2024 Gunmakers Hall Giveaway

Have you been thinking about a new gun for this year? Or possibly a new pouch, horn, or knife? That can add up to a lot of money, especially for a custom muzzle loader or other handmade gear. Here’s an idea, instead of spending all that hard earned money on a new gun, or gear, why not enter for a chance to win it? This year we are once again having our Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. This is a great opportunity to win a custom muzzle loader and many other handcrafted items. It’s also a great way to support the NMLRA. All prizes are handmade by some of this country’s premier contemporary muzzle loading artists.

Here's a bit of how it works. The Gunmaker’s Hall Committee comes together, a year or more in advance, during the NMLRA spring shoot, and starts work on the following year’s prizes. We work on the giveaway guns and prizes at Gunmaker’s Hall, during the shoots held at the Walter Cline Range. We’ve been known to bore barrels, rifle barrels, inlet barrels into stocks, hand forge hardware, make knives, craft horn work, engrave metalwork, carve gunstocks, and even build entire guns, at the Hall during the shoot. Other artists and craftspeople stop by the Hall and share their knowledge. Presentations are given and discussions are held, often over the very projects that will be in the Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway.  By the way, these presentations are free, and open to the public. All this work comes together in September at the Walter Cline Range during the NMLRA Fall Shoot at the annual Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway, when we giveaway the muzzle loaders and the other handmade prizes.

We have two custom made rifles in the Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway this year. Bart Copenhaver, a top notch gunmaker from Pennsylvania, made a Christian Oerter style flintlock. This is a beautiful piece and you will be seeing more of it in upcoming Muzzle Blasts articles. Warren Whitley, of Tennessee, made a really nice iron mounted Southern rifle for the Incentive Gun. Warren’s is another fine piece and really needs to be seen; it is beautiful. Warren’s gun will be featured in an upcoming article and both guns will be on display at Gunmaker’s Hall during the spring and fall shoots at the Walter Cline range in Friendship, Indiana.

Christian Oerter flintlock muzzleloader by Bart Copenheaver of Pennsylvania.

Southern Mountain flintlock muzzleloader by Warren Whitley of Tennessee.

Shooting pouch by Jeff Luke of Ohio.

We’ve got more fantastic prizes for the giveaway this year. Jeff Luke has presented his leather working skills at the Hall, has a booth on commercial row, and is a very fine craftsman. Jeff has made a really cool shooting bag for the giveaway. He makes something every year for us and this one is outstanding. We can’t thank him enough for everything he has done. Here’s what Jeff had to say about this year’s bag;

 “For my donation to this year's Gunmakers Hall Giveaway I wanted to create a hunting pouch that might have been seen in the southern mountain region of the country in the early to mid-19th century. The pouch is heart shaped, a common southern Appalachian style of the era, with turned construction and a "bearded" flap with six layers of hand cut fringe sewn to the flap face. The pouch is constructed of 3-4oz veg tanned cowhide and the 1" strap has a nice forged buckle by John Rader. Everything is handstitched with linen thread at six stitches per inch.” 

Wow, is that cool or what? Look at the pictures with this article and you will see what I mean. That pouch will make someone very happy (that someone could be you). It’ll probably make you shoot better too. Thank you, Jeff Luke!  

Wooden shooting box made by Russel Combs.

Russel Combs donated a hand made shooting box to the giveaway.  Gunmaker’s Hall has helped to support the pistol line over the years and Russ wanted to return the favor by supporting Gunmaker’s Hall and the NMLRA. His has offered the choice of one, of his three handcrafted wooden shooting boxes. Made in Cherry, Walnut and Red Cedar, they are all works of the highest art. Which one would you choose? We’re taking a poll and will decide during the June Shoot at the Walter Cline Range in Friendship Indiana.

