Bob,

A bit more to help you understand where i'm coming from. I honestly believe I was born 200 years too late. I love the fur trade/ mountain man era. I can honestly say if I was given the choice to go back to those times to live my life over I wouldn't hesitate a nano second to say yes. So, while i'm not making believe i'm a mountain man living in 1830. I'm living a modern version of a mountain man. It's what I enjoy. Going to black powder shoots with like minded guys and gals is a ton of fun. I want to get more into going to rendezvous too. Some go to those who just make believe for just the week of the event. others live the lifestyle full time, or at least a modern version of the lifestyle. I fit into the latter, and i'll get deeper and deeper into it until i'm in character full time. Yes, that means walking around in buckskins full time, trapping etc.

It's my chosen lifestyle, and there's a lot of guys in the area who think the same way. Now, you wouldn't expect me to shoot any weapon other than a period correct rifle would you? Of course that doesn't mean i'll use a weapon that isn't humane to the game. I'm a hunter, and I would have been a hunter back then too. The brigades all had a couple of full time hunters that would kill the game for the rest of the brigade. It could be as big as 100 men. a lot of hunting, and to use a weapon that didn't work was unheard of. Only a few had .50 cal Hawkens. It was the best you could buy back then. I think it still is now too.

This is where I hang out most of the year, and where i'll be hunting next fall. I'm also doing my best to find a cabin in the area to live in full time. These pictures are a ghost town. It was a mining town in it's day. I'd like to leve somewhere near it, but have more solitude that this town gets. It's at 10,000ft.