Future of the sport...?

[PaulN/KS]

While at the KMA convention this year it really struck me how few younger folks are coming into the Traditional muzzleloading/buckskinning sport.Shoot,I'm 50 and felt like a kid there.Both clubs that I belong to try to have youth events and such but it appears to me that the younger folks just are'nt coming into the sport.It would be nice to see more younger families joining us.Any thoughts folks...?

 

Well I take a youngster that lives a coule blocks from me hunting ( his Dad is an over the road truck driver) that is a really nice young man, He got a buck last day of season this year and I had as much fun seeing him get that deer as if I would have.
I been packing some things because i am moveing back to Pa in a week. Now in Va.
I have already asked his parents if it was ok to give him a gun before I left, and both said it was ok to but that I didn't have to do something like that. I told them both that I knew I didn't have to but that I wanted to.
I am giveing him a Traditions .50cal percussion that I put together as a kit many years ago and don't use to much since I shoot them rock guns now.
Tomorrow i am going to ask him to help me clean out my car port and the gun will be out there in it before he comes up.
After he moves it around about a half a dozen times or so I am going to tell him. why don't you just take that gun home. It's always in the way.
Hope he remebers me and lives to keep the sport alive.

Woody

 

[musketman]

While at the KMA convention this year it really struck me how few younger folks are coming into the Traditional muzzleloading/buckskinning sport.Shoot,I'm 50 and felt like a kid there.Both clubs that I belong to try to have youth events and such but it appears to me that the younger folks just are'nt coming into the sport.It would be nice to see more younger families joining us.Any thoughts folks...?

Kids will be kids, when we were kids did we want to do the things that our adult figures did?

Some things, yes, most things, no...

Modern kids are brainwashed into thinking that all guns are bad, remember the good ol' days when we got toy guns...

The number of youths participating in shooting events will fluctuate with current beliefs, it is important that when we do get a chance to teach, we pass on the positive values of our chosen hobby, not just that it's a gun that goes boom...

 

[Dave Poss]

You're right. Seems fewer and fewer show up for the shoots each year. I'm hopeing that most are like my boys were....at 15 or 16, they lost interest when they discovered girls and cars. After they found out that neither was very dependable,crackup they came back to black powder shooting and stayed with it.

 

[Ohio Joe]

In my opinion this is where the NMLRA has failed the potential youth growth of the traditional sport of muzzleloading.

I say this because they are the ones who had the power to keep this game traditional and create programs that would be appealing to the youth, as they are the one organization that was intrusted with the heritage of traditional muzzleloading and are in the public eye.

Instead, they chose to spend the last twenty years destroying this concept over an issue that confussed and refussed the traditional program which in return gave rise to the notion of reckless abandonment of the traditional ways and that sent a message to the youth that it is alright to abandon tradition.

That's where our youth has gone. It will be hard to win them back, but I'm hopeful a true traditional organization will emerge and put traditional muzzleloading numbers back in the public eye to see the rich heritage of this traditional sport.

Sorry for going on and on, but this bugs me!

 

Joe,.... I agree, with indications point'n to less involvement by the younger generation in traditional muzzleloaders, this sport will continue it's decline if sumpthin isn't done.

An association like the one be'n formed now (the TMA), will have to give "top priority" to our future shooters in order to keep this sport alive and healthy.

YMHS
rollingb

 

[bezoar]

I agree the current culture has to change in order to get young families and young kids into this sport we love so much.
First we need to change the attitudes of people. We need to un distance them from the real world. To people my age, any weapon that doesnt use a 30 round magazine is "manure" and uninteresting to them.

And just in general they want nothing to do with anything that distracts them from their little PETA world views. I made the mistake of deboning a vacuum sealed ham in my dorm kitchen. and 4 of the 5 people who saw me visibly got sick. They got real pale real fast, and had hard time holding their dinner down till they ran off. Cant even mention "butcher" without them turning pale and get the dry heaves.

