AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: MuskratMike on February 14, 2019, 02:39:42 AM
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Look around at the age of the members at your next club shoot. We are losing nationally 3 members for every young shooter we attract. At my club an active member was having a medical issue that made it hard for him to shoot offhand. He wanted to shoot off tall sticks and everyone was OK with that for the first 2 months when he shot only fair scores. Last month he was feeling a little better and shooting off the sticks he won the match. Several members protested to the president of the club that he can no longer shoot off sticks or his score will not be counted. If your club is only concerned with scores than maybe you should rethink your clubs agenda. How about having a "seniors" division for any member 67 or older who wants to keep shooting and score them as their own group and allow them to use what ever they need to stay in the game as long as the rifle and sights are still period correct. If we don't take care of our ageing shooters than we are failing them and dooming our sport.
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We have “seniors” and “super seniors” at our club’s matches. Keeps them coming out.
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:I want to drop dead with a rifle in my hand surrounded by other shooters.
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To Rich Pierce: what is your clubs criteria for being classed as a senior and a super senior?
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To Rich Pierce: what is your clubs criteria for being classed as a senior and a super senior?
Senior is 65 and older as of first match of the year (I think; may be Jan 1).
Super senior is 72 and older.
Both are optional. Any senior May shoot in the open class.
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If you can't beat a geezer with health issues because he is shooting with tall sticks. Maybe you should be practicing more.
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We have a number of "senior" and "super senior" shooters at our club, including me. All efforts are made to accomodate anyone who wants to stay active and continue shooting. Merril Deere once said "don't let the shooting get in the way of the fun".
Mark
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Heck, around here I just wish we had 'shoots', any kind, with or without classes. Though I'd qualify for all of them, Hah! So I just shoot against myself, and win every time.
Robby
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If you can't beat a geezer with health issues because he is shooting with tall sticks. Maybe you should be practicing more.
Sage advice. Maybe he has practiced over the years and the complainer has not.
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There are no real BP clubs around her any more. Was a time when there were 4-5 within two hours drive.
As one of those "seniors" I would want to see anyone who wants to shoot be given the opportunity. We had a guy back in the day that had been through the polio thing in his youth. Legs had braces and he used crutches to get around. He was a tough nut. He hunted and fished his butt off and shot like a haint. He was really good and we talked him into going to Friendship to shoot. Contact was made with the powers the be to check him out so that everything would be OK. He shot with his crutches in his arm pits so there was no extra support. The guys at Friendship watched him shoot and said "have t it" as long as the crutches stay in your arm pits. He went on to win some matches.
Down side was at our state shoot that year he got protested by our own field rep who was a sore head any way. The field rep usually won everything and could not stand being beat. After the smoke settled the field rep was gone and the crutch guy continued to shoot.
Always make room for those that have the want to but may need some help along the way.
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Great idea I'd say. Last time I checked my "local" shooters don't score targets, so I don't attend much. I can make noise in my back yard-having an event to practice for gets me shooting much more regularly.
I suppose I'll have to host that sort of thing. It'll be a while yet. ::)
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1'm kinda with DOC White on this issue.
If the folks that pioneered the renaissance in muzzleloading that only shoot traditional flintlocks and percussion guns don't find some way to bring the inline shooters into their clubs, then as I see things our sport will continue to shrink until the oldtimers have passed away and their clubs die out.
If you look at Denny Ducet's videos the average age of the shooters appears to be in the mid-60's. From all the posts I read here on ALR, most of the clubs mentioned seem to be somewhat the same as far as average age of members is concerned.
Images posted here of the various shows that take place throughout the course of the calender year show the same thing. There are virtually no young faces( under age 50) showing in the photos.
There has got to be a way to entice the inline shooters to attend our clubs, which means also to financially support these same clubs. I know that a lot of them don't have our sense of history, which probably means that a completely different approach will be needed to grab their initial interest.
As muzzleloading enthusiasts we must band together in order to survive.
I can remember the first muzzleloading shoot that I attended at age 16 in Maryland in 1970. I was with my father and although I watched these older men shoot for about 1 1/2 hours, not one of them offered a green kid the chance to shoot one of their guns. They were standoffish and barely paid us any attention.
When I got my Golden Age Arms Co. flintlock a year later (6 months of lay- a- way working in a grocery store after school), I was pretty much on my own learning out of what I read in Muzzle Blasts and the Lyman Black Powder Handbook. Fortunately, I made no catastrophic mistakes, and learned lessons from all that I made.
I'll be interested to hear what others think about this.
R.J.Bruce
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RJ has some good points. I for one grew up watching Fess Parker as Daniel Boone, Jeremiah Johnson,The Mountain Men etc. The kids 40 plus years old didn’t have that influence growing up. So how do we pull them in.
