Where all all the shooters???

I look at the members list on this site and see thousands and 10s of thousands, but yet many competitive shoots are going away or have shrinking numbers attending. Why are all these people out there interested in accuracy while having a lot of great shooting rifles but attendance at matches shrinks. Do less and less have the confidence in themselves to try themselves and their equipment against other folks? Do guys just like to look at a shiny new rifle and find out what makes it tick by reading how others figure out how to improve to higher standards. To me it's quite obvious the vast majority of readers of this forum compete very little or not at all. So you who dont, I would like to know why, I am not interested in those of us who do, but why those who enjoy accurate rifles shy away from competition .

 

I would shoot every single day if i could. Every day. SO its not me.. I will drive 6 hours for a one day match.

 

This is probably not the right sub-forum to post this in, since you are trying to find out why people that don't compete..... don't.

I suspect they don't frequent this part of the site much.

F-Class match attendance has been increasing at all the matches I've attended for the past 10 years, so I can't say I've seen the same thing. PRS is growing in leaps and bounds. Maybe it's just your discipline?

 

I shoot a bunch and only have been doing a few matches a year. My equipment is sound & gunsmithing doesn't cost me a thing. I enjoy load development and the making of competitive ammo. I can afford barrels and bullets but not many. I buy in bulk what works for me and try to make it last. Being retired with 5 Grandkids all local to me there isn't a dull moment to be had. I DO like to compete, I don't like to travel and pay for hotels, etc. I am fortunate that there are a good amount of opportunities to compete around me if I choose to do it more. I have thought it would be nice to hop in a motorhome and just shoot around the country for a while.......Can't see it happening in this lifetime.

Regards
Rick

 

read some of the posts on various forums, even competition.
not that many are actual organization affiliated shooters.

 

If you live in W Pa your close to a lot of shooting. I live in Central Pa and shoot matches every weekend in season.Most weekends one Sat and one Sun. Overnight stay never required maybe 2 to 3 hour drive at most. PM me where your from if your interested. In fact even though its not in season I am shooting a 100 yd match this Sat in Vandergrift and one next Sat near Grampian.

 

Yes, the 2 you mention are growing but the total number of folks involved is still very small. I shoot various benchrest disciplines and they are shrinking. Groundhogs matches have been very popular here in Pa for the last 20 years but most of them are declining now. See lots of gun talk on these forums but if you took e everyone from this forum who shoots at least 6 matches a year I doubt if it would be 2 or 3 percent of the listed members.IBS and similar benchrest organizations declining bigtime. I will stay with my original thought, why so much avtivity on this foeum while so few participate

 

There are a helluva lot more reasons to be good with a rifle than there are sports to play with one.

Broaden your world: some people just don’t give a shit about rifle “games”.

I didn’t. Then I did. Now I do less.


...still pretty handy with a long gun. Don’t care if anybody thinks I should compete or not.

 

Reminds me of a cartoon in a publication I saw some time ago . . .

And old man (like me) sitting at a human resources desk as he applies for a job. The human resource person asks him to tell her what he thinks is one of his weaknesses. The old man replies . . . "honesty". She replies, "I don't think honesty is a weakness". The old man replies, "I don't give a shite what you think".

 

I don't compete any more for several reasons. Biggest one is where I live. There are no competitions without a plane ride. Both worth it IMO. When I moved here I decided I was going to hunt more. I've sure done that!!!!
Used to shoot f-class and 600 BR.

 

Used to compete, it was enjoyable both from a skill development and social perspective. Due to various life events, my participation level has transitioned to a personal endeavor only...

 

I'm 67 and last year was my first year and I'm hooked, I live in Central Kentucky and have ranges available to compete UBR each weekend during season and I did most last year, I love the competition and the fellowship. The only way we can grow our sport is one person at a time, and that is what I am trying to do starting with my family, would love to get my son and youngest granddaughter to shoot (working on it) and am continually telling others but the fact is "it ain't cheap" to compete.

