All the world’s a stage-Shakespeare.

Painting By Andrew Knez Jnr.

All the world’s a stage-Shakespeare.

All the world may be a stage, but real life is not a play. If we fail to check our gun frequently & the hammer should accidently get knocked back leaving the pan open then our priming may be lost, & unlike in the movie Revenant starring DiCaprio, your gun will not fire should you need to use it urgently!

Wilderness living is about survival, many woodsmen did not survive because they failed to take the dangers seriously. Not looking after your gun can be fatal; you need to keep the lock clean inside & out. You need to waterproof the lock mortise & the barrel channel with beeswax or some other grease to stop the damp from swelling the wood. You need to carry a greased leather lock cover & some grease for waterproofing the pan in wet weather.

After shooting game, always reload immediately & place your gun somewhere safe close to hand where it will not fall. Field dress your game as quickly as possible & leave the area. The sound of your shot will have travelled far & may have attracted unwanted attention. If you can’t carry the whole animal then butcher out what you can easily carry. The rest of the animal can be hung in a tree to keep it safe until someone can return to retrieve it. But caution is needed in case someone is laying in wait.

You take care out there.
Keith.