Hunting red stag with an original M 1873 Springfield Trapdoor rifle 

Also, what a profound comment you make after coming up to the fallen stag. You encapsulate my own feelings, and that of many hunters I suppose, so well. Why do we kill these majestic forest creatures? And then, after a while, it slowly comes back to us. Hunting is in our DNA and it's something most of us can never stop doing, even if it means having to take a life. Also, the quality of the harvested meat is outstanding. Is is a gift that we must always count ourselves truly lucky to receive. Anyway, thank you for another great video. You always make me want to grab the nearest rifle and go for a walk in the woods.

The fact that you chose to shoot the old deer that is in it's past it's prime age just shows that some hunters will practice to harvest an animal in a conservationist manner. That is true game conservation and true sportsmanship. Congratulations on your hunt.

Someone once said and I paraphrase " you don't hunt to kill but kill in order to have hunted" what a great sentiment like your video showing what a true hunter you are. Someone who respects and honors their fallen prey

First let me say how much I love your videos, and that your appreciation for the animals you hunt and the sadness you feel at the conclusion of their lives, revealed to me a side of hunting I had never considered, and inspired me to purchase a license and head out into the mountains for my first hunt. I even decided upon my own 1873 Trapdoor as my weapon of choice. I hiked over a mile into a picturesque stream valley lying between four mountains. I was optimistic about my prospects as I had witnessed while scouting plenty of well-worn deer trails which meandered past trees heavily battered with buck scrapes and heard dried leaves crackle under the hooves of large unseen animals. I set up slightly off an old logging road that provided a clear view of two of the most prominent trails winding through the tall grass to the creek. I began scanning the floodplain with my binoculars, and upon the third pass the optics illuminated a magnificent 8 point buck confidently emerging from the early morning fog. He was being trailed by a younger buck, and after stopping for a drink, they began mock fighting, each deer politely taking turns to hop forward and engage the other with its antlers. They were around 90 yards away and completely oblivious to my presence. I slowly raised my rifle and cocked the hammer from safety to fire. I aligned the cross hairs below the mature buck's shoulders, and placed my finger on the trigger. But the more I looked at the buck, the more I became consumed by the gravity of ending another creature's life, especially one as magnificent as this one. Having emerged from a long-term relationship, I contemplated the implications of robbing the other buck of its sparring partner. I imagined the isolation and misery my bullet would bring, and the pain and sadness I've struggled to suppress hit me harder than the 45-70 round in the chamber. I put down my rifle and picked up my binoculars, spending the next half hour enjoying the much-needed company. I saw those same two deer again three more times over the next 24 hours, including one encounter at less than 15 yards (the big buck literally almost ran into me), yet I wasn't able to complete the task I had set out for. I will go out again tomorrow for the last time this hunting season, though I doubt I'll be able to overcome the emotional wall which no amount of target shooting has been able to topple. Perhaps one day, whether it be tomorrow, next year, or even a decade from now, I'll be able to pull that trigger and reap the bountiful rewards for all the money and time I've invested. For now, however, I feel blessed to have spent such quality time in the company of nature's beauty. Congratulations and best wishes from Pennsylvania!

Congratulations on the successful hunt! I appreciate that you were willing to talk about that happy but sad moment that is often forgotten when you are hunting. On one hand you are grateful for the food, but on the other hand you are sitting with a beautiful creature that just gave its life at your hand. Beautiful video, enjoy the harvest!

Another well made video. I really like the homage you pay to the life taken. Shows respect for the animals. Once again thank you for the wonderful videos.

Watched till the end with great pleasure. My deepest respect for you and your attitude. Respecting your own prey and honesty! You are a true gentleman and hunter!

A very awesome hunt. Thank you for taking us along.

Very nice hunt congratulations I really like how respectful you are after taking a life ! I wish hunters here in the US would be more respectful I don't like all that jumping up and down and laughing!!