What do you have to do to win the pouch Jeff Luke made, one of Russel’s shooting boxes, or one of those fine muzzle loading rifles? Simply buy some tickets for the 2024 Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. The tickets are available for sale at Gunmaker’s Hall during the spring and fall shoots, in Muzzle Blasts, and on the NMLRA website (nmlra.org). You could be a prize winner!

The schedule of ticket prices for the drawing will remain the same as last year: one ticket for $5, 3 tickets for $10, eight tickets for $20, and 25 tickets for $50. Those who subscribe to the $50 option will have their tickets held separate and entered first into the drawing for the Incentive Gun made by Warren Whitley. After this drawing, all tickets will be brought together for the main drawing featuring Bart Copenheaver’s longrifle, the pouch, box, and other prizes. You can purchase tickets at Gunmaker’s Hall during the national shoots, in the magazine, and on the NMLRA website nmlra.org. You may copy tickets printed from the magazine and the web, but please make sure the size stays the same. When you cut out the tickets, please trim them to size. When you put your contact information on the ticket, please put your NMLRA member number on there too. Send your tickets and money to the NMLRA, PO Box 67, Friendship, IN 47021. You could win one of two custom long rifles or any of the other handmade items provided to our drawing. We would appreciate your support! This drawing is not valid where prohibited by law.

If you, your company, or someone you know would like to contribute an appropriate prize item for our drawing, or simply make a donation to Gunmaker’s Hall, please contact me at gunmakershall@gmail.com Donations are greatly appreciated by myself, the Gunmaker’s Hall Committee and the NMLRA.

I’ll see you at the Hall.

Benjaman Quearry, gunmakershall@gmail.com

See the NMLRA website for printable
tickets by clicking here.

POWDER HORN & HUNTING POUCH CLASS FOR YOUTH (AGES 12 – 15)

ENTER TO WIN A FREE

POWDER HORN & HUNTING POUCH CLASS

FOR YOUTH (AGES 12 – 15)

with Henry Bowman & Jeff Luke

8:00 a.m. Saturday, June 15, 2023

LIMIT: 8 STUDENTS DRAWN FROM LOTTERY.

PIZZA LUNCH INCLUDED! 

NMLRA Education Building on Maxine Moss Dr. (Dewberry Rd.), Friendship, IN

 Contact: Amber May

LAST ENTRY ACCEPTED: MAY 31, 2024

DRAWING: JUNE 03, 2024

To apply for the drawing fill in the information below or call the NMLRA office at 812-432-2670.

Winners chosen for the Free Powderhorn and Hunting Pouch Class

Winners chosen for the free Powderhorn and Hunting Pouch Class

And the winners are:
Samuel Keys
David Sargent
Brantley Bond
Barrett Crumbaugh
Savannah Dowers
Jonah Cain
Brody Snyder
Jeremiah Jury
Lucas Fulmer
Makayla Baxter

Alternates are:
Isabelle Manns
Kenleigh Kuzo

All winners will be notified by email. If you are unable to attend for some reason please let the NMLRA office know as soon as possible so an alternate may be contacted.

Thanks for your interest in this event and we hope to host more of them in the future.

Thanks to the NMLRA, Gunmaker’s Hall, and Crazy Crow for donations.
Also thanks to Henry Bowman and Jeff Luke for instructing the class.

https://www.crazycrow.com/site/

FREE FOR AGES 12-15 - POWDERHORN & HUNTING POUCH CLASS (Copy)

Final days to get signed up for the chance to take this class!
Thanks to Crazy Crow Trading Post for donating the horns for the kids!

FREE FOR AGES 12-15
POWDERHORN & HUNTING POUCH CLASS

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022, FROM 8:00- 5:00

Free to 10 students (ages 12-15) selected from a lottery of applicants. Pizza lunch will be provided. Each student will make a powderhorn and hunting pouch like the set below.

To apply for the drawing fill in the information at the following page link https://www.nmlra.org/classes-1 or call the NMLRA office at 812-667-5131. For more information or questions contact Amber at the NMLRA office at 812-667-5131 or amay@nmlra.org.

