Wade's World Hunting: Black powder and moisture don’t mix. Wet powder won’t ignite, and many a deer hunter has been disappointed by a misfire on rainy or damp mornings.

However, there are steps that muzzleloaders can take to insure their firearms will go off when desired on those rainy days. Here are tips for “keeping your powder dry” and hunting with confidence that you will, indeed, get ignition and proper powder burn on those mornings when precipitation is falling.

Wade's World Hunting: Percussion caps are little explosions waiting to happen. That’s their job, to detonate when struck and to ignite the powder, which propels the bullet, which strikes the target (hopefully) and results in a successful muzzleloader deer season.

Wade's World Hunting: With a muzzleloader, you usually get only one shot at a deer. If you don’t connect, he’s not going to wait around while you reload and shoot again.

Wade's World Hunting: It’s like a muzzleloader’s portable locker. “It” is a large plastic box containing all a muzzleloader’s supplies, tools, etc. in one convenient container. By keeping all his supplies and accessories together, a muzzleloading hunter will have everything organized and readily available when hunting season rolls around.

Any type plastic utility storage box will work. Get one with a carry handle and a removable tray. Here’s what I store in my muzzleloader toolbox.  

Wade's World Hunting: In the last two decades, many states have established special black powder deer seasons.  These seasons typically offer muzzleloader hunters several days in the woods by themselves. They frequently provide a high chance of success, and they offer many advantages to hunters who take advantage of them. For instance:

Wade's World Hunting: A shooting stick is seldom used for traditional whitetail deer hunting. A common misconception is the shooting stick is only needed for long range shots.

Wade's World Hunting: One "creak" or noise can send a trophy deer running. Test and repair any moving parts on your tree stand to avoid this uneeded problem.