 

As a match director I have been dealing with declining attendance for 10 years or so. Here are my observations on our Across the Course Program. (1) It is an expensive hobby, some of the younger shooters struggle to afford it. (2) It is not a "dynamic" discipline, you know - no run,jump,bend and shoot. (3) It is a hard discipline recquiring practice. (4) Our regular shooters are getting on up there in age and sometimes would rather drink coffee and talk about shooting. (5) I have had a lot of new shooters try it only to never return.
I have provided my rifles, ammo and gear free of charge trying to get people interested to no avail. As mentioned I see custom rifles on the line all the time but when I try to get the owners to try formal competition they will almost always shy away. So if ya'll figure it out let me know because I am out of ideas. On a side note it pisses me off when I have to cancel a rifle match due to lack of attendance then drive by the golf course on the way home and it is full of golfers. Maybe golf is easier.

 

I shoot 3 local two day matches a year, not because I don't want to shoot more but because all the other matches are at least 4.5-5 hours driving time.
After 8 lumbar surgeries with all the screws and rods to hold everything together and needing my knees replaced I can't tolerate more than 1.5-2 hours in a car, anything much longer puts my back and legs into spasm and then the pain would not allow me to sit for a match.
If health issues were not a problem I would try to make at the least 10 matches a year.

 

Life is full of distractions that make it interesting. It does take money and time to hunt, fish, boat, ride motorcycle, got to races, antique events, camp, work, vacations, family events, entertainment etc. Unless you live a rather lonely life and have no other distractions, then shooting may be your thing. Good for you.

I could shoot in more events but it is so interesting and pleasurable to do other things that it is not reasonable to attend that many events. The time, huge expense, loading and testing involvement, research and travel just in shooting leaves little time to enjoy all that there is to enjoy.

Shooting is just one attraction of many and there are only so many of us.

 

I'm sorry for your issues, I just went through "minor" back surgery (minor on me but not if it were the surgeon getting operated on!) with new titanium pins, yea I'l so excited but at least now I should be able to sit at the bench and not squirm to much while shooting

 

Your are correct, It is not cheap!!

Recently, my oldest daughter decided she wanted to start elk hunting with me again. I said, “great, I suspect it would be good to get lots of trigger time prior to a tasty cow walking in front of you, don't you think?” She replied yes, I will start shooting the 600 yard BR matches with you if that’s OK with you. I was excited, like really excited.
At her first match, the local F-Class match director was visiting with her and discover she has twin 13 year old daughter. He came over and offered me one of his old rifles to use for the girls.

Afterwords, I told the wife, I am not sure we can afford to feed and barrel enough rifles for 4 of us......... the wife said, can we really not afford not to? How can you argue with that????

No one will have to wonder what I spent my retirement money on!

CW

 

XTC, scopes was suppose to bring in more shooters.....didn't happen. E targets was suppose to bring back more prone/F class shooters doing away with pit service........didn't happen. I see in my area "action" shooting is a bigger deal either with pistols or PRS. At our local public range we have a packed house full of plinkers who want to shoot off a bench, in the shade, at 100 yards. That's it. After Fri, Sat and Sun, you could pick up 10,000 once fired 223 brass from AR's. I preach XTC or tactical AR at 600 yds but RARELY have a taker.

 

Not sure you can calculate active shooter attendance against Accurate shooter membership.
Maybe folks just like to read your post, don’t forget you need ( free btw ) membership to open attachments. Could be some skewed math involved.
Biggest thing I see in BR is time and money, hey” give people a couple months off a 10k setup and supplies to go with it and attendance should rise until they get their butts handed to them crushing their delicate ego therefore sending grown men sniveling & whimpering home to loved ones for soup, sandwich and convalescence recovery all while plotting Revenge!
J

 

I'm in the same situation and like you won't hesitate and maybe as they become hooked they can transition over to paying their own cost!?