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Hoosier Rebel

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Trumpetman

32 Cal.
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
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Hello. My name is Greg Hodnett, and I am a transplanted "Hoosier." That means I live in Indiana, and have for most of my life, but I was born in Mississipi. I am a fifty-seven-year-old husband, and the father of two great kids. We live out the midwestern values that seem to define this tremendous state, as well as the many other proud states and commonwealths of this great nation. :applause:

My wife of 37 years and I are the proud parents of a 26-year-old daughter and a 20-years old son. We reside in a fairly quiet community on the west side of Indianapolis, Indiana. One reason we picked this community is its proximity to the nearby shooting range -- the Marion County Fish and Game Association -- just a mile and a half down the road.

My shooting experience started with .22 rifles as a teenager. I started shooting handguns in 2004, after a robbery in which my attacker missed me by inches with a 9mm shot from a sideways-held, gansta-style pistol. My Aunt Bea gave me a .25 auto Raven, and I started practicing. I soon learned enough about ballistics to know I needed to go bigger. Next, my brother introduced me to black powder, and I got my first deer in the fall of 2004 with a .50 caliber inline. Soon after, I tried my brother's Hawken, and I was hooked.
Only recently have I startetd taking my black powder shooting more seriously. Now I shoot a Thompson Center Hawken in .50 caliber, a Pietta 1851 Confederate Navy revolver (not the authentic .36 caliber version, but the .44 caliber converted version), and a CVA Jukar .45 caliber single-shot caps lock pistol.

I am a man of faith. I do not shove my "religion" on people, but I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without Him, I am nothing. I don't really even like religion, per se, but I love my church, where I play trumpet in the praise band and the orchestra.

Speaking of music, I love that too! And I enjoy all kinds of it. I grew up playing country music on the guitar. At one point, I played bass guitar in a 1970's folk/gospel band. Now I play the trumpet and flugal horn for the 17-piece Starlighters Big Band and 10-piece Twilite Nites Dance Orchestra. We play Glenn Miller-style music mostly, but we also play some modern (and even a few country) songs, adapted to a big-band beat.

MY WORK: I have worked as a warehouseman, inventory control anylist, master mix maker (ice cream mix for Maplehurst Dairy), pastor, news writer, and public relations director for Palm Beach Atlantic University. None of these occupations defines me. I am a devoted husband and father and a serious follower of the Lord, with a sense of humor as big as all outdoors. My work now consists of doing physical therapy for my severe arthritis, Lupus, and fibromyalgia. I use my music and my shooting activities as the most important parts of my therapy program.

HUNTING: Squirrels. Only squirrels. I am physically unable to drag a deer out of the woods at this point in my life. But I am perfectly capable of walking into the woods with a shotgun, rifle, or revolver and taking a nap until I hear the rustling of leaves in the tree-tops. Then, when the sound wakes me up, I shoot anything red or grey that has a bushy tail. (I love squirrel stew!) :stir:

Members of this forum have already taught me a great deal about black powder. Although I am slow at many physical tasks, I am quite handy, and have a great deal of patience. My black powder equipment gets lots of attention from me these days, and each week I can see improvements in both the equipment and my own skill. I am learning that my approach to fixing guns and improving them is somewhat off-putting to some of the more experienced black powder shooters. For that, I apologize. It took me a while to catch onto the fact that some of these good folks don't use modern tools to build and fix their equipment. The last thing I would want to do is to offend the fine members of The Muzzleloading Forum. :nono:

Thank you for the warm welcomes I have felt from those with whom I have had the pleasure of interacting. May the aroma of the "holy black" surround you and yours this week and every week! :thumbsup:
 
Welcome you'll find a wealth of knowledgeable folks here to further your trip down the right trail and you'll find that there are other Hoosiers that frequant the Forum as well. I am on the east side so I'm sure that we'll meet at a local shoot some time in the future. So have a seat, fill yer tin cup as the coffee's jest finished boiling.
 
Well, that might be the most detailed "Hello" I've ever seen on the forum. :grin: Welcome aboard, fellow Hoosier!!
 
