Dear Friends,

I hope that this issue finds you all in good health and good spirits.

I have some very exciting news that I would like to share with you all. As of March 1st, 2013, I am now the owner and publisher of MUZZLELOADER magazine. I was approached by Bill Scurlock a few years ago as he was thinking towards his eventual retirement and the future of the magazine. In 2007, Bill asked if I would be interested in taking over the magazine. Of course my anwer was yes. I was very honored that he and Linda chose me to continue on their publication. I am also incredibly humbled by this prospect as well. I will also add that Bill isn't quite ready to retire yet, he will continue publishing books dedicated to our hobby and working on various other projects relating to the hobby as well.

Bill and Linda Scurlock have both done a fantastic job producing MUZZLELOADER, it is a very high quality magazine and I hope that I can follow their lead in maintaining the same level of quality.

I have written several times in the past that it is because of MUZZLELOADER that I am where I am. Buster Grubbs, the same family friend who my father and I followed to our first rendezvous, introduced me to MUZZLELOADER in 1995 and it was through the articles in MUZZLELOADER that I fell in love with history and started down the path that I am following today.

Unfortunately, this great news is also somewhat bittersweet. This will be the final issue of On The Trail. I am going to combine On The Trail with MUZZLELOADER. I think if I tried to keep publishing both, On The Trail would eventually become watered down as I focused on MUZZLELOADER.

The On The Trail subscriber list will be merged with the MUZZLELOADER list and the duplicates will be combined. For instance if you have a subscription to both and you have three issues left with MUZZLELOADER and one issue left with On The Trail, you will have four issues coming of MUZZLELOADER after the merger. If you were not a subscriber to MUZZLELOADER before, then you will have however many issues you had left on your On The Trail subscription.

All of our writers have agreed to remain on board and will be added to the roster of writers at MUZZLELOADER. I feel that MUZZLELOADER and On The Trail are the two best publications in our hobby and combining them will result in the best publication.

The merger will start with the May/June issue of MUZZLELOADER. May/June will be my first issue and it will be the next issue that you, our subscribers, will receive.

I hope that you all will continue to enjoy our publication and that you will also continue to support us in the coming years.

Thank you all very much.
Until the next issue, I remain,
Your Most Humble & Obedient Servent,
Jason W. Gatliff, ed.