3D Shoot Turn Out in Your Area?

10Ring · Post by **10Ring** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 6:49 pm

For those of you shooting 3D, I am curious to know how well attended the shoots are in your area and what the turn out trends have been in the past few years.

I am refering to general turn out, regardless of equipment type, class, age of shooters etc.

10Ring · Post by **10Ring** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 6:55 pm

Since its my poll, I cast the 1st vote.

In the past 2 years I have seen attendance at shoots in the Niagara Region, not just ours, fall to 50% to 20% of what they were in 2001-2002.

It has me wondering;

- what might be done, if anything to change this. (The may not be much we can do, I have seen many forms of shooting "peak and valley" in participation over the past 30+ years)

- can we sustain operations of our shoot program at these levels.

Red Label · Post by **Red Label** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 7:23 pm

10Ring - I haven't been in the game long enough to see a trend so I just voted "moderate decline". I can say that there were some shoots I attended last summer that had really good attendance - Elmira, Woodstock, Tavistock to name a few.

I think a lot of people are intimidated by the equipment they see out at the shoots...thousand dollar bows, 3 foot long stabilizers, etc... and they think "how can I compete with THAT!? (they don't realize the different classes)

Then there's the "BIG" shoots. When I went to the York shoot I was dismayed that the fees were $30.00 for me and $20.00 for Chris, and we were just shooting for fun with no plans on competing! It was a $100 day when you figure in gas and eats. I think if you want to compete at these shoots, you should pay $X and if you're just playing for fun you should pay a lot less. York (and the other biggies) won't see me again because of this.

I think more emphasis should be put on these shoots as "hunter practice shoots" or just "fun shoots". Post an ad at the local bait and tackle shops, in the paper etc..."tune up your equipment, get ready for deer season". I also think new people would feel more accepted if some of us regulars dragged them along once or twice. I made the good effort last year but only got new guys out once or twice....

moss · Post by **moss** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 7:24 pm

In the Kingston area there is 4 to 5 clubs. In our club we have 10 people attend these club shoots. We also have a deal with some clubs we attend yours you come to ours. Some of these clubs hold about 3 to 4 shoots a year. Attendance at shoots range from 30 to 50 people depending on the weather and not having shoots on same day as yours.

10Ring · Post by **10Ring** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 7:39 pm

Red Label wrote:I think more emphasis should be put on these shoots as "hunter practice shoots" or just "fun shoots". Post an ad at the local bait and tackle shops, in the paper etc..."tune up your equipment, get ready for deer season". I also think new people would feel more accepted if some of us regulars dragged them along once or twice. I made the good effort last year but only got new guys out once or twice....

Red

Thanks for the input.

That is costly shootig that you describe and people can feel intimidated by the "equipment race"; I believe this has hurt registerd trapshooting too in the past 15 years.

The disappointing thing is here we follow you recommendations, which I think are good;

1.) We do post our shoots as fun shoots (we did not get enough interest in the competitions to justify trophy costs)

2.) We put good quality, informative flyers in the various shops in the area, copies that the people can take with them.

3.) If we get ne folks out, we make sure they have someone who is experienced take them around.

Also, our costs are much lower for the fun shoots; $12.00 for the 28 target shoot, $10.00 for the 20 target shoot.

I am not sure that we can do much more here at our end but are willing to try any options.

R.J. · Post by **R.J.** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 7:55 pm

10 : I agree with Mikey V. More hunter challenges would bring out more of my pals !

When we shot in Elmira they had a hole in the buck shoot it was the coolest part of the shoot !

You should plan an exclusive Forum Fun shoot this spring at CSC ! Including camp out , wild game dinner BBQ etc.

Lots of novelty shoots . buck hole etc. Then pick the top shooter and everybody pitches in X # of $ to take a shot at Robin Hooding his bolt at 30 yards !!

10Ring · Post by **10Ring** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 8:02 pm

R.J.

As for spring, we would have to time it after the end of "mud season"

here, which can really lower the quality of the experience

Good ideas, I will present them and see where it goes from there.

Red Label · Post by **Red Label** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 8:40 pm

10Ring, you have a very nice facility there and it's always been first class when I've attended. (actually it was probably a little better than first class, then I showed up

) No offense but your club may suffer from being a bit "out of the way" from the major population centres (Toronto, KW, London, Hamilton, etc.) If you were within an hour from me I'd shoot there every time you had one on.

Hey, I like the idea of a big forum camp out and BBQ...sign me up!
You could incorporate a "swap meet" into it too.

Add something entertaining for all the little guys and it sounds like a fun family weekend....

10Ring · Post by **10Ring** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 8:54 pm

Red Label wrote: No offense but your club may suffer from being a bit "out of the way" from the major population centres (Toronto, KW, London, Hamilton, etc.)

Yeah, I know, you can hear the banjo music out in the swamps here

This is also a problem here, trying to have a good trapshooting club as well; even though I'm from here, I still miss the time I lived in London, Ont. from 1988 to 1994 for this reason.

My hat's off to the forum guys that travel a couple hours to shoot here, to me thats very unexpected, a nice touch and much appreciated.

The problem here IMHO is with the locals, we used to get 50 or so local people out, now we don't. I don't expect the people from 2+ hours away to turn out in droves but the locals should remember that if they don't support their local organizations, we may not be here when they decide they want to come out.

We have hunter safety/firearms training here at the CSC. We put 300 to 500 students through the club a year. This is taught at the clubhouse, they get to see what is out there, the instuctors suggest (soft sell) they should consider joining a club to practice their shooting and strong clubs can help protect their interests. So far this has yielded 2 or 3 members in the past 2 years; I have no idea where they all go

Don · Post by **Don** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 10:54 pm

Maybe offer some lessons. That is usually a way to get people hooked. As for 3D shooting either your addicted or your not. Not much you can do about that. Draw prize for shoots is a good thing if you can get a few local businesses to chip in. Like gift certificates, supplies that have been sitting around in the back unsold for years. That sort of thing.

Don

TALON · Post by **TALON** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:10 pm

Hey 10ring, I hope there will be more 3D shoots in the area. There are several friends of mine that shoot, I can spread the word if you wish. Also an instuctional shoot would be a great idea. If you ever need help I would be willing to help out in a shoot.

Talon

A.W · Post by **A.W** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:33 pm

Red Label wrote:
Then there's the "BIG" shoots. When I went to the York shoot I was dismayed that the fees were $30.00 for me and $20.00 for Chris, and we were just shooting for fun with no plans on competing! .

I was a bit annoyed at the $30 cost as well. I went for some fun and to meet some of the guys not for a competition.