Where are the shooters????

[Pony Racer]

I would say that we have had a decent amount of new shooters show up and i know others interested.

My middle daughter is learning and my 4 yr old boy wants to join in as soon as he can.

Being someone with an interested junior shooter the costs in equipment and additional time is pretty high but the closer she gets to shooting in competition the prouder I get!

PR

[El Coyote]

Best group of people to recruit from are the Steampunk set.  They do have an interest here in my neck of the woods, but again time and money play a big factor......

Very good point. I know last year Tombstone hosted a "Wild Wild West" themed steam punk convention. I wonder if they will be holding another one? 

[Blackpowder Burn]

Our club participation is growing steadily.  We typically have 60+ at regular monthly matches and have had 90+ a couple of times.  We tend to try to balance the "big and close" and "small and far" approaches, and have, I think, reached a good compromise that allows new shooters to hit the targets easily while requiring some attention to the sights.

We also offer as many categories as possible to keep interest levels up.  For instance, you can shoot regular CAS, Wild Bunch or Cody Dixon at our monthly matches.  For those of y'all not in the Republic of Texas, Cody Dixon replaces the standard pistol caliber rifle with a true rifle caliber (either single shot or lever) at distances of 80 to 125 yards.  This is becoming quite popular.

We are fortunate to have members ranging from buckaroos to Elder Statesman, with nationally ranked shooters at both ends of the spectrum.  Of course, we are located right in the Houston suburbs, which helps with a large population pool and reduced travel distances.  I suspect a lot of clubs are having problems because they are located far enough out of large cities to make travel expensive with current fuel prices.

[G.W. Strong]

My son and I shot a match this weekend. I shot black powder the whole match and my son used one of my black powder pistols for one stage for fun. I was the only black powder shooter at the match though. It was awesome! My loads are stout and the report was thunderous! what more fun can one have at a match?

[brazosdave]

I am fairly new to cap and ball just started about two yrs ago after I retired from the Army.  I would love to get into CAS, but the requirement for 2 pistols, a rifle, and a sxs shotgun is whats stopping me.  Seems like every time I get a few dollars saved, there is another cap and ball pistol I just "got" to have. I have my two pistols now, and shoot about every week. There also is really no clubs in the greater Ft. Hood, TX area, most of the guys around here are into the black guns and tricked out ARs. I did find the Texas Muzzleloader association, which has b.p. only shoots several times a yr, so I'm hitting the "frost on the cactus" event next March. I think it is just the sticker shock, most of us middle age guys that are into the old West guns don't have a great amount of disposable income these days, and most of the young guys I know who are still drawing active duty military pay like the tactical stuff. Hope it doesn't go away though, eventually I hope to score a rifle and shotgun. I might be one of the few guys shooting bp, and I know the cartidge guys are faster on the reload, but I love the old technology. I already have my next bit of disposable income earmarked for a Pietta Griswold and Gunnison, so the rifle and shotgun will have to wait!

[hellgate]

Hang in there Brazosdave! I've been shooting cap & ball exclusively in SASS/CAS matyches since 1993 (once you go black you never go back!). Just keep your eyes peeled for a SXS like a Coach gun or a Stevens 311. If the gun has chokes you can load about any combination that gives a good pattern and crimp. 45-50grs FFg in a Remington case and a white AA wad works fine for me. I use Rossi '92s, & IGA CoachGun and any number of C&Bs I happen to favor for the day. My pistol rack is kinda like a harem where I decide which one I want to have my way with this time.