With Regrets

[braud357]

Rich, look at my Louisiana Directors report in this same section and look at what Charlie and I are working on to ease our work load. It is an extreme measure, but we have come to the point where we have to do something drastic in order to continue !

[aggshooter]

Good luck with the sensor/light system.

By coincidence, I saw an advertisement for a system like that just last week.

For practice, I made a big bore ram and turkey from Shoot-N-See material. It works great, except in the rain of course. Tried it at a match and another shooter had grave misgivings.....until he shot it and then he was juiced.
The bullet holes are visible thru a 6x pistol scope. You can spot your own shots.
Anybody can be a spotter.
You don't have to see the bullet hit (since the target doesn't fall).
You can review your hits in your scope or thru a spotter.
Holes are patched with 1" paster dots made from the same material, cost is about a penny apiece (640 pasters cost about $8).
There is no heavy lifting, so anyone on a golf cart or bicycle can be a target setter.
And on a side note....no caliber restriction due to velocity, 300 Whisper to 300 Win Mag are all OK.

[35isit]

Sorry to hear another range leaving. All the targets at my home range are mechanical resets. Our problem is not the lack of help setting up and tearing down, it's maintaining the range and system. We only have two club members that shoot regularly me and the match director. Our shooters gladly help setup and tear down. This upcoming season will be our 38th.

[2whlgeezer]

Very sad to see another range lost. I have only been shooting IHMSA a short while, but fear that we're on a similar path here in Geneva. Not enough shooters and a lot of labor to maintain the range (especially in the summer in Florida) as well as set up and tear down. Like many others, it is just a couple old guys (plus my awesome wife) keeping things going. We're trying to keep interest up with some "extras". i.e. this Sunday we're having a "Ram Shoot" for club members with cowboy lever guns. 5 rams, 5 shots, a turkey and little trophy to the winner. The last few months we have brought little sandwich rolls and some cold cuts for our shooters- and visitors-. Anyone with other suggestions please pass them on.

[jcunclejoe]

In the past I have offered "Shoot for Free" days where myself and other silhouette shooters provided everything to shoot an entry including coaching and spotting. The event was printed up on flyers and distributed to a half dozen gun shops in town. Participation was spotty and for anyone to ever come back was rare.
I did the same kind of thing for several different disciplines within the range including the ladies program and the cowboy shooters (the cowboys were like herding cats).

It is extremely difficult to get anyone to come out and try our game and even harder to get someone hooked.

I always explain and stress that they should bring what they have and shoot it, then learn to shoot it well while learning about loads, accuracy and sight settings, then if they choose to continue, maybe buy a contender and ease into the sport.

I'd love to hear other peoples suggestions.

Joe

[35isit]

In the past I have offered "Shoot for Free" days where myself and other silhouette shooters provided everything to shoot an entry including coaching and spotting. The event was printed up on flyers and distributed to a half dozen gun shops in town. Participation was spotty and for anyone to ever come back was rare.
I did the same kind of thing for several different disciplines within the range including the ladies program and the cowboy shooters (the cowboys were like herding cats).

It is extremely difficult to get anyone to come out and try our game and even harder to get someone hooked.

I always explain and stress that they should bring what they have and shoot it, then learn to shoot it well while learning about loads, accuracy and sight settings, then if they choose to continue, maybe buy a contender and ease into the sport.

I'd love to hear other peoples suggestions.

Joe

My club has done many of the same things Joe. Our game is hard, exacting and can be embarrassing to new shooters. We can see success or failure at the crack of each shot. It's not like paper shooting where no one knows until all the targets are scored. Besides we don't run around with loaded guns spraying and praying we do good. It takes special people to appreciate what we do.

[Richard Pickering]

At the Cherokee range (Gainesville, GA), Ron Dixon bought a Ruger Charger and scoped it. Also it has a bipod. It is a very good tool for new shooter introduction. It doesn't recoil much. The scope and bipod make it simple to use and the new user can get a very good score early. You can shoot one 40 score with it but then the bipod cant be used. Considering the investment cost it is very well received it is a very versatile choice.

[2whlgeezer]

I agree with 35sit, that silhouette can be embarrassing. Also, the Charger idea sounds pretty cool, perhaps I'll try a bipod on one of the T/Cs.

[Robert Becherer]

our club has almost 2200 people and there are only three of use that setup, teardown, and run the matches. Most of our shooters come from a fair distance to participate in the matches,and they help with target resetting. The club board has been considering suspending matches due to low turn out. Some members have complained about wanting to use the 200m range only to find that a low turn out match is tying it up. We do have a 100yrd over flow range that maybe setup to use swingers if it could pass the board of IHMSA and the club, but swingers aren't an approved IHMSA target.

[braud357]

our club has almost 2200 people and there are only three of use that setup, teardown, and run the matches. Most of our shooters come from a fair distance to participate in the matches,and they help with target resetting. The club board has been considering suspending matches due to low turn out. Some members have complained about wanting to use the 200m range only to find that a low turn out match is tying it up. We do have a 100yrd over flow range that maybe setup to use swingers if it could pass the board of IHMSA and the club, but swingers aren't an approved IHMSA target.

I personally know of at least one range that uses swingers for sanctioned matches. I cannot see a problem with it if it keeps your matches going. It is the same conditions for everyone - hopefully everyone that shoots is honest ! As I have previously stated - we are going to impact sensors on all of our targets in Louisiana, and intend to continue IHMSA sanction. If the powers that be in IHMSA have a problem with us doing this to survive, I invite them to come and run our matches ! We polled our shooters before our decision was finalized, and they voiced 100 % approval !