Winter’s here and I just read the most recent re-published work of Meshach Browning, Forty-Four Years of the Life of a Hunter (b. 1781) - I read it my first time as a kid. If you’ve never read MB, especially if you’re new to muzzleloading, or have just never heard of him, this is something worthwhile to turn off you computer or tv to go do. Estimated to have slain 1,800 – 2,000 whitetailed deer, it was another era, and he built his farm and raised his family (11 kids) on the meat, and sales of the meat (12.5 cents/lb), hide, and tallow. Browning killed his first deer at age 16 using a muzzleloader equal to today’s 16 ga., shooting a one ounce ball. The book is full of stories that have made me second-guess what I do with my MLs for years - like the story of the time when upon skinning a cougar he had just killed he recovered his lead, beat it back into shape, and then shot a large buck with it while on his way home. Again he recovered his lead, and narrowly missed killing a second deer with it before he got to his destination! It just doesn’t get more practical or level-headed. He had a passion for hunting black bear, a vast many of which he finally killed with his knife – no bravado but having emptied his rifle he was just in a hurry to end things before his dogs were injured. First published in 1859 and immensely popular during the 1860’s, this book has been published many times - it's a genuine classic and makes you think more clearly of the possibilities of hunting with a muzzleloader. 13 bucks paperback – Stackpole books, 2006 (400 pages...of good reading).
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