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stinkyfeet

50 Cal.
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Whats the reason people aren't attending is the generation getting older and its more work then fun anymore. Is the price of fuel to get there. Is it the headache for some to get powder and other shooting supplies. Cost of Guns?? Lack of interest ?? Or all of the above. I think its all of the above. I was part of a gun club that held 2 rondys a year winter and summer that had around 75-100 camps at each shoot, around 150 shooters. They held a winter BP league that had 40-50 shooters every year. In addition to monthly woodswalks events averaging around 75 per event. But when sporting clays became the biggest money draw they shut the muzzleloaders guys out closed down the woodswalk trail to make a walk through sporting clays range and the muzzleloading events were done. All for the sake of making money most of the old club members left and new came in and no more muzzleloading fun. The club turned its back on what made the club to begin with it was a sad day and still leaves a bad taste in many of the guys mouth.
I don't blame the inline craze for it either. Whats everyones take on it and how do we as patriots of the sports fix it.
 
I think it is a lot of times the way shoots and clubs are communicated. Most of the time there may be some flyers, but there is no centralized black powder shoot online registry like for example in 3D archery(3D shoots.com). The inability to communicate in an internet world in a serious and constructive manner is obvious. I am talking a simple maintained website here and not Facebook etc. Smart people are not on Facebook anyways because of privacy reasons.
Telephone numbers are not sufficient, as I hate to call people and ask them things, they can easily communicate in a stinking .pdf flier.
There are two major target groups: youth +their parents and middle aged males/females which are bored with modern stuff and have excess income and /or time.
People nowadays want to come prepared as best as they can, so requirements, matches etc. should be explained beforehand.That also saves 90% of all potential calls which imho is a nuisance to the point of contact.
 
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Times change, people change, I keep telling myself “beaver will shine again”. 4 things had a profound influence on me developing a love of muzzleloaders:
Ӣ The movie Jeremiah Jonson /Robert Redford
Ӣ The movie The Mountain Men/ Charlton Hesston
”¢ The muzzleloading rifle adds in Sears and Montgomery Ward’s catalogs.
Ӣ Being introduced to a club full of the nicest, most caring and fun people I have ever met who adopted me like a son.
 
tecum-tha said:
I think it is a lot of times the way shoots and clubs are communicated. Most of the time there may be some flyers, but there is no centralized black powder shoot online registry like for example in 3D archery(3D shoots.com). The inability to communicate in an internet world in a serious and constructive manner is obvious. I am talking a simple maintained website here and not Facebook etc. Smart people are not on Facebook anyways because of privacy reasons.
Telephone numbers are not sufficient, as I hate to call people and ask them things, they can easily communicate in a stinking .pdf flier.
There are two major target groups: youth +their parents and middle aged males/females which are bored with modern stuff and have excess income and /or time.
People nowadays want to come prepared as best as they can, so requirements, matches etc. should be explained beforehand.That also saves 90% of all potential calls which imho is a nuisance to the point of contact.
We have online fliers with websites for shoots here in the western side of the country http://www.talking-bear.com/ you can go there and find numerous shoots that lay it all out for shooters. Of course it took me a while to find the site but its a great tool, other than that its usually word of mouth knowledge.
 
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I grew up in this hobby, and now 45 years later Im still the kid....

And well perhaps, yall should have let Doc burn down that marquee in the sea of TeePees....... :stir:
 
people with young kids have so much going on these days. More then when I was a kid.

With 2 boys that both played baseball in the summer, at times we would have 12 games between 2 kids in one week. That keeps you busy.

I know I will miss it, but this is the first summer that I will not have a son playing baseball in 13 years. I am really looking forward to being able to shoot more and fish more.

They both also played football, soccer, basketball and trap shooting.

Both boys like to go to shooing matches with me.

Fleener
 
Around here in Central Indiana, we keep losing shooting ranges. When a range is lost we usually lose the club as well. We have one club that actually owns it's own land and now they host 3 other clubs that don't have anywhere else to shoot. I belong to that range even though it is a 45 minute drive from my house.