So nice to see ethical hunters respect the animal. This is what I have tried to instill in my children. Do not hunt unless you have practiced and know what you and your weapon can do. Do not take a shot unless you already know it will be a clean ethical kill. Do not kill only for sport, the meat must be enjoyed. I've hunted all my live and my heart still feels pain taking an animals life. I also enjoy the wholesome, ethical hunt and time spend afield.

thank you watching you walk the woods in the fog brought back so many memories

Congratulations for your red stag! I like how you appreciate and respect the cycle of life. Sometimes something dies that something else may live. I have an original 1884 Springfield Cavalry carbine in 45/70 however I load BP equivalent smokeless cartridges that develop

Thank you for another wonderful video! Always appreciate every part of the video from handloads, ballistics, and of course your gorgeous countryside!

I love all of your hunting videos, and the respect that you show for the animal. I always felt the same way when I would shoot an animal. I can no longer hunt, but it can and should be done in an ethical and respectful manner.

Congratulations on a successful hunt. Your hunting films are beautifully and respectfully done and I always look forward to them. Thank you for sharing.

Great, beautiful video. As always.

Great vid. I owned and shot one of the trap door Springfields. Great fun with black powder and modern ammo too. Thanks for the interesting and informative content.

Another hunting video already? And with one of my favorite historical firearms. You spoil us Balázs!

I have an original 1873 passed down from a family member. His father actually took it off a Union Soldier he killed in battle during the "Indian Wars". Our family is Chickasaw.

As a fan of the M1873 and 45-70 cartridge , thank you.

Congratulations! And thanks for the great video.

Although I no longer hunt game for the sport of it, I have no issue with those who do. If it were a matter of survival, I'd certainly do it again. The 1873 Springfield trapdoor killed uncountable bison in late 19th century America. So there's little doubt that deer, and larger game can easily be taken with it. Or that it is capable of very long shots. Thanks for the enjoyable video.

Waidmannsheil from a German Hunter, who is also a big blackpowder and "capandball" fan 👍

Like your hunting videos a lot! So inspiring and relaxing.

Such a very interesting video, well done.

Would you be able to show a traditional meal prepared with your harvest?! Cooking show might not be what you’re trying to do, but to see some of your culture through food you harvested would be awesome!

Beautiful video. The rifle is really a beauty, and that was a nice deer that you worked hard for. Good thing about a 45/70, it shouldn’t be too hard to follow the trail with a hole that big. 🙂. Oh, and I understand completely that sad feeling when you see it dead, or worse for me, when I see it struggling to hang on, but after it’s over, it is the way of nature, and you’re feeding your family better food than you can buy.

That’s some great shooting.

Fantastic video, Cap! This was the first of your hunting videos that I've watched; and it was beautiful! I love the respect and care you have for the life of the stag. It shows how much of a true sportsman and gentleman you are. The hiking shots were beautiful, with great views of the surrounding forest. It makes me even more sad that I've been cooped up at home all week with the flu. While you were hiking in the video, I saw your backpack had an integrated stool and I thought that was a really cool feature! Now I'm wondering where I could get one. Is there a specific brand and/or model I could look for? Thanks in advance! And thank you for the amazing work on your videos!

Hunters blessings!🌿🌿 Beautiful shot, beautiful stag and a beautiful rifle :) Ps. I think your camera developed tinnitus :D

Hello. Your videos are still the best in Europe, about muzzleloading and historical weapons. In Spain we no longer have Nº. 11 caps for our muzzleloaders, neither RWS nor CCI. How are you solving it in Hungary? Do you still have caps from Nº 11? Congratulations and greetings from Spain.

Me: yes my interests are old guns and hunting. Capandball: Hold my beer.

... immediately had to grab my rifle and go into the woods. Great Video !!!! Waidmannsheil from Bavaria.

Thanks!

Outstanding hunt and shot Congratulations.

Good shot, clean kill, well done.

then why is it that men got us out of the great depression and that was extremely hard times. great video though

That was some huge expansion. Is the bullet very soft lead? The red stag has really beautiful antlers, good hunt.