Drawing will be held on June 1, 2022 and 10 lucky students will be notified.

https://www.crazycrow.com/site/

FREE FOR AGES 12-15 - POWDERHORN & HUNTING POUCH CLASS

Final days to get signed up for the chance to take this class!
Thanks to Crazy Crow Trading Post for donating the horns for the kids!

FREE FOR AGES 12-15
POWDERHORN & HUNTING POUCH CLASS

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022, FROM 8:00- 5:00

Free to 10 students (ages 12-15) selected from a lottery of applicants. Pizza lunch will be provided. Each student will make a powderhorn and hunting pouch like the set below.

To apply for the drawing fill in the information at the following page link https://www.nmlra.org/classes-1 or call the NMLRA office at 812-667-5131. For more information or questions contact Amber at the NMLRA office at 812-667-5131 or amay@nmlra.org.

Drawing will be held on June 1, 2022 and 10 lucky students will be notified.

https://www.crazycrow.com/site/

The Historic Wolf Hills | John Curry | Muzzle Blasts Archives

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“I first set foot in this Green River country in the spring of 1769. Jim Knox, from the Wolf Hills on the Holston, led a party of us into Kentucky to hunt. Folks called us the Long Hunters because we stayed gone such a time. The country was wilderness in those days. But few white men had ever seen it, and none had settled here.”

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So begins an unassuming little book called “The Kentuckians”.  The great Janice Holt Giles’ epic tale of a young longhunter’s amazing experiences during the late 1760’s in that vast, totally uninhabited expanse known as “the dark and bloody ground”.  Lazy High School student that I was, I chose to read The Kentuckians under odious decree of a compulsory, English class, book report.  Drat!  My selection of this thoroughly astounding tome, owing mainly to its diminutive and insignificant size.  Little did I know…  Talk about lightning in a bottle!  Hah!  Right then and there began my irrepressible zeal for the saga of the longhunter which still holds me in its burly grip yet today.

Once anyone becomes seriously entangled amidst the bona fide history of true, classic longhunting; various intriguing references and allusions to this place called “the Wolf Hills” begin to pop up regularly.  Arising from the most inauspicious, trifling parties you seldom ever hear about to the best known and most famous woodsmen of that age:  “…Daniel Boone, accompanied by several hunters, visited the Holston and camped the first night in what is now known as Taylor’s Valley.  On the succeeding day, they hunted down the South Fork of Holston river and traveled thence to what was known as the Wolf Hills, where they encamped the second night near where Black’s Fort was afterwards built.  It is interesting to note at this point that Daniel Boone and his companions, immediately after nightfall, were troubled by the appearance of great numbers of wolves, which assailed their dogs with such fury that it was with great difficulty that the hunters succeeded in repelling their attacks and saving the lives of their dogs, a number of which were killed or badly crippled by the wolves.  The wolves had their home in the cave that underlies the town of Abingdon.  The entrance to this cave is upon the lot now occupied by the residence of Mr. James L. White.” 2   Yes…  Actually, the huge entrance to the infamous Wolf Cave of so much extraordinary, longhunting lore, is now wholly contained within the backyard of a beautiful, Victorian house - located in central, downtown Abingdon! 

For no more than were involved in this precarious, wild and woolly vocation; the Wolf Hills became a rather well known,

far-western landmark of its time.  A sort of gathering point if you will, for longhunters headed west.  Practically speaking, the stalwart pre-Revolutionary War era frontiersmen who took part in these lengthy, deepwoods ventures would in fact originate from all over the southern

and mid-Atlantic colonies.  Renowned longhunting leader, Isaac Lindsay was from the

tiny settlement of Newbury in western South Carolina while his older brother, Thomas Lindsay lived in Pennsylvania.  The illustrious James Harrod (an important longhunter in his own right) hailed from southern Pennsylvania as well.  James Knox and Henry Skaggs were both from Virginia whereas the previously mentioned, larger-than-life, Daniel Boone owned a farm in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina.  Usually rallying… joining forces under the guidance and direction of one or two experienced, highly competent men who would serve as a Captain of sorts.   (And by the term “Captain”, I use that in its most vague and innocuous connotation.)  The Wolf Hills of southwestern Virginia served as something of a pre-appointed, “meeting up” place where groups of professional hunters bound for the fabled, Can-tu-kee would assemble and mobilize in preparation to their impending departure.

