Episode Details

Episode 63 – “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Flintlocks Revisited)” – Show Notes (Medium)

It’s Christmas week, and the Outdoor Ruhls crew is down in Cabo San Lucas with family—so instead of a brand-new episode, Mike replays a fan-favorite from last year: “Beautifully Imperfect,” the episode that captures why Pennsylvania flintlock muzzleloader season is the real “most wonderful time of the year” (and not Christmas). Mike opens with holiday wishes from the family to yours: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus, Happy New Year, and Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo.

Recorded live from deer camp (“the shanty”), Mike, Mark, and Matt revisit what makes flintlock season so special: it starts the day after Christmas, it’s uniquely Pennsylvanian, and it’s equal parts tradition, teamwork, and chaos. The guys break down how a flintlock works—flint strikes the frizzen, sparks ignite pan powder, fire runs through the touch hole—and why it’s so unreliable. Moisture, bad flints, powder leaking out, hangfires, misfires, and the infamous long lock time make follow-through essential. Even when everything works, flintlocks are harder to shoot accurately than modern rifles, and for most real woods hunting, 50 yards is a solid flintlock distance.

They share how the Ruhls got into flintlocks thanks to a high school biology teacher, Mr. Jerry Stover, and why this season became their favorite way to hunt together between Christmas and New Year. Much of the magic comes from deer drives—less sitting all day, more moving, more teamwork, and (in the good years) snow on the ground for tracking and unmistakable blood trails. They also touch on the appeal of the season’s tag structure in PA, where flintlock can turn into a rare chance at a statewide antlerless opportunity with the right permit.

Gear talk includes their evolution from patch-and-round-ball to conicals and eventually their go-to PowerBelts (around 295 gr), plus the hard truth that flintlocks generally need real black powder—substitutes and pellets can mean misfires or painfully slow ignition. And of course, they admit the obvious: they’ve missed plenty. Flintlocks have a way of failing at the worst moment… then firing perfectly five minutes later at a stump.

The episode closes with classic deer camp humor and family lore—like Davey’s early flintlock success, the crew’s running jokes about muzzleloader terms, and the legendary moment when young Mark sat down as a “stander” and Poppy furiously tried to signal “STAND UP” as a buck slipped through. It’s frustrating, it’s hilarious, it’s tradition—and it’s exactly why the season is, in their words, beautifully imperfect.

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