I am not often accused of being overly brief. When necessary, I have been concise. When pushed, I can be terse. But mostly, verbosity reigns king in my writing (and speaking). It is both a gift . . . and a curse!

Believe it or not, I am working on changing my vebose ways. It is truly a struggle for the long-winded writer that still resides inside me. When I was writing news and features, my editors trained me to write long so the "cutters" (editors) would have something to do. I'll have to become my own editor. Lookie here! I've done it again.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I am very impressed with the number of posts you have accumulated. Unfortunately, my word-count for my paltry number of posts is probably approaching the number of posts some of you have made! :rotf: I already love this forum.
 
Welcome Fellow Hoosier. Wonderful introduction and hope you enjoy your 'obsession'.
If you want extra shootin' time, we are up here in Fishers and shoot the first Sunday of every month. Hope to see you.
And in February there is a Living History and gun show at Hamilton County Fairgrounds.

Cheers, DonK
 
Welcome from a fellow Hoosier who is living away from home. I suppose I am actually bi-stateal if there is such a word for one who holds citizenship in two states. Now that you are in Indiana, be sure to include Friendship on your bucket list.
 
I've had the pleasure of attending Friendship, but I haven't had the nerve to shoot there. I'm just learning the meaning of primitive, so a lot of my stuff is a little out of place among the di-hard authentics. I'm gettin' there, but it'll take time to arrive.

Thanks for the warm welcome!
 
Well, just skip the primative for now and shoot something like the Woodswalk. Lots of shooting and no one is really paying any attention to how well you are doing. You just shoot the targets, turn in your score card and you are done with it. Unless......you happen to do well and take a prize. If you have a shotgun or fowler, you need to shoot in the Shaw's Quail Walk. What a hoot! Almost as much fun as kissing girls. Again, you just do your best and walk away. Who knows, you might just win something. Don't just be an observer, jump in.....the water's fine.

BTW, if you do decide to shoot the Shaw's Quail Walk, keep an eye out for Gari Berkenstock and Chuck Paul. You will never outshoot them but tell them that I said "Hi!". You will never meet finer people than Chuck and Gari. In the primative area, keep an eye out for Tim Hamblin. He's another fine fellow and a good friend of mine. All three shoot in every Fall and Spring shoot and take their ribbons and trophies home in a wheelbarrow. If you see them, tell them that Bill Martin said "Hi!".
 
After read your suggestions, Bill, I spoke to my brother about doing the woodswalk. I hadn't realized there was such a thing. My brother has been too timid to try, and I'm kinda the same way. But I believe I can talk him into going down with me to actually shoot this year. It ain't so scary when you've got a buddy with you.

BTW-I sure would like to have a fowler. I would consider selling a couple of modern (smokeless) guns to fund the purchase of a .62 smoothie. I believe I could take a squirrel with one of those. I mostly use light (7/8 - 1 ounce) loads with my modern shotguns. I've gotten 4 squirrels the last two time out -- one shot each, and a couple of them were way up in the tall timber! (I did have to put a killing shot with my .22 revolver on one squirrel who just didn't want to give it up.) The only things we hunt are squirrel, pheasant, and quail.

I'll pass along your "howdy" when I get to Friendship.
 
If all you hunt is small game you may want to consider a smaller guage smoothbore. A 54 smoothie will get the job done with less powder and shot. But then a 20 guage has a lot wider useage, is more common, and is more authentic in a lot of different types of guns. In the end it's your gun and the squirrel doesn't care how big a bore the shot came out of now does he. :rotf:
 
After I read your welcome post, I found some posts about converting (re-boring) an old, pitted rifled barrel that would fit my gun. It seems that there is plenty of metal in a .50 Cal. T/C Hawken barrel to make it into a .54 - .58 Cal. smoothbore. As you said, it wouldn't be an authentic caliber, but it would be a practical way to get into a "starter" scattergun. One gun, with two barrels -- maybe a possibility there? I think I like that idea. Thanks for your hospitality.
 
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