Our sports future?Part 2...

[PaulN/KS]

Ok gents,some of you may remember my starting a thread bout a year ago on this subject...bear with me cause I am at it again.
This is a call to ALL of us,Buckskinners,Reenactors,Living Historians and folks who just like shooting and hunting with these old fashioned guns...GET THE KIDS INTO OUR SPORT!
We just got back from the KMA convention that was last weekend out in Great Bend Kamsas.My 4 1/2 year old daughter was the only kid there...there may have been one other boy there who was dressed out but he is one of the trader's kids and stays at their booth.
I bring this up because a major topic was the decline of membership numbers and what we should be doing about it....I would like to hear from you folks in other states about how you are bringing in Familys to our events.
BTW,I'm an older dad(51) so you guys my age bring yer grand kids along... :grin:

 

[Legionair]

I've got a two year old niece, and I'm planning for her shooting future already.

Figured I'd start with cap guns like I had as a boy, and move into instructed and supervised rimfire... before the ML comes into play. Depending on her interests, of course.

:grin: :grin:

Legion

 

[Berk]

NMLRA has a KIDS Shoot in July. ]If anyone is within reasonable driving distance to Friendship Indiana and has kids take them I took my 6 year old granson last year and he (we) had a blast. He started out at the hawk block, went to the paint ball guns, then the .22 cal woodswalk, air rifles, Archery, .22 pistol, muzzleloading rifle but because of his size we didnt do the shotgun.

Next day when he got to hear his name called and he got to pick up his medel and certifacate as well as a poster for his room he was one proud little boy. It made no differace that most his shots were misses it was all new and exciting.

Kids may bring their own gun or they are supplied. They dont need to know how to shoot because they are well supevised and any and all horse play is shut down real quick. Everybody that shows up for awards on Sun. gets a medal and your entrance fee gets them a Jr. membership to the NMLRA.

We are going back this year and taking little brother this time.

Berk

 

[dougeee]

Hey Paul,run into the same problem.My son's 9 and he's been goin for 3 years now.He has a couple buddies his age he runs with but they're not regulars.He gets real disappointed when they don't show.It seems his regular school buddies are to busy.it's sports,sports,and more sports.This seems like a pretty specialized pastime.The kids seem to really like it when they visit.We're goin' to do a small rondy at our house for his friends this spring.Gonna set up camp,have a bb gun woodswalk,bow,hawk,flint and steel,etc.All that work for a couple hours.Because with a month and a half notice,they're all to busy for a full day :shake: I really think it's the parents fault for bein'to scared to go outside the norm for recreation and scared of the status quo.What would so and so think if I let my kid run around and shoot guns in a loin cloth? I will now humbly climb down off my soapbox.

 

[tamara]

What would so and so think if I let my kid run around and shoot guns in a loin cloth?

:rotf:

I bet my parents thought that at one time. And neither of them shoot at all. But that never stopped them from saying, "have fun shooting with grandpa!"

 

[TexiKan]

OK, Paul, just some food for thought on this topic. When we were kids, the Davy Crockett thing was the rage. Then the Bicentennial came along and sparked some interest. But now, rarely has any emphasis been placed on encouraging the youth.

Unlike some other interests, this hobby usually requires an investment by the parents. That is, a suitable gun for the student to use. Yes, we can loan them ours and stand over them all the time. Remember driver's ed? We didn't have our own car and after we learned how to drive, we would get the license and then get the keys from Dad,.....man.... we were FREE!!!! No so with muzzleloading. Until the age of "adult" classification, the youth must be constantly supervised. Did you like having Mom and Dad riding in the car for EVERY trip??!

When we wanted a car, some of us had to earn the money to obtain it. We could make the kids earn money for their gun, too, but their want needs to be strong.

The investment factor needs to be addressed. As you may know, I was a former music educator and I heard plenty of reasons why parents were reluctant to invest in a band instrument. I can hear some of the same arguments, now. Unfortunately, the "what if he doesn't like it or sticks with it" comment showed a lack of commitment on their part. We're talking parental involvement.

I fully agree with you that more kids need to be involved and encouraged into the hobby, if we're talking shooting. We would trust a kid with a can of gasoline (lawnmower duty) but most wouldn't trust him with a can of black powder!

We need a strong foundation to encourage the youth. Unfortunately, it has not been consistent nor strongly supported. Those kids need a reason to get involved and STAY involved!

Would like to see if any club or organization has a strong, ongoing program. The proof? How many consistent youth shooters are at the events?!

TexiKan

 

[PaulN/KS]

You raise some good points Chris.
Using our Lecompton experiance as an example do you remember how much fun the kids there were having?All the ages and genders were running about and just having good "old fashioned" fun while the visitors walked through and we did our demos...but you will recall that most of the other rondy (rowdy?) kids were supplied by the famlies from Missouri...
I know that some of our compadres out here bring the grandkids along but I have been wondering why didn't they get their kids into this.We seem to have skipped a whole generation...?