The other reason is that muzzleloading is a black art, that can't be learned sitting at a computer. Maybe somebody ought to invent a new video game that includes loading, shooting a cleaning a muzzleloader

Many Klatch
 
Many Klatch said:
Around here in Central Indiana, we keep losing shooting ranges. When a range is lost we usually lose the club as well. We have one club that actually owns it's own land and now they host 3 other clubs that don't have anywhere else to shoot. I belong to that range even though it is a 45 minute drive from my house.

The other reason is that muzzleloading is a black art, that can't be learned sitting at a computer. Maybe somebody ought to invent a new video game that includes loading, shooting a cleaning a muzzleloader

Many Klatch

And back in the 70's when Thundercreek decided to buy that land, after having had, made improvements, and lost 2 ranges, well everyone said we were stupid for going the way we did. There were some heated arguments to say the least. Interesting dynamic for a guy to grow up in.......

But it sure has paid off now.....
 
Nice site, but not even close to the content of the archery site I was talking about. And the title of the page is not very search friendly, either. I guess most people would never find it.
But I think there is a huge opportunity for the sport here.
 
:idunno: 2 tall,i don't agree with most of what you say.Take a look at most of your shoots today,mostly older shooters.Problem is getting shooters out to shoot.They put the rifle in the gun case or closet,and forget they'er there.We work hard at getting shooters out.We are fortune it to have our own club grounds like wise most clubs in our area.Keeping a club going takes a lot of work,but worth it.We shoot from March till Sept,and have a good turn out.Getting supplies no problem,might have to travel an hr.or so but worth it.Ya only get out what ya put into it.Griz
 
I agree with the black art to a degree, but only partly. I think you're correct when it comes to actual shooting and developing a good load for a given gun. But the overall basic things about the technology, the internals, the sport specific words can be easily learned and understood by "sitting" in front of a computer or reading some good magazine articles. For example: the internal parts of a lock, trigger function and requirements towards the lock internals. Knowing the mechanics from illustrations easily transfers into practical applications.
How many times do we read on here for example about the stuck or pulled off bore brush, because people use a bore brush made for modern guns ? Problems with too small patent breeches etc.
Although I did not learn much from Eric Byes book, I still think it is pretty darn good for novices to the flintlock world. The problem is, that most people don't hear about that book or don't want to spend the money.
 
In some ways it is a matter of perception. When I first got interested in muzzleloaders, way back when, I didn’t even know anyone who had one. The first rendezvous I went to had 75 lodges it now has almost 700. Pryrodex was the only substitute and there was only one place within 30 miles that sold it. And I had to drive 35 miles to find BP (ok I have no idea where to buy BP over the counter now). And then there is the Internet it is probably the best tool one can have in their possibles bag today.
 
being as new as i am here maybe i shouldnt even reply, but in my case and mant others the story unfolds as this.
i have two grandsons who i cherish beyond anything i thoughgt possible, their daddy has zereo interest in their scout activitys so i have always got them to the meetings and camps until recently when my daughter and wife started getting them to meetings, i have an aging mother (over 80 )and a demanding job with hours that are unprdictable ( i got home after midnight tonight )couple with that the desire to fit in with a club and the expense attached to doing so and the fact that when me and a couple of freinds showed up as prospects to a shoot a little early to find almost all of the few guys who showed up packing to leave when we arived it makes you wonder. a couple of the guys stayed with us and let us shoot their guns, explained the club structure, rules etc' and invited us to their squirrel camp a couple of weeks later. well i showed up at camp at about 7:30 thursday night and i could have bunched em up liek bowling pins and fired off a load of number sixes and haada a better chance of being elected president than hitting a sober soul, and i aint talking buzzed, i mean slurring words. you would have thought it was a gathering of the rainbow people. this aint a reflection on the local club members per say as i only heard of one of them being there that night and never did see him but for the most part it seemed to be sure enough 1960's flower children. dont get me wrong, i aint a prude and begrudge no one a drink but what i saw there shocked me and wasnt what i expected to find in the camp of a traditional black powder club. with all that said i am still pursuing becoming a member of the club but if i do i wont attend camps open to non members, i tried to drink myself to death during my M.C years and in hunt camp for years after, it caused me and my best freind much greif and nearly ended both of our marrages and we both matured and out grew it and avoid it out of self defense now.

