How do you keep them coming back?

2 Cents Worth

I'm a new shooter, one year under my belt competing in ARA matches. One of the items that I became aware of very soon into this advantage was how few particpates there where considering I lived in very large metro area, San Antonio, TX. I even did a little promoting trying just to see if I could get one person to at least come out to a match, which resulted in a big fat 0. I'd go to a range near my house and setup my gear to try and do some practice, which by the way is a waste of time IMO, the benches wobble, no flags, and the guys next to you are shooting off their AR47's as fast as they can unload a clip then high fiving each other, anyway back on subject, I'd have folks come over and ask me questions and I'd always tell them about what I knew, tell them they should attend a match, give them directions etc..... as stated above one big 0 not one came out. I even posted on one of the biggest outdoor forums in Texas and I'm sure that many read the post and that coming weekend I kept thinking at least one vehical would pull up, again 0. I won't even go into the fine details but it was a small miracle how I even became aware of the sport. If a few pieces hadn't fallen into place I wouldn't be here enjoying myself. I guess time will only tell but maybe some of the new things going on may spark some added interest and help it grow.

Les
 
I don't know how it......

would work in your area, but, I have to agree w/Dale in some respects. We started a winter-time shoot, we used benches, and some of the guys left their
good quality rests on the benches for newbies to use. We asked, "Have you ever shot from a rest like this?" If no, we'd show them how. We encouraged women to show up, even if they only waited for their husbands and/or children, we had a supply of big, dry logs for the fire, & some of the non-shooters kept it fed. We had VERY reasonable prices on hot chocolate(MILK-based), food, buns, coffee & tea, it must have been good, because shooters that weren't shooting came down to eat lunch, shoot th' breeze, and see how things were going. We also had food prizes, Turkeys, Hams, & gift certificates for food-only redemption at a local store. We went to the store, spoke to them about some discounts for the items we could sell for meals, & for those we used for prizes. We did NOT haggle or argue w/them, it was a DISCOUNT(less than we would have paid); nor did we go somewhere else, this was the closest store, & people could stop there on their way home, if they wanted. At the end of each week after each of the matches, one of us would stop by the store & pay in CASH for the redeemed certificates, & bring the receipt to the treasurer. And, in our newsletter every other month, we reminded our members to shop this store, because they supported US. We did not have sanctioned matches, we had three classes, primarily so folks could "Shoot what'cha got...", to bring out those rifles that were hunting guns, or pest-poppers, but this was obviously food for thought, because some guys went out & bought new guns, JUST to shoot in these matches!!!(good excuse) Some guys learned they didn't know they had guns they could shoot in these matches, or that they hadn't shot their guns enough to know they COULD shoot successfully against, "...those other guys..". Plus, these matches were shot in the three COLDEST months of the year down here!! Guys, & girls too, had a good time, & learned LOTS!! If there was an isolated area of the range where this type of match could be set up in its infancy, it might grow for you, especially if you had one of these each month you had "one of those". Now, don't get me wrong, we had the whiners, because we only allowed parallax adjustment when we changed yardages, no sight adjustments, & scope powers were limited. But you know what?? the whiners whined themselves into extinction, when they asked "why" we just said, "Because, those are the rules..." "But, WHY??" "Because we want it more realistic." Finally, thankfully, they either shot, or they whined at home. And, y'know what? we didn't miss 'em, either. I don't know how many times I was thanked for convincing people to come out!! And, w/those prizes, when guys came home w/the bacon (or Ham, as every caveman should!!) the wives weren't mad at 'em for "spen'in' al'day down THERE". And, if they didn't bring home the Ham, "Oh well, better luck nex' time..." We charged $7 for the first match of the day, $5 every match after, only your best target counted for the day. Now, maybe it won't work for you ALL the time, but, suppose you had one every other month, say you shoot six or seven registered matches, but you have three or four of these?? Might work....never know....;)
 
I have a good friend and we have a lot in common being Marines. I was "Motor T" and he was a "Sniper". He works at a local pistol range where the furthest range is 30 yards. He has a Remington model 700 Police Special rifle in .308.