 

Well the young lad who Iwas going to give the muzzleloader to came up and cleaned the car port off with me. he kept moveing the gun from one place to another and i told him to just stick it in the truck so it didn't get knocked over.
I had a can of fff goex and a box of .490 balls ,caps and some cleaning gear in a small tool box to give to him also.
I gave him some cash for his time on a weekend for giveing me a hand and then gave him a ride back over to hiis house. he said he would walk but I told him I had to run to the store anyways so jump in and I'd drop him off on the way.
When we got to his house i told him to don't foregt your gun.
He gave me a funy look and asked , WHAT?
I told him again and told him here take this too and gave him the box with the powder balls, ect.
Now talk about a happy kid. He went to the range many times with me and has shot BP with me while there.
I asked him if he remembered how to load and shoot it.
He smiled and said yep i had a good teacher...LOL
I told him that we would go tomorrow and shott some at the range to see what he could do with it. He will be ready as soon as he gets home from Sunday Services I am sure.
One thing I need to show him is how to pull a ball. We never had to do it while he was with me at the range, but I believe he has seen most aother procedures that he should know about while at the range on previous occasions.
I wish more of todays youth were as fine as this young man is. I think alot of him.To be so good in todays world. I told his Mum it speaks highly of her and her husband.

Woody

Woody

 

[BLAHMAN]

My dad was not into hunting, fishing or much outdoor activity stuff. I was, I always wanted to do that. The more my father pushed me towards a certain direction the more I resisted.

I love the BP sports because it allows me an outlet to test and refine my creative talents. Fortunately, my father was a very artistic person and I got a good taste of art. Art and BP kinda go together, in my mind at least.

I've got four children ranging from ages 18 to 9. They will all have a rifle that I built for them, including the daughter. If they want to take BP shooting up as a sport...GOOD! If not....well, that's OK too. They have been exposed to this as has their friends...so I'm spreading it around as best I can.

I bet a lot of the youth will, when they turn 50 (perhaps younger), look at life differntly than they do now and perhaps their will be that spark of wanting to do something...create something. It could be BP or the related crafts that are associated with it....it could be art (painting, drawing, clay, whatever)...it could be anything.

I think the future of this sport will have it's ups....it will have it's downs. Some rough spots, some not so rough...but I don't think it will[url] disappear...in[/url] fact it may have a rebirth. Nobody knows. :m2c:

 

[Gary]

You're right. Seems fewer and fewer show up for the shoots each year. I'm hopeing that most are like my boys were....at 15 or 16, they lost interest when they discovered girls and cars. After they found out that neither was very dependable,crackup they came back to black powder shooting and stayed with it.

I must raise an objection. My Toyota is very dependable.

Not to be a NMLRA mouthpiece, but the sport is graying and we do need to attract a younger audience. While we can introduce the youth today, they'll be distracted by girls, cars, school, career & family. Then when they hit middle age, they may just come back. That happens with a lot of other hobbies.

 

[Hota]

I'm a youngin just nearly 31 but have been shooting since I was a cub. Started my son on .22lr but I switched getting him to the discipline of BP early. I am doing my best in South East PA to get more folks my age turned toward traditional black powder. Fortunately with Cabela's now open not that far away, the animal displays particularly the deer room seem to really get the boys hearts pumping. I squeeze in the aura of filling a room like that with traditional BP trophies and I think I have some takers. It's just a short ride from there to Dixon's. Unfortunately, none of them have bought anything other than a percussion handgun but that is a good first step.

My wife is not interested in reenacting and neither are my two daughters but my son and I are mountain men by heart. I am very lucky we are so close. We are all very much outdoor enthusiasts, my wife just belives in modern clothing. Trying to get my Dad into it as well but he is more into live steam engines if anyone is familiar with that hobby.

 

[leslie]

I think there is hope I am seeing a lot of real young kids coming to our rendys, the teen agers are in real short supply but that is in part due to the many demands we put on them they don't have a whole lot of time left over.We really don't let kids be just kids anymore.Just my take.