creek
 
ny griz said:
:idunno: 2 tall,i don't agree with most of what you say.Take a look at most of your shoots today,mostly older shooters.Problem is getting shooters out to shoot.They put the rifle in the gun case or closet,and forget they'er there.We work hard at getting shooters out.We are fortune it to have our own club grounds like wise most clubs in our area.Keeping a club going takes a lot of work,but worth it.We shoot from March till Sept,and have a good turn out.Getting supplies no problem,might have to travel an hr.or so but worth it.Ya only get out what ya put into it.Griz
I guess where you shoot and where I have maybe different experiences. I now belong to a great club and love it. But I have seen and belonged to clubs that were just plan bad. Just imagine you are at a planned annual rondy and you are all dressed in primitve attire and living in the primitive world mindset, then your told to cease fire and stand down while the sporting clays guy pass through shooting their course which runs into yours and this is considered ok, and wonder why members and non-members refuse to return. Now I am all for shooting sports but when a club has a planned primitve event they should shut down modern shooting within the imediate area. I don't want to be shoved aside and told Hey these guys are more important to you, stand there while they walk in front of you and shoot while you wait. Thats BS plain and simple and I have seen this at 3 different events now and will not ever return to those clubs.
 
In my part of the country Cowboy Action Shooting took about 1/4 of the Muzzleloading shooters about 15 years ago. There are a few still shooting, we have about 8 or 10 every month, but it is an informal practice session and lunch. My wife and I travel to Phoenix,Ar; Boise,Id; and Grants Pass,Ore; to find like minded shooters and those numbers drop every year as the "old" drop out. I don't think we need another movie, we need a cool video game!

Michael
 
:nono: 2 Tall glad we don't have that.MeanMike agree with you on cowboy shoots taking a few BP shooters.We have 2 CB clubs in our area.Only conflict is if their dates are the same as ours,a couple of our guy's are into that too.Griz
 
colorado clyde said:
Times change, people change, I keep telling myself “beaver will shine again”. 4 things had a profound influence on me developing a love of muzzleloaders:
Ӣ The movie Jeremiah Jonson /Robert Redford
Ӣ The movie The Mountain Men/ Charlton Hesston
”¢ The muzzleloading rifle adds in Sears and Montgomery Ward’s catalogs.
Ӣ Being introduced to a club full of the nicest, most caring and fun people I have ever met who adopted me like a son.

I swear to you that 1,2 and 4 itself being untrue around here is what kept me away from blackpowder people. Lord those movies sucked, even for their time! But my first "real" gun was blackpowder in spite of these...

There are fewer places to go today and shooting is not the common distraction it used to be -- there are many others and it is politically incorrect in some circles. Thank the Left for the latter...
 
Muzzleloading the Sport or Hobby will not be save, or resurrected by a REMAKE of Daniel Boone, or Davy Crockett. Time have change, and people interest, and like change on how they spend their leisure time.

Cowboy Action Shooting or the Single Action Shooting Society has not destroyed Muzzleloading, but has attracted many NMLRA Members, and Muzzleloading Shooter away, and the now they do Cowboy Action Shooting.

SASS is a For Profit Organization, and has recently moved their Headquarters to New Mexico to a Big Ranch & Complexthey own just 1/2 mile off I-40 EAST of Albuquerque.

The NMLRA is Non Profit Educational Tax Exempt Group out in the middle of no where in Friendship Indiana, where they are petty much close to nothing.

History is always fun to look at, both the NMLRA & SASS Started a NATIONAL SHOOTPROGRAM Phoenix Arizona over 15 years ago in Phoenix AZ. One is called the Winter, now Western National, and the other is called Winter Range.

Winter Range has grown, and grown, and the Western National, formalley the Winter National has shrunk, and shrunk form a high reached maybe over 10 years ago.

To see the TRUTH with you own eyes come to Phoenix, and visit both event. Talk to the competitors, talk the the people running the event, take to the shooter, and spectator, and ask questions. Why they come to one event over the other.

Then maybe after you visit to both event you will see why one group is thriving, and not a flash in the pan As I was told 15 years ago “SASS is a Flash inthe pan”, and will be gone in 5 years. Also maybe why the other group is trying to hold on and not sink like the Titanic when it hit an ice burg.
 
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