot Rudolph the reindeer. The players objective to throw snowballs at Palin and when the that stage of the game is won, the last scene shows Rudolph the reindeer pounding its hoofs on Sarah’s head in a very shocking display of violence. This last sequence is so shocking that it prompted an email war between the Sahara Palin Director of communications and Ingrid Newkirk, infamous founder and president of PETA.

It is nothing new that PETA shows little or no regard for humans and human lives. One only needs to be reminded of their demeaning “Holocaust on your Plate” campaign, or the many court trials that implicate and link PETA to terrorist organizations such as ELF (Earth Liberation Front) and the equally criminal organization ALF, to understand what PETA’s real agenda is.

What I find very cynical of PETA is the fact that the characters in the video game are “accused” of “murdering animals”. I find it cynical because in that case PETA should have included Ingrid Newkirk in the game too. It is after all PETA that, by orders of their deranged gang leader, kills annually more animals then any other animal shelter in North America. Not only do PETA employees kill animals that have been surrendered to their shelters on the promise of finding them new homes, PETA employees will go as far as stealing your pet dog or cats out of your backyard or even out of your house and kill them. Of all the things PETA stands for “ETHICAL” is not one of them, in fact what ever it is PETA stands for and what they do is morally and ethically very wrong. The “Holiday Snowball” game is just further proof of that fact. Any organization that has set their aim to influence our children to rebel against common decency, respect and morals is guilty of promoting violence and anarchy.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

A Fishing Notebook that keeps moving around

© By Othmar Vohringer

Recently I have not much time to visit the blogs of my fellow outdoor bloggers as regularly as I would want to. So I have to spread it out by visiting one or two blogs per day. Today was the Idaho Fishing Notebooks turn. Surprise, surprise Mel has moved the blog again. Mel keeps changing his Idaho Fishing Notebook more times then I change the lure on my fishing rod. As usual when Mel moves his blog he does so in an effort to improve the design and navigation. The new blog looks stunning featureing several pages, which should make it easier for the readers to find topics of their intrest.

I encourage you to head on over to the Idaho Fishing Notebook and leave Mel a comment, congratulating him on the new blog layout. Congratulations Mel to the new blog from me too. It’s a great looking blog and now please don’t move again, stay a while it looks like a good fishing hole with plenty of fish in it.


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

The New Year starts promising

© By Othmar Vohringer

In a previous post I reported about the highlights of the past hunting season and it looks like that the new year will be equally exiting. We’re of to a good start.

My new website Othmar Vohringer Outdoors has taken off better then I expected and the response I get is encouraging. It definitely pays to have a website to promote a business or service. Several people inquired about my hunting courses and the seminars. I am particularly proud that it looks very much like that I will be holding my very first hunting seminar at one of the biggest outdoor shows this spring right here in my own home province. This might sound a little strange to some of my readers but in all these years I have never given a seminar in British Columbia or Canada. So I am very pleased that finally I been given the opportunity to play a home game.

With turkey hunting just around the corner I get calls and emails about my turkey hunting course almost every day. This is a very unique course and it seems people are surprised if they learn that my courses are not like a seminar or dry theory in a classroom setting but actual hand one courses where the “students” are directly involved. Rather then just sit and listen or read form charts and books my courses are designed to show hunters how to be more successful. In the course a hunter will not be told how to use a turkey call, he will learn physically right there how use a turkey call. The students will be taken into the field and shown where the turkeys are and how the birds use the terrain to travel from one location to another, where to set up an ambush and so on. I always found that showing and doing at the actual location is a better way to learn then just digesting theories sitting in a stuffy room.

I am getting the hunting course and seminar schedule together as I write this. If you’re interested in having me appear on a hunting event or book a course there is no better time then to do it now and not leave it until all dates are booked out.

Recently I have not posted much on my blogs or visited other blogs. The new year started off busy leaving me little time for much else, including nursing my cold. The upcoming annual Ice Fishing Derby on January 18, keeps me busy too. I actually just came in from an afternoon spent in the cold and snow covered outdoors, video taping a community service broadcast to promote the event. I am still chilled to the bone but it was great. I made some new connections and walked away with new plans and ideas for the future.


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Big Deer Contest Winner

© By Othmar Vohringer

The Big Deer Contest came to a close yesterday, January 31st, at exactly 12 pm Pacific Time zone. It took the computer only a few seconds to jumble the entry numbers and then spit out the winning number. But before I announce this years winner of the Big Deer Contest I would like to write a few words about the contest.

First of all a big thank you to everybody for entering the contest, each one of the entries was an amazing story and prove that our hunting heritage is well and alive. I am glad that I did not have to choose a winner, it would have been really hard to chose just one among the many inspiring entries. Although this was a contest, there are no losers here. Far from it. You’re all winners. You had experiences that will be edged into your memory forever and you came here to Whitetail Deer Passion and shared that memory with other hunters.

I was surprised to see how many young hunters entered the contest this year and this gives me hope for the future of our hunting heritage. With that many young and dedicated hunters our future is in good hands.

And now without further ado here is the recipient of this years prize, a DVD set of Whitetail Revolution generously donated by Versus Country TV. Congratulation to Robbie from Michigan, entry # 004.

Here for you all to read is his story again. All other entries can be read here.

It was November 15, 2008, and I was hunting with my Grandpa in Michigan. At 7:45, a buck walked out at 170 yards and I shot him. It looked like a nice buck, only after the shot, I couldn't tell what had happened. I radioed my Dad, and he advised me to wait a while before attempting to track it. At 8:00, I spotted another buck at 155 yards, which was a much bigger deer. I promptly brought up the gun, and shot him. He dropped, and I turned to my Grandpa and said, "He's down, and he's big, let's go get him!" It turns out, that both the deer were 8 points, and I had dropped them both! They were laying not 20 yards away from each other! The bigger buck will score around 120, and the smaller buck is one that I would be thrilled with, but he doesn't look as big next to the big one. So, after an hour of hunting, I have now been promoted/demoted to official deer driver.

I would like to thank my Grandpa, and my Dad for willingly sacrificing most of their hunting time to help a lot of kids (including me) go hunting.

Once again congratulations Robbie and a huge thank everybody that took part in this contest and congratulations to beautiful bucks you all got last year. My thanks also go to Versus Country for providing the prize for this years contest. I am already looking forward to next years Big Deer Contest.

A very Happy and Healthy New Year to all the readers of Outdoor with Othmar Vohringer

Your Othmar Vohringer
Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit


Tags: Big Deer Contest, Young Hunters, Michigan Bucks, Trophy Deer, Whitetail Deer Passion