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4-H and muzzleloading

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Preflint

32 Cal.
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I currently have my son in cub scouts, but sadly our local packs are pretty much a joke. My neighbor had mentioned 4-H and that some of them have shooting( which mine didn't as a kid) and they even have a muzzleloading program.

Has anyone had any experience with 4-H's muzzleloading program? After reading this topic
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/303381

It got me thinking it could be a great opportunity for the youth to learn
 
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colorado clyde said:
Head, heart, hands, and health....not sure where muzzleloaders fit in....and haven't traditionally.

No idea, I remember live stock, small animals, baking, gardens and crafts.

But I won't disparage any chance to teach youth about ML.
 
Yes, boy scouts seems these days to be all about lawyers and protecting themselves. Member of scouting leadership over 20 years at the pack and troop level saying this.

Trail life and heritage girls have spun off and seem to be going back to the scouting fundamentals concerning religion, shooting, learning, enjoyment and overall fun in my opinion.

Boy Scouts is about complying with their rules to reduce their liability these days. Scouts is a great program and living within the spirit of the scouting rules is good and yet have fun.

Check out trail life or heritage girls for an alternative in your area.
 
4H has a heck of a shotgun shooting program here in georgia. Scouts don't allow flintlocks, not safe. Percussion ok in their rules.
Trail life shoot pretty much anything, just do it safely under supervision.
 
The TMLRA shoot in Texas has in the past has had a 4H M/L shoot in the past.

Fred Greenway from Abilene, and is a past BOD member of the TMLRA or try Charlie Greenway from around Madisonville, TX another BOD.
 
4H does indeed have a shooting program and muzzle loading rifle shooting might be part of it. It does depend on your area. I know Florida 4H actually runs a shooting camp in the summer months in central Florida.
 
curator said:
4H does indeed have a shooting program and muzzle loading rifle shooting might be part of it. It does depend on your area.

Back in the dark ages (something over 30 years ago) my job had a neat crossover- I was tasked with drafting some of the materials for the 4H shooting programs.

Other assignments pushed me along while things were still in the draft and dream stage, so I don't know what ultimately ended up in their curricula.

I'd check with the National 4H Council to learn what's available, even if the activity hasn't been instituted in your state.
 
Local 4-H shoots archery, shotgun, air rifle, and 22 RF. No muzzledoading that I know of.
 
Preflint said:
I currently have my son in cub scouts, but sadly our local packs are pretty much a joke. My neighbor had mentioned 4-H and that some of them have shooting( which mine didn't as a kid) and they even have a muzzleloading program.

Has anyone had any experience with 4-H's muzzleloading program? After reading this topic
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/303381

It got me thinking it could be a great opportunity for the youth to learn


Where are you located? Ohio 4-H offers muzzleloading, though the availability of trained volunteers varies by county. 4-H (in Ohio and I think all states) does not allow a volunteer or staffer to teach a shooting discipline without being trained.

But muzzleloading is alive and well in 4-H.

Someone asked why find a program? Well it lets a kid learn a skill with a knowledgeable instructor in a safe location. Our county was full of farm land years ago. Dad and mom grew up shooting in the back yard. Now dad and mom work in town and the farm has become a subdivision. Our 4-H club offers a place to learn, shoot and compete.

Competition is a good thing as well. Lots of kids who are never going to make the basketball team find out they can be competitive in one of the shooting sports. Competing at home against dad isn't very fun until you become good enough to out shoot him. Competing against your peers can be a blast, if it is handled properly. And losing a competition is a good life lesson, too.
 
