DixieTexian
Pilgrim
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2007
- Messages
- 417
- Reaction score
- 647
I wouldn't assign too much of the reason to politics or culture. Gun laws have become less and less restrictive and gun ownership has been increasing in recent years, especially in demographics that previously were underrepresented. Of course, nuzzleloaders are intimidating to new shooters who didn't grow up around guns, so it would take a while before many of them get interested in the hobby.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the decline in hunting in general. I would guess that the rise of factory farming and the subsequent lowering of the price of meat has been a big factor in this. It takes too much time for many people to go hunting and costs too much (especially if they have to lease hunting land) when meat is historically cheap. Couple that with how much busier people seem to be these days, and even if people want to get out and hunt they are probably going to be more likely to use a modern gun that they think is more of a sure thing because they haven't been exposed to muzzleloaders much. Adding fuel to this fire is the industry's move over the past few decades toward promoting magnum calibers and insisting that you need the latest and greatest most powerful cartridge to get a clean kill. So if most folks do consider using a muzzleloader, they are probably going to think they need a powerful inline instead of something more old school.
Also, muzzleloading isn't exactly cheap.
I actually think that the trend towards ARs as the basic all around rifle might eventually be a good thing, as more and more people are shooting calibers like .300 BLK that aren't magnums because they have to fit in an AR magwell. Once they realize that something like that is just fine for their hunting needs, they are probably more likely to consider a traditional muzzleloader if they decide to get a smoke pole to take advantage of muzzleloader season.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the decline in hunting in general. I would guess that the rise of factory farming and the subsequent lowering of the price of meat has been a big factor in this. It takes too much time for many people to go hunting and costs too much (especially if they have to lease hunting land) when meat is historically cheap. Couple that with how much busier people seem to be these days, and even if people want to get out and hunt they are probably going to be more likely to use a modern gun that they think is more of a sure thing because they haven't been exposed to muzzleloaders much. Adding fuel to this fire is the industry's move over the past few decades toward promoting magnum calibers and insisting that you need the latest and greatest most powerful cartridge to get a clean kill. So if most folks do consider using a muzzleloader, they are probably going to think they need a powerful inline instead of something more old school.
Also, muzzleloading isn't exactly cheap.
I actually think that the trend towards ARs as the basic all around rifle might eventually be a good thing, as more and more people are shooting calibers like .300 BLK that aren't magnums because they have to fit in an AR magwell. Once they realize that something like that is just fine for their hunting needs, they are probably more likely to consider a traditional muzzleloader if they decide to get a smoke pole to take advantage of muzzleloader season.