Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
A handmade .54 flintlock, a high-desert mule deer, and a 57-yard window that closed fast. I chose sparks, smoke, and skill over easy.
Why Hunt Mule Deer With a .54 Flintlock
Since I was a little kid, I’ve had a thing for classic hunting tools. Longbows, lever guns, traditional muzzleloaders. They have a soul that modern synthetics just do not. I love a slick precision mountain rifle, but I still crave the challenge, history, and romance of a primitive weapon. For my 2024 Utah Dedicated Hunter tag, I chose a traditional smoke pole with flintlock ignition, true black powder, and a patched, hand-cast round ball. I could have run a modern muzzleloader with a scope or waited for a long-range rifle hunt. I wanted this one to be harder, and I wanted it to be memorable.
Table of contents
- Why Hunt Mule Deer With a .54 Flintlock
- Rifle, Ammo, And Optics: My Traditional Setup
- Mule Deer Patterns In The Utah High Desert
- The Close-Range Encounter: Heartbeat And Sparks
- Take The Shot Or Let Him Go
- What Happened When The Flint Struck
- Traditional Flintlock Rifle Specifications
- Pros And Cons Of A Flintlock Mule Deer Hunt
- Related Reads From GunsAmerica Digest
Rifle, Ammo, And Optics: My Traditional Setup
Handmade .54 Flintlock Long Rifle: Specs That Matter
The rifle was handmade for me by my good friend Steve Baxter, a legendary Tennessee flintlock shooter. It wears a hand-forged trigger guard, buttplate, and hardware. The barrel is 42 inches long, octagonal at the back, and turning round partway forward. Sights are simple and crisp, a blade up front with a plain flat-topped, square-notch rear. The lock is a tuned Siler paired to a custom trigger Steve built. Caliber is .54 with a one turn in 66 inches twist, perfect for patched round balls.
My Black Powder Load And Patch Details
I load 110 grains of FFFg Goex black powder, then a 22-thousandths linen patch, lubed with rendered black bear fat. The patch wraps a hand-cast .530 diameter 230-grain round ball. I seat it atop the charge with a couple of firm taps. At go time, I prime the pan with a touch of FFFFg Goex, close the frizzen, set half cock, then ear the hammer to full and press the trigger.
This rifle and load stack into about two inches at 100 yards. Trajectory is dramatic. Impacts run about five inches high at 50, dead-on at 100, and around four inches low at 125. Past 140 to 150, the round balls destabilize and wander like paintballs. I can hold a pie plate at 135 but not a bushel box at 150. I keep shots close. Optics were simple. My Zeiss Victory RF 10×42 rangefinding binoculars did the measuring.
Mule Deer Patterns In The Utah High Desert
My son and I found a group of good bucks while scouting the day before the muzzleloader opener. Each morning, they crossed a sage and pinyon juniper flat, then slid into dense timber to bed. It was punishing to hunt. We hiked for over an hour in the black every morning to set up. I would normally bivy on the route to save miles, but the wind made that a non-starter. So we hiked and guessed at their path and did our best to be in front of it.
On day three, my son punched his tag with his long rifle. We packed the buck out and iced the meat. Then it was my turn, if the desert would give me a shot.
The Close-Range Encounter: Heartbeat And Sparks
Day four broke clear and silent. I slid the long rifle into a dead juniper that broke my outline and gave me a steady rest. The lane covered nearly 100 yards of scattered brush. If the bucks came behind me, I could try to pivot. I settled in and went statue-still. I did not wait long.
A flicker. One buck angling straight for the lane. Then another. Then a third. Close. Fifty to sixty yards. I cocked the hammer and found the trigger. The biggest buck led. I tracked that long barrel with him and prayed for a pause. He never stopped. In seconds, he would vanish into the brush. My front sight lived on his vitals. My finger took up weight.
Take The Shot Or Let Him Go
Put yourself there. Hard tag, hard country, a big buck in the lane. You trust your rifle. He is walking. Flintlocks are fast when tuned, but still slower than a centerfire. Can you make a clean hit on a mover at spitting distance? The buck was almost into the trees. Vitals steady in the notch. Would you send it?
What Happened When The Flint Struck
I took the shot. The range was 57 yards. I knew I could hit him well even on the walk. The close distance put impact a bit high, clipping the top of the lungs and the bottom of the spine. The buck dropped in his tracks. Smoke, sparks, and a clean finish.
Traditional Flintlock Rifle Specifications
| Model | Handmade .54 flintlock long rifle by Steve Baxter |
|---|---|
| Caliber | .54 |
| Barrel Length | 42 in |
| Overall Length | N/A |
| Weight | N/A |
| Capacity | 1 |
| MSRP | N/A |
Pros And Cons Of A Flintlock Mule Deer Hunt
- Pros: Authentic challenge and skill building, excellent 100-yard accuracy with the right load, deadly performance at close range, deep connection to the hunt.
- Cons: Slow ignition compared to centerfire, steep trajectory, and limited ethical range past 125 to 135 yards, wind and terrain magnify effort, and packing out is no joke.
Related Reads From GunsAmerica Digest
- Traditional Muzzleloader Deer: Round Ball Realities
- Black Powder Basics: Goex Granulations That Work
- Zeiss Victory RF 10×42 In The Field
Aram von Benedikt has spent his life in the remote wilderness and mountains of America’s west. He prefers the company of his horses, dogs, and rifles to that of his fellow humans, with the notable exception of his lovely wife and children, whom he thoroughly enjoys. He writes for various hunting and shooting publications on the subjects of backcountry hunting, fine shooting implements, and survival. This is for the purpose of putting food on the table and shoes on those lovely children’s feet, and because it is a way to pay forward the knowledge he has gleaned from years of living and hunting in wild places.
That was a great muzzle-loader story. I enjoyed reading about your flint lock and the accuracy you have with it. I began hunting in Illinois in 1979. The next year I built my own Thompson Center Hawken from a kit. It was a lot of work and feeling of accoplishment getting it completed. It was challenging and rewarding to harvest a deer when you have only one shot. Even using a percussion cap they don’t always go bang. We hunted from tree stands. Our shots were usually around 40-50 yards. I think the longest shot was 67 yards. In the northeastern Indiana where I now live It is still a challenge deer hunting that I still enjoy. We still have a muzzle loader only season and I think I will take my hawken out hunting again and leave my “modern” Thompsons Center Encore resting this year.. Thanks for the great story.