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One more selling point for a program - kids often listen a lot better to someone other than "good old dad." At 11 I thought my Boy Scout leaders had God-like wisdom but considered my old man the village idiot. I still remember my surprise when I found an old ax in the woods and my dad knew how to sharpen it. A quarter century later I tried to get my daughter to shoot with a patch on the lens of her safety glasses on her non-dominant side, while keeping both eyes open. She told me that it might possibly work for me but would never, ever, work for her. Later she went to a week-long 4-H camp and came home with the left lens of her shooting glasses covered in tape. Her "coach" at "camp" had told her that it would help her shooting.
 
pondoro said:
Preflint said:
I currently have my son in cub scouts, but sadly our local packs are pretty much a joke. My neighbor had mentioned 4-H and that some of them have shooting( which mine didn't as a kid) and they even have a muzzleloading program.

Has anyone had any experience with 4-H's muzzleloading program? After reading this topic
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/303381

It got me thinking it could be a great opportunity for the youth to learn


Where are you located? Ohio 4-H offers muzzleloading, though the availability of trained volunteers varies by county. 4-H (in Ohio and I think all states) does not allow a volunteer or staffer to teach a shooting discipline without being trained.

But muzzleloading is alive and well in 4-H.

Someone asked why find a program? Well it lets a kid learn a skill with a knowledgeable instructor in a safe location. Our county was full of farm land years ago. Dad and mom grew up shooting in the back yard. Now dad and mom work in town and the farm has become a subdivision. Our 4-H club offers a place to learn, shoot and compete.

Competition is a good thing as well. Lots of kids who are never going to make the basketball team find out they can be competitive in one of the shooting sports. Competing at home against dad isn't very fun until you become good enough to out shoot him. Competing against your peers can be a blast, if it is handled properly. And losing a competition is a good life lesson, too.

Central Ohio area, I agree competition is a good thing. One of the things that annoys me is kids get participation trophies for everything, but not to get off topic lol.

I'm not sure what the age limit is, he's only 8 so he might not be able to do it yet.
 
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pondoro said:
Competition is a good thing as well. Lots of kids who are never going to make the basketball team find out they can be competitive in one of the shooting sports.

I still laugh at the memory of the LA Olympics, whenever that was in the dim past. The other athletes got kinda snotty about the folks in the shooting sports, claiming that NRA stood for "Not Really Athletes." Seems to my aging memory that the folks in the shooting sports thought it was cute and racked up more medals per athlete than any other sport. The world is split down the middle between talkers and doers. :rotf:
 
When I lived in North Dakota my local gun club worked actively with 4H with a muzzleloading program. I volunteered for it over several years and did end up getting training at a 4H camp. It was a good program, but somewhere along the way it was phased out, not really sure what happened.
 
When I still lived in Florida, I taught Hunter Safety. Learning the history of, safe handling of, and loading and shooting muzzleloaders, was part of the course. Almost all of them were surprised at how soft the recoil felt, compared to a modern firearm. Keep yer powder dry........robin :wink:
 
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Preflint said:
Central Ohio area, I agree competition is a good thing. One of the things that annoys me is kids get participation trophies for everything, but not to get off topic lol.

I'm not sure what the age limit is, he's only 8 so he might not be able to do it yet.

What county are you in? (In all the world only sheriff's, country singers and 4-H'ers care about "What county?") Age limit is generally "9 or in 3rd grade", some clubs might require a member to do rifle before they can move up to muzzleloading. That way the muzzleloader kids all come in knowing basic safety and the muzzleloading class can put more emphasis on the extra rules that muzzleloading adds on top of the cartridge gun safety rules.
 
Many county 4H programs have shooting sports programs. It will vary from county to county. Contact your local County Extension office and they should be able to point you in the direction of a program if it is available. As noted above the offerings vary from bb guns only to more comprehensive programs. Most programs are run by volunteers, so what is available is dependent on some adult running the program.

If your county doesn't have a muzzleloading program, there would be a great opportunity to start one as the leader. Also, if the local extension folks are not helpful, you can contact the State Extension Office. It is usually affiliated with the university in your state which has the agricultural college. For example, in Kansas it is at Kansas State University. In Michigan, it is Michigan State University.

BTW, my daughter is the local Extension 4H Coordinator for her county In Michigan.
 
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