 

[the skrat]

i am a sunday school teacher and every year i hold a shooting event for the children 5th grade and up. i start it with a brief history of the gun and spend a little bit of time showing them my muzzleloaders and also show them how to start a fire with flint and steel. then we talk gun safety there are almost as many adults as chidren very well supervised. then we start shooting balloons gongs and targets with .22rifles finishing up with a friendly target competition. after that we cook burgers and brats and the children beg to do more shooting wich goes on till dark. one time this7th grade girl who is usually very shy came up and asked if she could shoot my flintlock so i let her she thought that was kind of cool. i plan on holding the 4th one this year. my 2 boys 5 and 7 shoot all the time with me. i hope in my own little way i help the sport.

curly maple

 

[dougeee]

:applause: Good idea curly maple,I never thought of the Church idea.I'm one of the youth leaders at our Church.We're always lookin' for activities for the kids.I think instead of focusin' on his school friends ,I'll try more on his Church buddies.I too would like to bridge the age gap in this hobby.Couldn't see the forest for the trees.

 

[CrackStock]

Support the Youth Hunter Education Challenge program.

This has muzzleloading, .22, sporting clays, archery, game identification and lore, and safety all rolled into one great program. I cannot imagine a better program for our children. (Outside of church, that is...)

If this is not possible, work up a youth program at your local range and work toward joining the YHEC program in the future.

Support the NRA and our kids.

CS

 

[PaulN/KS]

Good to see some interest in this subject ,tho I had hoped to be reading more posts by fellow parents.Maybe there just arn't that many folks doing this hobby anymore who have youngsters...will check back in after the weekend and see who else has added comments.
Crackstock,both clubs that I belong to have set up youth shoot days and the last two times we had a very low turnout.Sad...

 

[lyman]

My wife and I joined a mountain man club for about five years and we invited a number of frainds but then some things changed. Some of the new members thought that a rondy was a good reason to get drunk and fight, some would make fun of the nubies because they were not always right in their possibles. It just turned into a pile of manure. It would be nice to find a club for families.
Bob

 

You can try the "Build it and they will come" approach.

CP

 

[marwat06]

I getting my son started in M/L this spring. He has a CVA Bobcat 50 Cal. Precussion Cap. I am assuming the type of gun doesn't matter, for the kids shoot, as long as it is a Muzzleloader?

 

[marwat06]

Good to see some interest in this subject ,tho I had hoped to be reading more posts by fellow parents.Maybe there just arn't that many folks doing this hobby anymore who have youngsters...will check back in after the weekend and see who else has added comments.
Crackstock,both clubs that I belong to have set up youth shoot days and the last two times we had a very low turnout.Sad...

For me at least ... I sometimes forget that this forum exists :shake: I pretty much spend my time at the top of the list i.e. Flintlock, Smoothbore, Precussion, and Pistol.

You are right 100% ... we need kids in all our shooting sports. Just got my Daughter into Traditional Archery. She'll be there at the Friendship kids shoot also.

 

[PaulN/KS]

Good for you mwindy.Always glad to hear of someone getting their kids into the Trad side of things.
I had hoped to read some more input on getting the younger generation into our sport but looks like that isn't going to happen here.I suppose we will just "fade away",much like the Shakers did.
Oh well,my boss seems to enjoy a hobby with his family."Golf"I believe it is called....

 

[CrackStock]

Paul,

The reason that I got involved in YHEC and Boy Scout shooting was that my son was about that age. He has gotten a bit older and we have both moved on. If I found any YHEC or Boy Scout activities where I now live, I would likely jump back in immediately.

CS

PS -- we shot our MLs together 2 weeks. He beat me.

 

I belong to Historical society which sponsors a 4H muzzleoading program for the kids which appears to be well accepted. It's a start anyway.

I'm also getting my 9 year old son into muzzleoading and he's pretty excited about it!

 

[tamara]

When kids are young, just spend time with them doing the sport, but with no pressure. 4H and scouts are great organizations that can help as well. Not sure about scouts, but a 4H club is usually something you can start yourself if there isn't already one in your area. It also helps to keep a positive, fun-loving attitude yourself. If it looks like you're having fun, the kids will want to join in too.

As kids get older, popular media takes over. Unfortunately, "traditional" things like muzzleloading, hunting, archery, etc., are practically unheardof in popular media. If you can get their friends involved too (or encourage them to make new friends in the traditional community) then they are more likely to stick with it as they go through the teenage years, and it is no longer cool to hang out with the parents. A little bit of spin on the "cool" side never hurt either, e.g., you're probably the only kid at your big school who even knows __________. (how a firearm actually works / how to survive in the wilderness / how to make stone arrowheads / etc)

Keep an open mind, too. Muzzleloading just might not be what interests your kids, but perhaps archery, or falconry, or trekking (great for the mountain-climber types too), or traditional crafts, or even archeology could keep them in touch with a traditional way of life and values.

 

There's a lot of merit in what you said. Shooting, Archery, and hunting are not exactly politically correct in todays society. Example: My son age 9 took a book pertaining to 19th century firearms to school, and his teacher informed him that, that particular book was in poor taste and informed him that he was not to bring it to school again. Times have certainly changed, and not for the better!