Montezuma shoot on 5-10-2008

Good point David......my understanding we waited till the last minute to schedule our matches and they were still in chaos. Quite a few personal and family conflicts caused most of this chaos, but if I'm over Montezuma next year I'll do my best to plan a better schedule. It looks like we can't continue to not support each others ranges and keep our ranges operational. With gas prices as they are we ought to be able to carpool, which I know some do, but we also know some shooters that shoot at all of our ranges aren't going to travel anywhere else. We've scheduled Montezuma on Saturday and Cordele on Sunday so people that came over could shoot both days, but as far as I know we have had only one shooter{Bob Pekaar} do this......and then we loose other shooters because they don't want to shoot on Sunday!! We have 3 active ranges within 50 miles of this area Montezuma, Cordele, and Georgetown. Let's think about who will commit to traveling to other ranges next year and work a schedule around that committment. I know David has worked hard at getting his range going, but none of us have given him any support!!
 
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One problem with turnout, is opportunity. There are more matches and ranges to choose from than there used to be. With the price of traveling, you have to choose carefully, which ones you attend. Before, there was less opportunity. When someone held a sanctioned match within 2-3 hrs. of you, you went, because it might be 2-3 weeks before there was another match within 200 miles. Now, you can go in multiple directions on the same weekend. More organizations, more ranges & more matches=less shooters per match. We all try to promote the shooting sports, but in actuality, the number of matches is hurting the turnout rate. I would never advocate anything that would be detrimental to a shooting sport, or the Second Amendment, but RBA and IR 50/50 are close enough to being the same, that we simply don't need both. They need to be one organization. That's easy enough to say, but how do you merge them? If you consider all the fine points, it would seem impossible to ever reach an agreement. Second to the high number of matches is the expense of shooting. It's nearly impossible to get a new shooter into the game right now. The price of gas and ammo is literally choking our sport. I don't know of anything we can do about these either. With my work schedule, and budget, I try to attend a few big matches at other ranges, and "visit" around to other matches when possible, all the while operating my own range with a very few shooters in attendance each month. I understand the frustration; I only wish I new of a way to help. I know that there are a lot of pretty sharp people reading these forums. Perhaps, they'll offer some suggestions.
 
On thing I think would help {Not that I'm one of the pretty sharp people your talking about} is assign the state, regional, and national matches at the first of the year and lock them in stone, then schedule the local matches as needed.....remembering that Mothers Day and other major holidays will affect your attendance of a major match is set on one of these weekends. A lot of people won't shoot on a Sunday unless it's a major event...this also affects attendance. And we could start shooting on Thursday or Friday nights{which some do already} to free-up weekends for family activities.
 
Seems to me...

...that several good points are being made in this thread. Leonard points out we have more matches/ranges than shooters. As gas and ammo continue to increase this becomes an even bigger issue. Home range may be the only place to shoot; will there be anyone there?
Phil is correct, I think, in getting these major events nailed down at the beginning of each season and quit changing the dates. Schedulers know what the major holidays are - if they don't their calendar will spell it out for 'em.
With respect to Leonard's question about merging RBA and IR 50/50 -- Didn't Dave Burton's committee do some preliminary work on this? What happened to it?
 
Hoke, a slight correction. It wasn't my committee. The RBA President was to appoint a follow up study committe as a result of my merger motion at a directors meeting. You'd have to ask him what happened.
 
The two main differences in RBA and IR, as I see it, is the point system........In RBA you are rated according to your highest 10 combinaton targets....so regardless of how many people you shoot against....so for ranges with small attendance this would be the sport to shoot. In IR your rating is based on how many people you have at a match and how many you beat. If you only have 4 competitors and shoot 3 250's you earn less points than someone who beats 10 people with only 3 245's. I like what Wilbur has done with the list for the top 7 scores in Sporter,10.5, and 13.5, but if you only shoot at ranges that have low attendance you will never get very high on the list. Most of the ranges in Virginia and other areas north that have large attendance would be much better off with IR. We shoot both down here, simply because we enjoy the sporter and the target designs.

PS
How about others listing some of their likes and dislikes....without airing your dirty laundry!!!
 
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Thanks, Dave,

for clearing that up. Guess I had forgotten what the motion was. I do remember your having done some basic work on the differences which would need to be addressed. I also remember Wilbur saying he would welcome such a discussion. If the ball is in the RBA court it would appear someone let the air out of it.
 
We have the same problems scheduling as everyone else does and as Leonard says, we have more ranges than shooters, and thats a good thing that may benefit the sport as those new ranges grow. Since IR5050 changed the rules to allow you to shoot 2-3 gun matches per month I elected to schedule my SOTY matches that way thinking it would save gas money for the guys traveling from 2 hours out. Last months match was a success, with 17 shooters on match one and 16 shooters on match 2. Sounds great, but when I started in this rimfire BR a few years back we had 20 to 25 shooters at most regular matches.
It remains to be seen on how these double matches will work out, only time will tell. If it doesn't work I'll try something else next year.

The option of scheduling 2-3 gun matches the same day does seem to be a way to help the scheduling when we have the selection of ranges and minimul amount of dates to schedule.

Again, I think having the opportunity of having more ranges to shoot is a good thing and hopefully hopefully will cause some of new shooters that take up the game because they have local range to shoot. And eventually they might venture out to other matches when they get comfortable with the game. Of course this is all just wishful thinking, probably. I ain't one of those sharp people either--duh. I don't ahve any answers. The range I shot at yesterday used to have 18-25 shooters every match and the last two months they've had 10 shooters( World class, but still just 10). It has definitely dwindled down in the past 3 years. The reason has been just more people retiring from the game, and not enough new guys taking it up, or folks just choosing to shoot their local club instead of spending money on gas to drive. It's real easy to get burnt out fast if you shoot every weekend from April - October like a lot of us do. I ain't there yet, but came close a few times:)
 
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Kent,
We have talked about shooting RBA on Thursday night, because we practice on Thursday from time to time anyway. Maybe IR will consider Thursday or Friday for local shoots only....this would still leave time for the shooters to spend weekends with their families and maybe cause more younger guys to get in the game that are committed to a young family on the weekends. Then use the weekends for State and Regional events. Every option should be looked at to reduce cost, maintain family activities, and work to grow the sport.

To help save travel and expenses the Georgia State and Sporter Nationals are set-up on the same weekend, and most people are going to practice Friday anyway! Makes for a long day Saturday, but it's a way to save travel funds, and still compete in two major events.
 
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Phil, night shoots...

...may be a way of eliminating some ranges. Many are not equipped for night shoots. Many have club bylaws prohibiting night shoots - some for good reasons, too. Night shoots won't solve the travel problem; in some cases they may exacerbate it.
 
Hoke,
I was thinking more along the lines of a 6:00 P.M. starting time limit. In most cases with 1 relay you would be done by dark. I don't think we have any ranges in this area that would be against it. There are also ranges like the one at Wayne's and Duane Registers that would like it, because most of us could be ready to shoot by 4:00 P.M. or 5:00 P.M.
David shoots almost every Thursday night at Gold City.
 
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