I’ll be honest, like a lot of other hunters, after using high-powered rifles with powerful telescopic sights to take a deer, switching to a black-powder flintlock didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence.

Over the years, more and more hunters began to pursue deer in the late flintlock season, and I, too, eventually added the rudimentary flintlock rifle to my arsenal.

Success didn’t come right away, but after a couple of years of using a flintlock, I finally connected.

I remember climbing up into a ladder treestand at the edge of the woods next to a steep wooded hollow on one side and a field out on the other side. After a couple of hours into the wait, a big doe walked out into the field about 40 yards away and broadside. I put the open iron sights just behind the front shoulder and squeezed the trigger. By the time the smoke cleared, the doe was already down. I was elated that I actually succeeded in using such a crude rifle.

Pennsylvania’s late statewide flintlock deer season runs from Dec. 26-Jan. 15. In Wildlife Management Units 2B, 5C, and 5D, you get an additional week.

Bear in mind that each participant in the flintlock muzzleloader season must also have a muzzleloader license in addition to a general license.

You must use a single-barrel, flintlock ignition long gun of 44-caliber or larger or a 50-caliber or larger handgun using single-projectile ammunition. Telescopic sights are not permitted in the flintlock muzzleloader season.

There are some other regulations to keep in mind if you are hunting in the late flintlock season.

Although it’s recommended, you are not required to wear or display fluorescent orange, and an unused antlered deer tag from a general hunting license can be used to take an antlerless deer during the after-Christmas flintlock muzzleloader season.

Pennsylvania held its first flintlock deer season in 1974. Today, forty-four states allow muzzleloaders for big game hunting, but Pennsylvania is the only state with a separate season dedicated to flintlocks.

In that first flintlock hunt, there were only 2,064 licenses sold, and the harvest was only 65 deer — 61 antlerless and four antlered. We’ve come a long way since those early flintlock hunting days.

In 2022, the Game Commission sold 142,687 resident muzzleloader licenses and 7,637 non-resident licenses, and as expected, the deer kill has gone up as well. The estimated 2022-23 deer harvest, not just for flintlocks but for the muzzleloader seasons overall, was 24,520 antlerless deer and 1,230 bucks.

If you think hunting with a flintlock is something you might want to get into, you may want to consider doing some research. I highly recommend Dave Ehrig’s book Black Powder Whitetails. Dave is a friend and fellow outdoor writer and the editor of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association’s magazine, Muzzle Blasts. The book was published by Celtic Moon Publishing, Inc. Trust me; this book will tell you everything you need to know to get into hunting with black powder rifles.

In the meantime, there is still a little time left in that late flintlock season, and by the time this story comes out, there may even be some snow on the ground-something we haven’t had much of during recent deer seasons.