Well, it took until the last day of the special season, and the cooperation of a doe moving about despite the wind, but Sunday afternoon I blooded my Lyman GPR flintlock for only my second BP harvest. The shot was about 50 yards distant, a standing broadside. My GPR has a trigger that - unset - is grittier than a day at the beach, but if a fella tugs on that rear trigger first the front lets off very neatly indeed. The .530 roundball wrapped in a Wonderlubed .010 patch and started over 90 grains of FFFg pierced both triceps just above the elbows (but without hitting bone), popped ribs coming and going, and split the lower chambers of the adult doe's heart on the way through. The brave girl ran maybe 80 yards leaving a blood trail even I could follow. I treated her to a last taste of grass and thanked her for her contribution to our larder. Unless I develop the gumption to take to the woods with a bow despite temperatures in the single digits she was the last venison I'll collect in 2004. Wishing you all a quiet stalk and a strong shower of sparks! McB