Having no specifically appointed date, some might get there many days in advance, setting up their camp and waiting for their friends.  Some might arrive shortly before - some arriving just in time to head out – with others not infrequently arriving a tad late and having

to track the company down just to catch up.  The most common collection period being late spring, like May

or June, however companies of longhunters could find themselves encamped and lingering at the Wolf Hills in any month, during any season. .  A general, basic date would be communicated amongst everyone connected with a particular longhunt, to present themselves there at the Wolf Hills with all the intended participants made aware of it.  Typically, a comfortable amount of time would be allowed for each man to fully arm and equip himself, in addition to furnishing all the necessaries.  This might encompass two or three pack horses plus his own mount, tack, powder, bar lead, trail gear, salt, a blanket or two, along with anything else he might think of:  i.e. mittens, a mending box, spare flints, fishing kit, basic blacksmithing tools, etc.  These obligatory essentials together with enough jerk, parched corn, coffee and sugar as he might see fit…  At least enough to last until he finds himself surrounded by the unbroken forest and is able to hunt for victuals with his trusty firelock.  

All this acquired, organized, packed up - and he’s ready to head out. Now repeated selection and usage of the Wolf Hills vicinity didn’t just happen by accident.  All these groups of highly experienced woodsmen weren’t just stomping around in the wilderness and suddenly decided “hey, let’s set us up a camp and wait for everbody right here”.  No, no.  Merely arriving at this crucial place meant you’d already done your homework, received an invite, knew what you were doing and you had some pretty big plans.  The Wolf Hills (as a point of embarkation) was in fact, quite strategically located upon what had been recognized from

pre-Colombian times as the old, Warriors Path.  A main artery penetrating into the uncharted, unknown, colonial far-west with its major branches extending all the way out to the Mississippi as well as northward into the eastern Great Lakes.  This thought-provoking moniker was in due course changed and the ancient trail itself significantly modified during the longhunting era to become “The Hunters’ Trace”.  An untrustworthy, bewildering passageway beginning in earnest from Staunton, Virginia; drifting through Cumberland Gap and ultimately reaching its western terminus way out in modern-day, south-central Kentucky and further on into the French Lick region of Middle Tennessee.

Once through Cumberland Gap the tremendous amounts of game became incredible.  Moving from one area to another in four week to six month intervals; semi-permanent, working/living sites better known as “station camps”; centrally established within game-rich hotspots possessing curious names like Wasioto Pass, Stinking Creek, Raccoon Springs, Skin House Branch, Knob Licks, Big South Fork and the Barrens would serve as these longhunters’ various and sundry, homes-away-from-home… Any given company sustaining this rootless, nomadic lifestyle most often for a grand total of anywhere from one to two and a half years.  Common procedure was for hunters to radiate out from those temporary station camps in all directions – north, south, east and west. Either by themselves or in little groups of two or three for a period of roughly, ten days to nearly three weeks. Due to the sheer numbers of hides and furs, game would be skinned on site and brought back to the station camp for half-dressing, then stored away in large hide houses to await their eventual transportation back over the mountains to the trading posts. This comprised the everyday business of the longhunter: Roam the Hunters’ Trace into the west.  Establish station camps here and there.  Kill/process game. Take it all back east - and reap your new-found wealth. Notwithstanding… Right here, in the Wolf Hills of Virginia. Just a stone’s throw east of Moccasin Gap - is where the game was initially set in motion.

