One among none…

[Bob K]

Living in a metro area means not many opportunities to shoot back powder. Thank goodness South Carolina provided more than 10 state maintained outdoor shooting ranges and one is with in spitting distance. Unfortunately in the past two years I’m the only BP shooter. Lookup Palachucola state park SC and stop by with your smoke stick once in a while.

 

[azmntman]

I live in AZ and I just shoot about anywhere in the woods. Just need a nice backstop and a Coke.

 

[UndeadPoet]

That is about 3.5 hours away from me in North Cackalacky.

 

[ppg1949]

I live in west central Indiana and I belong to a conservation club that emphasizes shooting with multiple shooting ranges. I have been a member there over twenty years and have never seen or heard any other BP shooters.

 

[mushka]

There is a desert spot about five miles away from my place I used to go to but every tom dick and harry goes there too and it has turned in to a junk yard. I'll go the seventeen miles to my favored place. Not the easiest place to get to. Myself and two other shooting buds are the only people that go there for the most part to shoot. There is a mountain bike trail that goes behind us and those riders are generally the only others that we see every once in a while.

 

[longcruise]

I am in myrtle Beach several times each year but that's a haul in itself.

Gotta be something muzzle loading going on in that neighborhood though.

 

[smoothshooter]

Living in a metro area means not many opportunities to shoot back powder. Thank goodness South Carolina provided more than 10 state maintained outdoor shooting ranges and one is with in spitting distance. Unfortunately in the past two years I’m the only BP shooter. Lookup Palachucola state park SC and stop by with your smoke stick once in a while.

Traditional muzzleloader shooting is a Baby Boomer thing, and we are dying off fast, and most of the ones still alive have vision or other problems that causes them to spend less time shooting anything.

 

[Eterry]

I can drive 10 miles to a range with more rules than members, drive 25 miles to some BLM land where God knows what you'll find. I prefer to drive 45 miles to my dad's old Farm. We set up a 75 yard backstop before he passed and can shoot off the porch. Also go hunting there. Deer, hogs, turkey, rabbits and squirrel are all on the bill of fare.
And the memories are FREE!

 

[BillRob]

I can drive 10 miles to a range with more rules than members, drive 25 miles to some BLM land where God knows what you'll find. I prefer to drive 45 miles to my dad's old Farm. We set up a 75 yard backstop before he passed and can shoot off the porch. Also go hunting there. Deer, hogs, turkey, rabbits and squirrel are all on the bill of fare.
And the memories are FREE!

Oh man - I too, have a range ten miles from here with more rules than members, and a fair amount of BLM and state-managed land within 30 miles (both with who knows what you'll find!) I just wish I had the family farm (and the memories) another half-hour or so away. I'm happy for you my friend!!

 

[Bob K]

The interesting thing about the South Carolina state ranges is that they are self supervised. There are about 10-12 posted files and in the tears I’ve been shooting here all participants are courteous and patient. That is a blessing.

 

[Jim K]

I have a range a few miles from my house. It isn’t fancy but it’s lightly used and most times, I have it to myself. I also shoot at my place sometimes.

 

[Urban Coyote]

50 miles round trip through urban area traffic, usually twice a week but with gas prices I've whittled it down a bit. I was the only regular muzzleloader shooter for a long time, they referred to me as Doctor Smoke for a while. A few years back I sold a guy my Crockett .32, he caught the bug. Since then he and a friend of his have joined me as regulars shooting muzzleloaders, they've moved to flintlocks almost exclusively and some nice ones too.

Come hunting season the usual crop of modern muzzleloader shooters, opportunist who taken over what used to be seasons restricted to traditional muzzleloaders, show up with their 209 primers, pellets and sabots but that's about it.

I get quite a few curious spectators but after a few whiffs of smoke they head back to the other end of the range where they're more comfortable loading magazines, not muzzles. If they only knew how relaxing shooting a frontstuffer is.

 

[centershot]

I'm a member at three local ranges, all are within 20 minutes of my home, I consider myself fortunate in that respect. Currently I'm the only muzzleloader, my buddy Ron is almost 80 now and his hips aren't good, it's gettin' harder for him to get around. Other shooters are often curious about the relics of a bygone era that I choose to shoot, I think they're amazed that the guns shoot at all, even though all my BP guns are current manufacture. The constant, without fail, question is "What if you need a second shot?". I'll smile and tell them "Unlike Starsky and Hutch, I choose quality over quantity". They don't get it, they're too young to remember Starsky and Hutch.