I cannot get him to come to our high power range and just plink for an afternoon on any of our ranges. Go figure? I have tried everything to get him to the range. Nothing has worked so far.

One would think that a Marine Sniper would like to shoot his rifle every once in a while? I just can't figure out? As far as shooting .22's in a match, forget it.

I have another Marine buddy that saw action in Viet Nam. He showed up for a IR50/50 match a few years ago with a tricked out 10/22. He shot two matches and then he quit.
He is a published author named John Culbertson. He mostley wries about snipers and Viet Nam.
 
Kinda the same thing at my club, we have a huge CMP dept, they hold clinics, run theme shoots in Feb (Chosein Reservior, Battle of the Bulge, Hertger Forest), Camp Perry every year, Veteran Day bring in tanks, jeeps, half-tracks. They're always out there blasting away with their military rifles, pretty neat stuff. We have a military benchrest match, honor system shoot it anytime, any rifle prior to 1956, none of these guys shoot it. They cried and whined they wanted an offhand match and one they could shoot their AR-15's. So the match director set up offhand rules, two classes post/prior 1956, and guess what, not a single one of these guys shoots it! I don't know what it is about competition, some folks just don't want anything to do with it. Thanks, Douglas
 
Around 35 years ago

Fred Sinclair made me start shooting NBRSA. I was watching at a match, he asked if I wanted to try it, told me to come to the next match with the entry fee and he would take care of everything else. I was hooked for a half dozen years. It was a chance to shoot, smell the Hoppe's, and spend a day with new friends with similar interests. It kind of just petered out at an unhappy time when one friend got killed in an accident at the range, another died of cancer, and I got divorced. My initial goal when I started was to not finish last. I improved with practice and won some trophies, but the real treat was the cameraderie with my fellow shooters.

A couple of years ago one of the original shooting buddies got me involved in ARA. I have for the first time what I believe is the best equipment I can buy including my first ever brand new gun built for me. It's not the same. The matches start at the same time, but there is a constant rush to get done and get gone from the range and on to something else. Thirty years ago we couldn't wait to get to the range, now we can't wait to get away. I miss the campfires in the spring & fall when it was chilly, and the coolers full of beer and pop in the summer. I miss the incredible tonnage of bull shot and the outrageous lies told. I miss the cameraderie of my fellow shooters. I don't mind spending three hours driving back and forth through "Stoplight City" to spend a relaxing fun filled day, but why would I want to spend an hour and a half that way just to hurry up and spend an hour and a half driving back? This year I'm bringing lawn chairs, a cooler, and a grill.
 
Mike B makes an interesting observation that I have also noted. (I'm a new guy, so I don't know how 'it used to be')

At the local ARA Match, the parking lot is empty 30 minutes after the scores are announced. I am usually the only remaining shooter, but I'm there to shoot and work on improving my skills, so I stay at least 3 hours on any range trip.
 
As long as we need to

You guys need to come to Dietzville for a shoot. We stay until all the refreshments are gone.
 
I think Mike B pretty much hit it on the head. Myself I don't shoot comptition but 30 some years ago I actively shot in Black Powder Matches and even went to Friendship and shot in the Nationals.

Back then after the local matches most everyone would hang around and shoot the xxxx for hours and roast hotdogs or hambergers and in general have a very good time.

Happened by the local blackpowder match this last summer, not to shoot was just in the area. Match got over, results posted, prizes given out and 15 minutes later I was the only one there.

I think most people are in a big hurry to do nothing or get nowhere.

Just my 2 cents
 
I have to agree with you guys......

I think many people now just want to say, "Yeah, I went to the range yesterday.....". And, when you see these guys, its on a weekend(most can't go during the week) they got fifteen guns, can't find squat, an' gotta git th' kids home because we're goin' t'Aunt Dora's!! But nobody says, "HEY!! I'm tired of this $xxt! You take the kids today, I'll take 'em tomorrow when you go to the Beauty Parlor(what a LIE...I ACTUALLY thought they were to come home after, BEE-you-ti-ful:rolleyes::eek::D) and we'll take 'em to the movies" Everybody's running in circles like the little rat in the cage "Don't give them ANY free time, they'll get educated, then there's no more control..." I think it is a situation where most bite off more responsibility than they can handle. Its kinda like credit cards, I guess.:rolleyes:
 
Our local range has only shot ARA , It has seem to die a sudden and severe death . I think the club would have been mutch better off to have done ir50/50 . nobody will return to shoot their plain jane factory rifle very many times up against half a dozen full on custom built guns in one peice aluminum rest . They tried to make a sporter class but it was in name only , on the official page the winner of the sporter class was just another name half way down the list .
 
