I've been around lots of them over the years, and due to a public radio interview I did yesterday about muzzleloaders, have had the opportunity to talk to more. But I'm seeing that the're divided into a couple of broad categories:
In the first are guys who treat their cartridge guns the same way and put the same amount of effort into hunts during the regular season. No changing them, and good riddance. Probably best not to have them in the traditional muzzleloading world at all.
In the second category is a much larger number who use inlines simply because all they hear and read in magazines is about ease of cleaning, long range and the "difficulties" of traditional. Magazines are swamped with inline ads and there's nothing in the articles and nothing in the ads about traditional.
I can sort out the first group pretty quickly, and I frankly don't put a lot of effort into changing them.
The second group is fertile ground for a little truth and a lot of converts. They aren't using traditional gear because their ears have been filled with sales pitch and they can't find any other info. Spend a little time with them, let them shoot your guns and show them how really easy it all is.
You've got them nibbling, so it's time to set the hook:
Show them a gun you built yourself and ask them if they've ever seen a kit for building an inline. There isn't a single one on the market!!!!! And yet a whole bunch of these guys tie their own flies, build their own fishing rods and reload their own ammunition.
Then tell them about some of the inexpensive sidelock kits available- Traditions and Lyman coming to mind first. I know, I know, they can't measure up to a good custom build from parts, but you want these guys to build their own quickly and easily. No better way to get a traditional gun they really care about in their hands. They can come around to more "sophisticated" gear and builds later and at their own pace, but you have to get them in the door first.
While chatting with the radio reporter about muzzleloader hunting I drifted off into how I'm hunting entirely with gear I made myself, saying that I spend a whole year getting ready for the hunt. Out of everything I said in the interview, that segment is the only part they played in its entirety.
Next thing you know, statewide public radio aired the interview. And now my phone is ringing off the hook and my email buffer is stuffing with people wanting to know more about building and hunting with their own. I know some of these guys, and most of them have inlines in their closets. Yet they are fascinated with the idea of hunting with gear, especially guns, they've made themselves.
All they need is a little exposure, a little help, and some TLC.
