The Touch-Hole Feather. Documentation 1789.

An Essay On Shooting 1789.

Todays Find.

It doesn't take much to please me, a piece of agate large enough for fire lighting, a fallen tree & a supply of punk wood or a bracket fungus just waiting to be picked up. One xmas a late close friend of mine gave me a roll of rawhide & a block of beeswax. He knew me so well.
Whenever I am walking in the woods I keep my eyes open for anything that may be of use to me, either now or for later on. So many people walk the woods & see nothing but the trees. But I do need to get out more & do some more experimenting, there are bound to be more useful plants out there, I just have to recognise them.
Todays find though I found by the back gate on my way to the wood shed for more firewood. There on the ground lay a vent quill. Now to anyone else it may have been just a parrot feather, but I recognised it as a vent quill right off. Small, & just the right size. As it happens I lost one of my turkey vent quills, & I like to carry two.

My new vent quill. The vent quill can serve three purposes. One you can stick it in the vent when you are loading, & it stops the vent hole from filling with gunpowder which would slow the ignition. Two the vent quill is used as a marker when the gun is loaded but not primed. It tells you the gun is loaded & reduces the risk of forgetting & loading a second charge on top of the first!!! Thirdly if you need the lock for making fire but the gun is loaded, then the vent quill will stop any stray sparks getting to the main charge.

Here you can see my two turkey vent quills on my shot pouch strap.

So, did you find anything of use today?