Gobblers With A Flintlock

It’s not that Medrick Northrop is an inexperienced shooter or hunter who doesn’t know about modern turkey guns and loads … far from it. Northrop has over six decades of hunting experience. He has shot competition in the military, clay target sports, cowboy action shooting, muzzleloading rifle matches and handgun matches. He has taken his share of gobblers, most with modern shotguns and loads. He has been a hunting guide and managed hunting camps in Alabama and Florida. He lived in Alaska for over 10 years and hunted many times in the Brooks Range. In short, most would consider him a master hunter, and he is, so why go back two centuries with turkey hunting gear?

Northrop got an early start into frontier living. Being a history major in college, he was drawn to the history and ways of the longhunters and mountain men. He has attended many Rocky Mountain rendezvous and has mastered frontier skills. One, in particular, is the making of wing bone turkey calls, which he artistically scrimshaws. After making the historically correct calls for several years, it became obvious to him that he should use the firearm that was used when the first longhunters hunted wild turkey, the flintlock shotgun.

To Northrop, it is the challenge of calling a mature gobbler that drew him to using a homemade wing bone call to lure a gobbler into the 30-yard range of the flintlock shotgun. To him, it is the thrill of the chase, not the kill, which makes it exciting.

“It’s about the calling and woodsmanship,” he said.

The shotgun that Northrop uses for his spring hunts is a semi-custom 12-gauge flintlock. It started out as a do-it-yourself kit but Northrop wanted a few things done to it that he felt were beyond his skills, like fine wood-to-metal fit inletting and expert lock tuning. To do this, he enlisted the expert gun-making skills of James Parker of Calvary Longrifles.

Once Parker finished his work and the shotgun was in Northrop’s hands again, he finished the stock and browned the all-steel parts except the lock. Then he sealed all parts of the shotgun with a beeswax, bear oil and sweet oil mix.

“I don’t use any modern cleaning material or methods on my period firearms, trying to keep it the same as would have been expected with firearms of that day,” he said.

The cylinder-bore flintlock turkey gun features a 35½-inch round barrel with a fowler-type blade front sight. It sports a Davis lock and a curly maple stock. Northrop made a hardwood ramrod with an antler button tip to accompany the gun. The finished flintlock shotgun weighs 11 pounds and balances at the lock, easy to carry, mount and swing.

After much trial and error, Northrop finally worked out a hunting load his shotgun liked. It shoots a consistent turkey-killing pattern at 30 yards, the effective maximum range for the cylinder-bore gun, and an excellent pattern at 20 to 25 yards, the range at which he takes most of his spring gobblers. For priming the flintlock, Northrop uses 3F black powder. His hunting load is 90 grains of 2F black powder over which he loads four overshot cards, over which he loads equal volume-to-powder of No. 4 and No. 6 mixed lead shot, (about 1 3/8 ounces), over which he seals with one overshot card. He does not use felt wads, which he found blew holes in his pattern.

When asked about what gear he carries in the field to load the flintlock, he explains, “After seasons of maneuvering through our southern Alabama understory draped with a powder horn and shooting pouch, I realized I spent an inordinate amount of time getting untangled from low limbs, bushes and briers, so for those rare second shots that might be necessary, I made a pocket-size shot/powder holder out of river cane. It is two-sided, holding 90 grains of 2F black powder in one end and the equal volume of mixed numbers 4 and 6 shot in the other end. I made a quick opening for each end of the cane container. I carry a few overshot cards in an easy-to-reach pocket and a small priming flask around my neck so I can re-prime the flintlock quickly if necessary. To allow me to carry the flintlock on a half-cocked position safely while hunting, I place a leather frizzen stall over my lock. It is quick and easy to remove before firing.”

He adds, “There are many loading methods and loads for muzzleloading black powder shotguns and/or fowlers. When you experiment with your own, you will probably find a ‘best’ load and pattern different than mine and others; that’s just the nature of the guns. I want to remind anyone using a flintlock to make sure the flint is held very tight in the hammer, as a loose flint can cause a misfire due to the lack of sparks reaching the priming powder.”

What’s Next?

Northrop is pleased with his longhunter-style turkey hunting setup, and now he wants to take it a step further. Starting this spring he will add authentic frontier clothing to go with his flintlock rifle and wing bone call. He thinks it will just add to the challenge, hunting modern spring gobblers as was done two centuries ago.