Pronghorn Antelope with a Flintlock Muzzleloader!
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
Joseph von Benedikt
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 September 2025
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode brings you debatably the coolest pronghorn antelope hunt I've ever done... recorded in the field, while hunting solo on public land. I don't like the word "primitive" so I'll use the term "traditional" to describe my equipment: My rifle was a 1780s-style flintlock muzzleloader charged with blackpowder and a patched round ball.
The stars lined up and I was blessed with a 106-yard opportunity on a great buck. Candidly, I'd planned to take any ethical shot opportunity on any mature buck. Instead, I had a shot at the second biggest antelope I've ever hunted. Sitting deep in the sagebrush, my rifle supported by Spartan Precision Equipment's marvelous quad shooting sticks, I squeezed the double-set trigger. The flash of priming powder and the report of the rifle were nearly simultaneous, and through the cloud of blackpowder smoke I saw that .50-caliber, 170-grain round ball literally flatten the buck.
I love antelope meat, I love solo hunting on public land, I love God's country and cherish the privilege of hunting... and right now I really love my flintlock rifle!
ENJOY!
FRIENDS, PLEASE SUPPORT THE PODCAST!
Join the Backcountry Hunting Podcast tribe and get access to all our bonus content on www.patreon.com/backcountry
Check out our new "recommended outfitters" hunt booking agency! We're super excited about this venture that allows us to share our favorite destinations around the world with our loyal listeners. We'll also be doing hosted hunts each year, which will be available first to our loyal listeners on Patreon.
We have a new advertising partner! Check out Swift Bullets, known and trusted as the best of the best by most African Dangerous Game specialists.
It's Porter's Firearms' 30-year anniversary! They're offering some incredible deals specifically to podcast listeners. Call Shane Porter at 870-701-0504 for details.
VISIT ALL OUR SPONSORS HERE:
https://www.portersfirearms.com/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | There are a few things better as screwing up a stock than a wily old lead female, whether it's a cow elk or a dough antelope or anything in between. |
| 0:12.4 | Friends, I am doing something I didn't expect to be doing today. |
| 0:17.2 | I am driving home. |
| 0:18.8 | I had planned to be out a good part of the week and to do a |
| 0:24.1 | episode recorded in the field like I've done in the past kind of audio journal style with, |
| 0:31.4 | you know, five to 15 minute entries every night, just talk about what I was doing. |
| 0:40.3 | But holy moly, miracles happened. |
| 0:42.0 | The ducks all lined up. |
| 0:43.6 | The stars were all in a row. |
| 0:51.2 | And I was successful last night very much faster than I anticipated. |
| 0:53.9 | And so I'm here to tell you that story today. Now forgive the less than |
| 0:57.2 | optimal audio if you would please. I'm just recording using my Zoom H4N Pro field recorder. And it has |
| 1:07.6 | pretty good sound, but I'm sure you can hear the hum of my diesel pickup in the |
| 1:12.7 | background and some road noise and you're probably going to hear a blinker and maybe even Siri |
| 1:17.7 | yelling at it at me when I miss a turn here but I want to share this story with you well it's still |
| 1:23.7 | fresh in my mind because, man, how exciting. |
| 1:34.8 | This was a solo endeavor and I guess I didn't really want it to be. |
| 1:41.2 | My son William really wanted to come with me and I really would have loved to have him along. But as it happens, school is in session now, and I've been traveling a lot, |
| 1:51.1 | work was backed up, and my tag was only good for another week, and I figured if I didn't get out, |
| 1:59.4 | I hadn't even done any scouting. |
| 2:01.1 | If I didn't get out and at least put in a few days and kind of try and figure out the |
| 2:05.5 | lay of the land and then hopefully have a day or two right at the end of the season to come back |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joseph von Benedikt, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joseph von Benedikt and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.