My Muzzle Blasts Editorial, Jan. 2010

Muzzle Blasts is the official publication of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. In this month's issue, Letters to the Editor I wrote a column promoting the use of GPS receivers by all hunters and outdoors men, even the most traditional ones.


Here is an excerpt...Dear Editor, (Mr. Eric), I call this Old Tech Meets New Tech... As a group of dedicated gun enthusiasts, typically appreciating more the low-tech nature of the sport than the high-tech, we may often disregard or even scoff carrying and using a GPS receiver, and (God forbid) perhaps even putting it in our possibles bag next to our powder flask and nipple pick. The reasons that we should seriously consider using a GPS receiver is two-fold, safety and convenience. Gary’s reasoning, to find the remote rendezvous location from another city is a good one, but we should also consider other positive implications of knowing precisely where you are (or are going). I have to also mention before I go on, that the old fashioned way of map and compass will never be lost by the wayside of navigation, and will always be more reliable than any electronic device...

At the end of the article, I issued this challenge: PS. The first reader to email me my office street name, I’ll send them an official replica of an 1837 Bank Token cast of solid pewter I bought from Track of the Wolf. I am at GPS Coords. (DMM): 28° 21.579'N, 80° 46.884'W. 

Congratulations to Jerry Boyle, Dave Schreck, Rick Buxton and Jim and Annetta Holmes for being the first to reply! Dave Schreck was the winner, but they will all receive a token (if I have enough!).  Other winners of either finding the location or giving it their best shot were: Steve Pressman, Brad Bennett, Pete Garrett.  Sorry, I'm out of tokens now.