Last weekend we took a drive to central Indiana to visit the longhunters of Coal Creek. This is a small, private encampment where friends gather twice a year to let go of modern conveniences and spend time in the wilderness with their flintlock muzzle loaders.

Participants enjoy the dress, tools, and equipment of early america as much as they love muzzleloaders. Each camp has it’s own style, whether portraying early fur trade French explorers, or seasoned longhunters exploring beyond the Cumberland Gap, there is so much care put into the camps.

The friendly atmosphere of this camp pours out of each participant. I brought my wife along for her first trip to this camp, and within 15 minutes of arriving she was being whisked away in a dug out canoe with two new friends.

Groups of friends like this have been the backbone of muzzleloading for over 100 years now. Without these passionate muzzle loaders continuing the tradition, muzzle loading would look very different today.