Muzzleloading the sport, hobby, or what you call it needs

[paul54]

The major rebirth of muzzleloading that occurred in the 1960's and 1970's came about in a vastly different world. Guns were not the evil they are today. No one was complaining about violence on TV. Far fewer children grew up in households headed by single women. Hunting was still considered by most citizens as an honorable pastime. Kid's time was not planned out with soccer schedules Spring Summer and fall. Stranger danger was nearly nonexistent,

The media is somewhat tamer than the old days, kids growing with female head of households are less likely to take up hunting or shooting. Computers, video games and air conditioning keeps kids indoors.

Heck our fearless leader wants to raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour. I can't find kids who will help bale hay in the summer for that pay. I found one kid that doesn't mind hard hot sweaty work at $11 per hour. ( he hustles and is worth it) but most kids shy away from physical labor like it is a plague. We may think a day in the 30's is a good day to be outdoors, but they are so conditioned to room temps, they won't go outdoors.

Well said! I concur.

 

[nhmoose]

I blame the big Muzzle loading companies themselves for the demise of our sport.

They bent over backwards to make money on the NEW shooters. Get this inline it's like your modern gun!!! Get to hunt the extra seasons made for ML yes they are technically a ML.

TC, GM-Knight, Shockey, all for the buck as in CASH!!!!! Now where are they GONE same as our sport used to be.

Until States make the ML season to be again primitive there will be no more as we knew it. My state NH bent over for both TC and GM. Good luck trying to get them changed.

 

[Zonie]

I don't really think the number of people enjoying the traditional sidelocks has changed all that much.

The number of people interested in it has never been very large after the start of the 20th century.

This Forum has more approved members than the NMLRA (National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association) had in its heyday and the Forum is growing all the time.

I'm not suggesting that we sit on our laurels though.

Getting new people interested in the sport/hobby is a good thing and we all should introduce/encourage others to try it.

 

[Dwight Rutherford]

I did a quick count of new members for the last month (May) and came up with 27.
Seems to me that the chances of getting converts is at the range. Being friendly ,answering questions and maybe offering to let people shoot your gun.

 

[Claude Mathis]

I did a quick count of new members for the last month (May) and came up with 27.

This is from a database report, this morning...

 

[Dwight Rutherford]

I was counting people who had introduced themselves, forgot that many who join don't. Thanks for the clarification. Your numbers are encouraging .

 

[Bear Rider]

I started attending rendezvous back in the early 80's, then had a 20 year hiatus due to a bout as a workaholic. In those days, the majority of the shooters were my age at the time.

Now, thirty years later, the local scene is drastically changed. The numbers are down drastically -- less than half the shooters and about 1/4 the traders.

And even scarier, most participants appear to still be of my generation.

 

[hanshi]

Yeah, we never did have the great numbers. I certainly don't want traditional sidelock muzzleloading to become an old man's club.

 

[Col. Batguano]

I tend to think it will remain so though. Traditional ML'ers are things you graduate to, rather than from. Younger people tend to like the latest and greatest stuff. Today that is black guns. Next up will be some other form of electronicly-rendered lethality. Phasers anyone? :hmm:

It's when you get older is when you tend to have a greater appreciation for history, and your personal geneology. It's growing today because of the natural swelling in ranks of older people, like the baby boomers.

 

[RonRC]

As a baby boomer, I was fascinated with history, cowboy shooting, shooting in general and muzzleloaders when I was a boy watching Davey Crockett and Gunsmoke and Daniel Boone, etc.
It was only after my son left home and I was approaching retirement that I had the time and money to apply to the shooting hobbies. I have expressed interest over the years, but always claimed that I didn't have time. My wife always replied that I didn't give myself permission to take the time. Even if I did make time, there were still the demands of getting kids through college and supporting them as they established careers.
In some ways it is like seeing the white beards at Harley Davidson gatherings. So many have dreamed of having a Harley since the 1960s and have fulfilled that dream after the kids left home.
These interests simply don't lend themselves to young people just starting out or in the midst of their career ladder.
Ron