I shoot in SW Missouri where the competition is tough, when I started, if I could finnish 6th I considered myself a winner. I wonder about taking the top 5 scores, no mater who they are and class it as Master, then the rest of the scores in A class no mater who they are, and split up the money pay top three in each. The new or not so competitive shooters would be incourragsd to move up and a really good shooter could have a bad day and open a slot for an A class to move up if only for a week.( where the advancement would be worth more than the money) We don't shoot sanctioned matches any more, but we shoot every Monday night spring into Nov. and ocasionally a couple of Thurs nights. The compition is tougher than ever and we have a minimum of 10 shootesr up to 18. We are still growing. Old age and death, seem to lower our number, at least for a while but we still have a lot of fun. Oh the money is nice but if you think that is why we shoot, come up and take it from us,all are welcome
 
Joe Haller said:
Last year our club UP here in God's Summer Paradise ran 7 matches: April to October.

We had a total of 52 different shooters during the year at our matches.
The average number of shooters per match was 19. We must not have the right formula, as we are only hitting 37%.

I have read suggestions on here about how to push match attendance up. We have tried some of them. Like: e-mail, phone calls, notices in the club's news letter, telling them "what's for lunch". Special shooting related prizes given out by luck/raffle and newspaper stories.

You got any ideas on pushing match attendance up, that work well?

Joe Haller
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Hi Joe this is an easy question, it's been answered in another post on "Flat nosed bullets by Changeling".
Just read the post and it will be very clear to you what the dam problem is!

Changeling
 
Gee, I don't know, I read the thread and what I saw was that by time you made one response it contained a veiled insult about "you guys". You think that helps anything?
 
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Fred J said:
You guys need to come to Dietzville for a shoot. We stay until all the refreshments are gone.
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Fred, that was my only match at Dietzville. We had a helluva great time under that beautiful live oak tree drinking adult beverages, eating the left overs, BS'ing, lieing, bragging, etc.
That was the last time I saw our friend John before he passed away. I'll never forget that weekend.
Dale
 
I shot in an archery club back in the last century that was just about totally hunting oriented--animal silhouettes at unmarked distances. The shooting stakes were set by a different archer each shoot, and the lefties got even with the righties at that time:D

We were put into classes based on scores, and were moved up a class when we had shot 3 scores (not consecutive) in a higher class. Trophies were awarded by class--and I think my proudest moment was one tournament when I only dropped one arrow out of the X ring. Never happened again, and never will, but I was hot and on that day. That's why I keep shooting--against myself, and I don't compare scores unless someone asks.

I do a bit of rimfire benchrest shooting--but haven't shot a match yet. I did go visit a couple of benchrest shooters last week--shot their equipment, watched their technique, picked their brains, and found them to be willing to share any aspect of the sport with me. I don't think I'll ever have a $3,000 Turbo or a $650 Pappas rest, but I sure have fun.

I guess my answer, in short, is that either a handicap system (think bowling) or classes to level the shooting field might help.
 
As Straightshooter has noticed, this is an expensive sport, but then what sport isn't.

I got into this sport with a bunch of guys when we all had factory rifles and Wolf ammo and we all evolved together. I am sure that a new guy walking into one of our matches would be intimidated and not try to compete with us.

I work real hard at beating the system where I can. I have designed and built some wood rests from which you can score as good as you can from a Pappas rest. Many of my friends that I shoot with use them. My wind flags cost less than three bucks each including the stand. I have the money in my 40X with a custom stock and a benchmark barrel. I do not cut on my ammo.

Oh yes, I use a James Pappas rest because it is so well built and smooth but some of my friends still beat me with their wood rests and that is fine.

Concho Bill
 
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