With Regrets

[19 Turkeys]

All,

After a great deal of thought and conversation, the JCSA Pistol Silhouette Club, Grants Pass, OR, is suspending all Small and Big Bore matches until further notice. This includes the West Coast Championship. I wanted to get the word out early for those that travel long distances. Here is the reasoning. I have gone through the list of shooters that have ever participated in a match here. That is everyone from anywhere in the world. We are down to 7 shooters. Only 5 of those are IHMSA members. Not all of the 7 shoot every match. Of the 5 IHMSA members, we have only 3 to set up and tear down the range, run the match, do all the paperwork, make all the reports and handle the financials. Basically, we have reached the point where we don’t have a labor force to continue this every labor intensive sport.

This does not mean that the club is going out of business. We will still remain a club and shoot air pistol the first Wednesday and fourth Saturdays of each month. All are invited to come join us. We have extra guns we can loan you.

I have informed Lura Johnson, the Exec VP at the range, that all matches except air pistol should be removed from the JCSA shoot calendar immediately. It was a great run. the club has shot for 39 years & the WCC went 16 of those. Not bad for a championship match that was formed over beer & BS!

With regrets,

Steve W.

[aggshooter]

Sorry to hear this.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the way so many clubs discontinue our sport. Labor intensive is the key phrase. Running a close second is the lack of local shooters. For ranges not equipped with auto-resets, the work involved eventually becomes too much for the remaining few locals.

Again, sorry to hear this.

Rich

[hardtoseeovergut]

Sorry to hear that Steve.

It is tough work. I am physically limited but do what I can at matches and recruit all the time.

Wish I could have made a WCC.

[braud357]

Very sorry to hear this, but it sounds all too familiar. If not for my and Charlie's (mostly Charlie's) hard-headedness. IHMSA would have died in Louisiana years ago. My earlier Louisiana Directors Report details what we are doing to allow us to continue. Than you Steve for all that you have done !

[260 Striker]

Steve, You and your limited crew can be very proud of what you have done over all those years. I'm sure the few local shooters who have continued to support you will be disappointed but will understand. You will just need to convert them to air shooters. Thanks for all your hard work for the OR shooters and for the other shooters who got to enjoy the WCC with you. We also are down to just a handful of people at the LHA but we are still hanging in there.

[JACKIE40X40]

All,

After a great deal of thought and conversation, the JCSA Pistol Silhouette Club, Grants Pass, OR, is suspending all Small and Big Bore matches until further notice. This includes the West Coast Championship. I wanted to get the word out early for those that travel long distances. Here is the reasoning. I have gone through the list of shooters that have ever participated in a match here. That is everyone from anywhere in the world. We are down to 7 shooters. Only 5 of those are IHMSA members. Not all of the 7 shoot every match. Of the 5 IHMSA members, we have only 3 to set up and tear down the range, run the match, do all the paperwork, make all the reports and handle the financials. Basically, we have reached the point where we don’t have a labor force to continue this every labor intensive sport.

This does not mean that the club is going out of business. We will still remain a club and shoot air pistol the first Wednesday and fourth Saturdays of each month. All are invited to come join us. We have extra guns we can loan you.

I have informed Lura Johnson, the Exec VP at the range, that all matches except air pistol should be removed from the JCSA shoot calendar immediately. It was a great run. the club has shot for 39 years & the WCC went 16 of those. Not bad for a championship match that was formed over beer & BS!

With regrets,

Steve W.

. Wow! This is very sad to hear.JCSA and the West coast Championship will be missed! But I get it,it's hard to get all the help you need when you have 2000 members in your gun club!

[captainjohn]

Sorry to see this happen, always seemed to be a great match and some very good competition among some of the best shooters in the sport.
IHope others see what's happened and dont let this take out your club, Help out ,No one is paid, PLEASE give our match directors a hand and make sure the also have time to shoot a couple entries.

Steve and crew :Thanks for all your years of service and dedication to IHMSA shooters.I HATE when this happens !

[borregos]

Sorry to hear that Steve, not an easy decision I am sure.

[19 Turkeys]

Sorry to hear that Steve, not an easy decision I am sure.

No it wasn't Pete. I took several months to make it.

Yours,

Steve W.

[aggshooter]

Not to hijack this thread.......but all the small matches face this issue. Is it time for the board to consider the use of paper targets or using swingers for local matches, approved on a case by case basis? Don't get me wrong, I love shooting steel. I am a one-man operation here, with a very small turnout, sometimes only 1 or 2 other shooters. I will often try to set up the range the night before the match because I can't possibly do it all on match day.

Indiana has 3 ranges, we are the only one that still shoots big bore. Knox has less than 5 entries a month. Wildcat Valley has rope resets for SB & FP, and they have a dedicated .22 range so they don't pick up their targets, just the ropes.

With less than 10 IHMSA entries per month, I have a hard time justifying to our board that I need to tie up the range all day for a paltry $35 of income. I sometimes pay the target setter from my own pocket, or go without one which means I have to set targets as well. It's a lot of work in order for me to shoot 2 entries without traveling 4 hours to LHA.

The inclusion of 4H kids to shoot rifle helps, but their attendance is spotty (soccer, baseball, archery, camping, etc all take precedence) and has no bearing on long range. I can set up or tear down the rimfire in about 30 minutes, including getting rugs out of the shed.

Again, sorry to hear about losing ranges, but reasons cited always include "Labor Intensive". Should we address that? Thoughts?