That looks like so much fun! In Norway we have red deer too but here the law says the caliber has to be minimum 6.5mm and a minimum of 2200 jules at a 100 meters To me this is totally absurd knowing you can hunt big game with a black powder musket, a pistol caliber or even a bow totally humane like this Also the bullet has to be powered by gunpowder on any hunting in Norway, so airguns are out even the ones as powerfull as a magnum pistol round👏🏻And of course bows and crossbows are illegal to hunt with, no wonder I lost interest in hunting here

Excellent as always. Were the bullets you used sized to the rifling grooves? I know for the military cartridges the bullets were undersized, but expanded to fill the rifling upon firing.

Is that you playing that excellent guitar?

I have a Trapdoor Calvary Carbine that I hunt with all the time....

Hi Balázs, is there another way to get the hold of you? I tries calling the shop as I am coming to Budapest on Friday. I spoke to your colleague in the shop and he said that you had just left.

Yard metar ??

AWESOME!!! HUNT!!

Énis tudok Magyarul

Enjoy your life

👍

There is so much here to praise. The lovely countryside, the ethical hunt, the tribute to the fallen game. Of course the rifle and way you knew it. The Springfield trapdoor is such an iconic American rifle. Outdated in looks, but rugged and dependable. It served long in US service. Still in use well into the early 20th century with Nat'l Guard units and a staple of many a poor family as a tool to bring in meat in the days when one could be bought mail order for only a few dollars. Loved to see you even had a proper McKeever cartridge box when doing your range testing. If you should ever get ahold of one of the really early examples, a Second Allen Model of 1866 you'd have a rifle which started as a Civil War musket before being converted to cartridge in the years immediately following the end of the war. Quite a few of those ended up in Europe for the Franco-Prussian War. If you think your 1884 is accurate, you should see how the Second Allen shoots!

I always enjoy your hunting films. The respect for the game and your enjoyment of the hunt and stalk are a joy to me. This is the way my grandfather hunted, (he was from the Black Forrest) and his principals were passed down to me in America. Now I am old and, in a wheelchair but your videos allow me to still enjoy the hunt. Thank you.

Very nice stag and excellent video. The older I get, the less desire I have to hunt with a modern firearm. I have spent most of my small game season this year chasing squirrels and grouse with my Indian Trade gun, and I took a whitetail doe during our muzzleloading season with my old Navy Arms Zouave musket, and regular deer season with an original K98 Mauser that was a WWII bring back. I will probably finish out this season with my Winchester 1894 in .32-40 that I took a deer with two years ago and then when our late muzzleloading season picks up, I may go to one of my flintlocks, either a Kentucky rifle in .50 or a Tennessee rifle which very closely resembles a Jeager. Modern rifles to me have lost something, they're great, they work, but if I have to say they're lacking something, it's a soul, that older and more primitive guns seem to have.

Absolutely appreciate Cap&Ball's content!

Excellent video! I really enjoy your passion and attention to detail. Thank you for another wonderful video.

Well done on a successful hunt! Using an old style rifle makes it so much sweeter and an good choice to take out the stag.Being a hunter is a paradox,taking the life of an animal/bird is a sad thing but then there is the elation of the success and knowing that it is natures gift to sustain your family .Thank you for sharing this journey from Australia.

I don't think I've ever seen someone respect their kill like you did here. It's a nice gesture to appreciate what we take from the forest. Thank you for the beautiful hunt!

Nice shot placement! Love seeing these old gals still getting it done, and with traditional loads is even better

Congratulations on a successful hunt. Love to see the respect you show to the animals.

Alway enjoy your videos, especialy the BP hunting one (more please). After retiring from national and MLAIC competition I took up BP hunting. But I like using patched round ball rifles. Keep up the great work. THANX.

Lots of good meat in your stag. Congratulations! I also like how you stay humble about your actions and success. Reminds me that all hunters should express gratitude for their successes. Stuart

I would love to own one of these rifles. Or a rolling block, but I would like to be able to shoot the modern 4570.

As grandpapa would say, "If you can't put'em down with a 45-70, then you need to quit and take up farming". ^~^ Papa was very much a realist and a bit of a card.

"They look obsolete but in the proper hands they can still do the job they were designed to do." Ain't it the truth.

Hunter's greetings and Hunter's well done. Your respect for all aspects of the hunt do honor to the game and to you. Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience.