A fleeting handful of years and the grand adventures passed on by with southwestern Virginia becoming increasingly more populated... By degrees, more civilized and conspicuously developed. Homesteads, towns, stockades springing up here and there. The days of an unsettled, wild and unbroken Virginia frontier were slowly turning into timeworn, half-forgotten memories. Our youthful, vibrant nation had determined to improve and cultivate the west.  Longhunting was on the wane and a different kind of frontier was emerging: “Soon after the arrival of Mr. Robertson on the Watauga (1772)… it became settled from the Wolf Hills, where Abingdon, in Virginia, now is, to Carter’s Valley.” 3 Alas (as with everything else in the course of history) the Wolf Hills, longhunting and indeed, the longhunter himself shortly thereafter, slipped away; almost imperceptibly fading off into obscurity.  But not the wolf!  Distinguished Revolutionary War era, Virginia/Kentucky frontiersman, William Clinkenbeard laments: “The wolves used to come and take the pigs and things close up around the Station...”4 (I’ll bet they did.) Virginia would be a while yet shaking off her wolf population. Not unlike the vanishing longhunter during his brief heyday… hunting was in their blood. They knew nothing else. If the situation wasn’t working where they were, if problems developed, if the game played out – they’d simply adjust or otherwise drift off entirely, to another “canine” station camp.

The Wolf Hills might be lost… a thing of the past but this to the wolves was only a minor, inconsequential setback.  The wolves would never yield. They weren’t created to yield. In the midst of unendurably hard times, they merely repositioned themselves; while simultaneously adapting and redefining their tactics for survival with regard to these strange, dangerous, highly sophisticated, human predators. Avoid them when they had to; eat them when they could… Food is where you find it ya know – either at home or on the trail.

Traveling westward into Kentucky with his family and a small group of settlers, late eighteenth century pioneer John Hedge tells us: “Wolves came around the wagons again.  They were mighty bad in them days in Kentucky, on young cattle, horses and calves.”5 Cattle and horses, huh? Consider yourselves lucky! Guess they figured if the loathsome humans drove them off, at least they could supply ‘em with a cow or a horse every now and then… Got to do what ya got ta do, right? And pretty much nobody cares about the wolves but the wolves.

Well…  Wolves are long gone now. From around these parts anyways. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and all through the Ohio Valley. Just like the longhunter - gone. You gotta admit though, they put up

a darned good fight. Word is they still have a few wolves way out in the modern-day west. A very few… But from what I hear, most people out there (farmers, ranchers and such) don’t particularly like ‘em and their days (similar to their eighteenth century cousins), sound ominously numbered.  Being a carefree rambler, a roving, habitual wanderer and an unapologetic hunter myself, I’ve always sort of identified with wolves.  My path through the

forest is my own. Imperfect, unexceptional no doubt, but mine nonetheless. I chase my tail, howl at the moon and drift with the wind, as my instincts decree.  Yet my hunting grounds dwindle and in many places I’m no longer welcome. That wild, uninhibited, wide-open deepwoods lifestyle I’ve grown to love is increasingly becoming harder and harder to attain. Reputable, historically legitimate longhunters of today are hard pressed as well, to find even the ever-

receding scraps of it. Still we continue to roam, prowl, dream, hope against hope; hunt where/when we can. And then we move on... Sometimes I think, in my last life – I was born a wolf. 

John Curry

References:

1  Giles, Janice Holt, The Kentuckians, p. 2.

2  Summers, Lewis Preston, Southwest Virginia, 1746- 1786, p.76.

3  Haywood, John, Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee, p. 55.

4  John D. Shane’s interview with William Clinkenbeard, Filson Club Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3, April 1928, p.105.

5  John D. Shane’s interview with John Hedge, Filson Club Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3, July 1940, p.181. 

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