 

[PaulN/KS]

Good to read these responses and nice to see that we,as a sport,are still trying.As I said,I know folks around here that are working hard with the Scouts and 4H to get them exposed to the fun that we enjoy.My 3 year old daughter really enjoys going to the rondys and is a good little camper.Still a tad young for her first rifle tho...
Looking forward to more comments.
Oh,and good for you Woodhick.That was a real nice thing that you did. :thumbsup:

 

[Keith]

Woody that is very kind thing you did. :thumbsup: It will serve the boy well . It will also serve the rest of us brining another younster into the fold. My hat is off to you. :master:

 

[TexiKan]

I would like to submit an observation, Paul, from this past year. At the Bald Eagle Rondy, I learned that many youth and adults have not been exposed to the muzzleloading culture. (The Bald Eagle Rondy was a public demonstration Rondy event) In all the years I have shot black powder and belonged to our club, it represents one of the few time WE went to them instead of expecting them to come to us! Maybe more exposure like this will have an impact. Our Youth Shoots have also been effective. Heck, even at our monthly shoots we now have more junior shooters than in the past. Making the effort to reach out to them has made a big difference.

TexiKan
-------------------
A man cannot build a reputation on what he is going to do!

 

[PaulN/KS]

Exactly Chris.We,everywhere,within our sport need to get more of that kind of exposure.The more FAMILIES,not just individuals,we get interested the better it will be for the sport.So,when some "flatlanders" walk up to the camp at a rondy be nice guys and show them how much fun this stuff is.

 

[three]

There does seem to less young folks at events these days. But there is a little hope. My kids all got to the age where friends and cars and electronics seemed more important but two of them are about done with college and both are starting to show a lot more interest in going again and they're bringing their friends and spouse(s). I'm hoping it's because they remember what fun they had growing up in the culture. My youngest is 18 and has never quit and hopefully her interest isn't waining.

There may be hope

Joey KT :results:

 

[roundball]

There does seem to less young folks at events these days. But there is a little hope. My kids all got to the age where friends and cars and electronics seemed more important but two of them are about done with college and both are starting to show a lot more interest in going again and they're bringing their friends and spouse(s). I'm hoping it's because they remember what fun they had growing up in the culture. My youngest is 18 and has never quit and hopefully her interest isn't waining.

There may be hope

Joey KT :results:

While the individuals that approached me at the range this morning were not kids, they were late 20's / early 30's...he and his Wife watched me go through my last several shots and stepped up when I began cleaning up, asked several questions, etc...let him handle the rifle, explained as much as I could...wrapping up, he talked like he was going to get one (TC Hawken Flintlock), asked if he showed up while I was at the range one day would I show him some things to help him get started, etc...so who knows, maybe he'll become another flinter

 

[76monza]

All Blackpowder Shooters,
I have been involved in a few blackpowder shooting camps for kids, and recently BP classes for women, along with Paul and TexiKan. Kids will always gravitate towards something that is different and adventuresome. How long that enthusiasm lasts depends solely on how long the excitement lasts. Paul said it when he said "family". the best results we have had with our BP classes and camps have revolved around the family. If mom and dad or grandparents aren't interested at all, you have an up hill battle to keep the kid involved.
You ain't gonna change or convert the masses overnite. We do this one family and one kid at a time. If everyone one of us who belongs to a BP club sponsored a shooting camp for kids and families in three years you would be surprised at what your club memberships might look like.
This also means we need to change how we are perceived I have seen several groups who try their darndest to be almost isolationists or unwilling to get involved with the public. That attitude needs to change. TexiKan is right we need to take the message to the masses and let them see what we are all about, instead of hiding out at our well-hidden ranges and rondys.

Smokeydays

 

This also means we need to change how we are perceived I have seen several groups who try their darndest to be almost isolationists or unwilling to get involved with the public. That attitude needs to change.

I agree,.... all too many times, I have over-heard phrases such as "damned Pilgrim" come out'a tha mouths of those who should "know better"!! :curse:

Without "Pilgrims", we have no "new blood"!! :imo:

YMHS
rollingb