Respect to you for how you treated and respected the animals life you took to feed your family

"Ilyenkor mindig elgondolkodom az értelmetlenségén, miért csináljuk ezt?" Mert ölni jó. Kb. 20 év vadászat után majd megunod, és abbahagyod. (Nálam ennyi volt.) Ha meg elkezdesz állatokat tartani, akkor valóban tisztelni is fogod őket. Na onnantól biztosan nem vadászol. Ne értsd félre, nem kritika, de ez olyan mint a motorozás, ki kell belőle nőni. Az elgondolkozás ennek az első jele. Utolsó: a töret meg a vadászkürt, meg az ehhez hasonló germán huncutságok viszont valóban teljesen értelmetlenek. A videó kétség kívül profi munka.

What struck me is I have the same feeling after taking a shot. The rush of nerves and euphoria give way to a certain sadness that something so wild, pure, and beautiful had to die lose its life. I know the happiness and euphoria comes later but I am thankful for such a reflection when I take a life, the consideration given reminds me what it is all about and the history we carry on in a world that is forgetting it.

Nice to see something positive on RU-vid.

For the first time since 2013 I’m going to get a chance to go hunting with CVA Kentucky rifle in .45 cal, percussion lock. Took my very first deer with it then, a doe. Hope I can bring home another!

Beautiful hunt and hard-earned success. The Hungarian Forest is so vast and diversified, and beautiful in all seasons. Great harvest with the old American trapdoor, that 45/70 is as good a cartridge as it was over 100 years ago. Your workups for hunting with vintage cartridges are admirable, keep up these great videos of how to hunt safely, ethically and humanly. Love your channel.

I had to replace the front sight with one that was twice as tall. Mine is an 1886 model, it was way high at 100m. I believe that particular model and sights are set for 500m. I ended up trading that rifle for a carbine. That is the exact load I use for whitetail deer and feral hogs out of that carbine.

I love this Rifle, i love Hunting - and i love this Channel. Happy Times! =)

Absolute beauty of a rifle, love the videos.

Very fitting that the music is called “your love” as I was just thinking that through your videos your love for the equipment you use and your love for the sport is so indisputable. My love was wildfowling on the foreshore of Strangford Lough in Ireland , but I struggled so much with hunters remorse, that I gave it up thirty years ago. I still go out at first light just to watch the wildfowl and so often I have birds come over my head and I say to myself “ there’s a lovely shot “ I live in Washington state now and have a strong urge to take up wildfowling again. The flights of ducks and geese are like the ones I read about in stories from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Anyway, if you’re still reading this , and I haven’t bored you to death,I look forward to your next video and also could you tell me who make your back pack. Regards, David

Gratulálok ✊🇳🇴

Truly a beautiful hunt! I hunt here in Texas and most “hunters” shoot out of insulated blinds…. I hunt a simple canvas ground blind that most people think is uncomfortable. I’m a sucker for being wet and cold, it’s true hunting.

After seeing shelves go bare during the COVID pandemic and now with inflation rumbling in the markets, I’m glad to live in a state here in the USA that is abundant with game. I’ve begun taking hunting much more seriously. On a side note, is putting leaves in the animals mouth a uniquely Hungarian custom?

Great stalk. I have taken a couple of Fallow deer with my Pedersoli Sharps .45/70, certainly satisfying to use old style equipment.

We can only use rifles for a couple of weeks toward the end of the season. Only bow hunting and crossbow hunting for now. As usual I've been sick on and off but I am bound and determined to go hunting this year for real and fill my freezer. We can only use straight wall cartridge rifles so I'm going to stick with my 54 caliber flintlock for rifle season and black powder.

That looks way more to be a model 1884 note the shorter wrist, Buffington sight. the lock plate is completely inset into the stock and I believe I see a stacking swivel which was not on the 1873...It might be a Bannerman assembled rifle. Anyway, I have an 1884 with everything correct EXCEPT...no cartouche on the left side over the trigger. It's in great shape and I shoot it with special reduced load smokeless with the 405 grain lead bullets...ENJOY!..Oh..I forgot..my 1884? lock has only 2 "clicks" as the 1873 had but the 1884 is, I believe, supposed to have a 3 click lock..I bet you actually know all this...