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We've held different open shoots here, an openly invited all BP arms. Use whatever they wanted. Only one inline shooter showed up and he left after 10 or so shots. Too expensive. We offered him free round balls , but to no avail.
His targets weren't great, even with the scope advantage. I think it's target shooting in general that's losing folks.
Electronic devices and 40 second attention spans aren't helping.
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Folks who like inlines may generally not give a hoot about history or tradition or anything much except having another hunting season. I’m not sure why shooting inlines would be anymore of a gateway to BP matches than shooting any type of gun would. I know folks think it’s a way to recruit but I’m not sure. Target shooting is a competition and some folks don’t want to have things organized and regulated and scored.
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IMHO, I don't think inlines are the answer. Whether it is shooting, collecting or any other recreational activity that is discussed we all have the same concern, declining participation. Today's youth hasn't grown up, as many of us did, with the fictionalized historical TV programs or the in depth history classes that were part of our school curriculum. I feel that, for lack of a better term, these current programs need to be marketed to the youth and the public in general. The NMLRA Youth Shoot is a wonderful thing that Scott Mings has grown from a few kids to several hundred and can be emulated on a smaller scale at local clubs. We put on programs at the Boy Scout summer camp for a number of years and work with Pheasants Forever and their youth program. The more we can be out front the more successful we will be.
Mark
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My initial post was NOT to encourage inline shooters into the fold. It was to bring to light that there are many older long rifle shooters who would still like to stay in the game, but either due to old age or bad eyesight can not compete and deserve a senior or super-senior class. The younger elitist shooters who are only are concerned with their scores will be singing a different tune when they are old. Just my observation as a senior shooter.
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I'm in the boondocks!
I don't shoot against anybody but me!! ;D ::) :)
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I'm in the boondocks!
I don't shoot against anybody but me!! ;D ::) :)
Yeah, but what class? ;D
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you will know to practice more if you take a second place...... ;) ;)
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you will know to practice more if you take a second place...... ;) ;)
Geezers "R" us.I haven't shot for years with any muzzle loader except to test one
I made from a previously started project.I will be 83 if I hang around until 27 March.
When does "Geezerhood" begin anyway?? ;D
Bob Roller
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RJ has some good points. I for one grew up watching Fess Parker as Daniel Boone, Jeremiah Johnson,The Mountain Men etc. The kids 40 plus years old didn’t have that influence growing up. So how do we pull them in.
Many of these shows are now available through online streaming. That's how I've seen most of the Fess Parker/DB show.
It's a _watch what you want/when you want_ not what's in the TV guide world now.
Hang in there Bob, I have a Certified Geezer pal who is 92. You'll make it.
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Never let life get in the way of your shooting.
The club I used to shoot with would let inline shooters compete. They had to use open sights and a round ball. All offhand. I never saw one shooting.
Inline shooters have their own competition. They use scopes and take long shots.
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"Geezerhood", made me laugh Bob. It's been a long time since I heard that term. I don't know when it starts but I hope I make it to that point.
Percy
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Never let life get in the way of your shooting.
The club I used to shoot with would let inline shooters compete. They had to use open sights and a round ball. All offhand. I never saw one shooting.
Inline shooters have their own competition. They use scopes and take long shots.
Yes. I would let them shoot with open sights. No plastic-otherwise whatever suits their fancy--and of course none of them would try.
"long shots?" are any of them shooting the 600-1000yd events? :o (not that we should be discussing them at all here)
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I think they do.
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This brings back memories! I was lucky enough to start out in the 70s in a club with enough grouchy old wiseacres to get any kid started out right. Learned more from them in one year than I've picked up out of book in the last 40. Competitions and grudge matches with other clubs were always kept fun, with good food after. As the club aged, we went and got the old guys. Had a couple in wheel chairs so we got an old car door and had a road hunter shoot with moving targets. I got beat at those shoots by the old !@#$%, and I'm darn proud of it. When those guys passed on, they had plenty to laugh about on their way. Taking yourself to seriously only kills the fun.
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I'm with you,Tuff luck..Them ol Salty Dawgs what got me goin taught me well.Most of em gone now,a few still here aggravating as many as possible. Love em all.I cant believe I am still here,and neither can anyone that knows me. It sho nuff been a GoodRide,and Shoot Best regards to ally'all Dave F 8) 8)
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That is all we have are old guys. I'm 68 and am the youngster in the bunch. We always have a lot of laughs though. As it should be.
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Geezers "R" us.I haven't shot for years with any muzzle loader except to test one
I made from a previously started project.I will be 83 if I hang around until 27 March.
When does "Geezerhood" begin anyway??
Bob Roller, I've got you by 5 days buddy, I'll be 83 on March 22nd.....still shootin my flintlocks. 8)
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I used to say.......Look at all the old !@#$%!
Now I say..........Don't call me an old @$#%!