Carrying Just a Bag?

[Panzerschwein]

Would it be historically correct to carry say just a shooting pouch, with a small powder flask inside the pouch itself instead of a horn or separate flask carried outside the pouch?

Reason I ask is I just bought a .32 caliber rifle and I feel I could easily get away with using a small flat day horn or pistol flask tucked inside my pouch considering the powder charges will be so small, and for squirrel hunting purposes I won’t need more than a few shots anyway.

Do you think the old timers back in the 1800s ever did this? Seems like an easy way to eliminate snagging from additional straps etc.

Thoughts?

[Ghillie]

I have shot a .32 caliber rifle since 1972.  I have had many successful squirrel hunts with a small powder horn in my shirt pocket and a small bay in my coat pocket.  Certainly is do able and was probably done by more people than just me.  I saw no need for a bag and powder horn hanging from my shoulder.  I'm sure others felt the same way.  I deer hunt with a small powder flask, loading board and a few extra balls and patches in a small bag in my shirt pocket.  Worked for years in a .54 and .58 caliber flinter.  I figured if is exceeded the number of shots in the loading block, I probably had a bad day.  Keep it simple and have fun.

[Daryl]

Do what's comfortable. That is what they would have been done in history as well. Don't worry about being historically correct.
They likely knew nothing about being historically correct & did what worked for them.

[Pukka Bundook]

Panzer,
Many German and European as well as British horns and flasks were merely carried in a pocket.
Old habits die hard, and any coming to the New World could well have retained this habit!

This type of charming horn is one of my favourites!




The top unscrews and is the measure.

[Bill in Md]

Do what's comfortable. That is what they would have been done in history as well. Don't worry about being historically correct.
They likely knew nothing about being historically correct & did what worked for them.

what he said

[Dphariss]

I attach the powder horn to the pouch strap. And I have enough tools to keep the rifle running. I also carry a “ruck” when I leave the vehicle.
However, I hunt in some pretty rough terrain at times and unless I find it someplace in the back seat of my pickup I apparently lost a priming horn in a fall on a steep snowy slope about 10 days ago (too much stuff in the pouch pocket) and many years before that lost a prized knife that was attached to the back of the pouch to the same thing but no snow, slick tall grass on a slope, in the great white North.
I have hunted with MLs for number of years starting with small game in Iowa in the 60s (back when the DGW “Squirrel Rifle” was made in Belgium). I  have spent time on foot and horse back in “occupied G-Bear habitat”. Which is basically the entire National Forest I hunt in. I fallen into creeks, had a “horse wreck” in a beaver pond. When I got out I had 2” of water in the pouch but kept my rifle dry somehow, powder in the horn was dry. Had I had it in the typical flask, for example, I doubt it would have been. So I do things differently than someone hunting pheasants in an Iowa cornfield might.  I do what works for me. Everyone else should too.

[Jeff Murray]

I have a small horn that I keep in the pouch.  My pouch is a little larger than my normal shooting pouch to carry a few extra items.  The flap buttons which helps with the inevitable crash in rough terrain.  Once fell when a bank collapsed under me.  Ended feet up head down.  It was definitely not pretty but I kept the rifle up. 

[Darkhorse]

I mainly deer hunt with my flintlocks. And turkey hunt with some squirrels thrown in now and then. And I often hunt with a bag and powder horn just because it seems more authentic. But there are times I just carry all my shooting supplies in my coat pockets. Works great for a one shot deer hunt and it's much more comfortable.
Bottom line for me is; Do whats comfortable while still maintain enough accuracy for humane kills.

A little story about hunting on horseback. Some years back I put in an effort to get drawn for a muzzleloader bull elk hunt with an outfitter that hunts with horses. All my life I've had 2 consistant loves; Horses and guns, and I've owned plenty of both. I have a black Arabian stallion that I wanted to hunt elk on in the magnificient rocky mountains who had about a year under saddle and was about 4 years old at the time.
So my training was altered to try and get him used to the hunting environment. First off, he didn't like myflintlock because the barrel kept tapping him on the head. But things were improving. Now it was me who had to learn muzzle control. So we were riding one day when all of a sudden we jumped 2 does who had been laying under some vines. I felt the horse move so I turned sharply to see why and in the process gave my boy a really hard rap just behind his head with that long barrel.
I don't know where the does went but the horse went home as fast as possible. And I landed flat on my back with my rifle on my chest.
After that I modified my setup to include mecate reins made up like a war bridle, and taught the horse to stop dead when he felt pressure. The horse was to green and young for what I was asking. And I was too impatient to properly train him at the time. But none of it mattered as I never got drawn for that tag anyway.
So when Dphariss mentions hunting elk on horseback I realize just how much I admire men who go into the wilderness with a flintlock and horse to hunt elk.                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

[Ky-Flinter]

Would it be historically correct to carry say just a shooting pouch, with a small powder flask inside the pouch itself instead of a horn or separate flask carried outside the pouch?

Reason I ask is I just bought a .32 caliber rifle and I feel I could easily get away with using a small flat day horn or pistol flask tucked inside my pouch considering the powder charges will be so small, and for squirrel hunting purposes I won’t need more than a few shots anyway.

Do you think the old timers back in the 1800s ever did this? Seems like an easy way to eliminate snagging from additional straps etc.

Thoughts?

Yes.