Capandball. Thank you so much for your reply. That measure is a work of art and i am glad to have seen one if only on video.. Your videos are far and away the very best of the genre. Your reaction at the end of this video is I think pretty much in line with what many of us feel in our development as stewards of God’s gifts. When I reached that point myself, I turned my attention to destructive pests and predators. It’s an entirely new learning experience and one that for me at least, carried me into the age when I could no longer stalk the hunting fields. God bless you and yours. Please keep making your awesome videos.

Thank you for making a difference showing feelings and thereby true responsibility for a tradition that you live! This way you not only show the history of these beautiful weapons, but you continue to write it. And that is what we need more in this world. It is what shows how valuable life is.

Thank you for showing respect after the kill. You are a true sportsman. 🙏

Beautiful hunt, and well said with the conservation. I too have a trapdoor Springfield, its a great shooter, but as of yet I have never had a successful hunt with it. Glad to see yours performed very well for sure! Thanks as always for the great video and to many more coming I hope!🤠

I have been hunting exclusively with a sharps rifle loaded with proper paper patch sporting ammunition. I really enjoy your videos due to the variety of rifles and loading techniques. After watcher a few of your hunting videos RU-vid cued a Eastman’s Hunting Journal video, 40 kill shots in 20 minutes. Sometimes it’s so embarrassing to be American.

In my 2021 Guns of the Old West Special Edition, on page 83, the writer stated that he used the 250gr FTX Hornady load. Per Hornady, that load is safe in current reproductions of the "trapdoor", as well as originals. Writer stated it wasnt very accurate, though, in his Pedersoli replica, group size over 7 inches, and recoil was 'brutal'. Don't know if I would try in a modern version, but definitely not in an original. Velocity was 2105 fps

Hello I enjoy all of your vids. I have one oc these Springfields. However, mine is 1880 Cadet. I haven't yet began loading for my rifle. Thanks

Do you know if there are bullets for this rifle you can buy ? 45-70 black powder. I searched the internet but didnt find anything.

The leaf ....the one you wive blood from deer and tou wear on the hat...is that some kind tradition/ ritual hunter in your country ?

What would you consider a safe smokeless powder load for a 405 Gr Lead Bullet? I’ve tried online forums but I can’t seem to find a reputable answer.

Amazing even a black powder 45-70 is no joke that gell block jumped and had a huge impact cavity

Great video love your voice its so calming. Ps Hungary is just so beautiful love you my European brothers from Ukraine

A lovely and interesting video as always! Could you please tell me what bullet mould you use? Got a 1884 trapdoor, I would love to hunt with next year..

Absolutely appreciate your channel and all contents Great hunt Love from India

I have this same rifle. Don't know why folks become so sentimental about harvesting an animal. Yours went down very fast good kill. This is far better than having them age and starve and where I live I've often came across areas where moose elk and deer have been torn to pieces by wolves or coyotes, a horrific slow death and I hear them at times from my home. Human hunting is far less cruel than what happens between other creatures in nature.

I have one that’s been in my family since the 1880s. Sadly it is missing a firing pin and the bore is less than optimal. I’d love to take a deer with it, but I doubt it would happen with out a serious gunsmith doing the work the work to restore it

Yall hunt so differently than we do here in missouri but it definitely looks like fun, i got an 8 point and 10 point bucks in the last 2 weeks so my deer hunting is done for the year unless my neighbor wants a doe, he cant get around much anymore so we make sure hes got meat in the fridge

What is the namd of your powder charger? I've ever seen that brass one before. Also any recommendations on a long drop tube?

i noticed you tend to walk a little toe-in. i forget where in my hunt for a history degree i picked it up but native americans concidered that a sign of a good hunter- its natural and quieter than stepping any other way, no matter what your quarry. you also can leave less of a trail yourself.

what a magical journey. much respect to such a beautiful creature and historic rifle

Very close to heaven. I'm so envious of you having such a wonderful experience.