Amount of shooters at competitions.

[K22]

I am sure cost is a factor in entering the precision shooting sport.

However, what I have seen at the two clubs where I belong is that the younger generation, for the most part, are not interested in precision shooting. Instead, they enjoy blasting away with AR's, especially at steel. I am not condemning that, only stating what I've observed. To many of them, shooting for score at paper targets is boring.

Precision pistol shooting (also known as bullseye) is fairly dead at both clubs. The one club doesn't even have a range (25-yard time & rapid fire with turning targets and 50 yards slow fire) to shoot precision pistol. At this club, it almost all rapid-fire steel shooting.

The other club has two pistol ranges, a precision range and a defensive range. The precision range is hardly ever used. The defensive range sees by far the most use. On this range you can place target from 7 yards to 20 yard and draw from a holster.

 

[xswanted]

If cost was the reason, PRS and NRL matches that cost $250-300 to shoot wouldn't have 300 shooters and waiting lists to get in. They use $700 tripods for their range finder, $500 bipods, shoot factory ammo, scopes cost double to triple a common benchrest scope, fly to matches, stay three nights at hotels.
Short/mid range benchrest absolutely bores the younger guys to death. You can ask this question every week and no one will come up with an answer on what to do. It's the world we live in. These young guys make more money at 28-35 years old then we ever thought about making. They dont want to come listen to old men talk about their medical problems all day, or talk about how it used to be.

This is it.

This is your answer.



At 41 I’m technically a millennial. My childhood was spent in the 80s my preteen and teen years in the 90s.

My age bracket goes both ways with technology and attention span.

I enjoy F Class and benchrest but would much rather shoot some kind of PRS/NRL event simply for the fact that there is more to keep my mind involved, things change, it keeps me on my toes etc.

The guys younger than me have way shorter attention spans.

It’s going to get increasingly harder to convince a 12-17 year old to try shoot benchrest versus PRS style shooting.

The competitors are moving disciplines rather than not shooting.

I’m hoping if I make my twilight I’ll turn my PRS rigs into some sweet benchrest setups and enjoy a slower paced type of shooting.

 

[foxguy]

Interesting. I use to shoot silhouette, If I was younger, I would be interested in PRS/NRL.
I enjoy F-Class and Precision 22 LR now, shooting local competitions at 100 yards. If there was Local Rimfire F-Class, I would be shooting that. Possibly some of them will transition to Precision??

 

[jackieschmidt]

This is it.

This is your answer.



At 41 I’m technically a millennial. My childhood was spent in the 80s my preteen and teen years in the 90s.

My age bracket goes both ways with technology and attention span.

I enjoy F Class and benchrest but would much rather shoot some kind of PRS/NRL event simply for the fact that there is more to keep my mind involved, things change, it keeps me on my toes etc.

The guys younger than me have way shorter attention spans.

It’s going to get increasingly harder to convince a 12-17 year old to try shoot benchrest versus PRS style shooting.

The competitors are moving disciplines rather than not shooting.

I’m hoping if I make my twilight I’ll turn my PRS rigs into some sweet benchrest setups and enjoy a slower paced type of shooting.

We all get there. You cannot defeat the calender.

This me at 32, at 62, and 76. Heck, Sometimes I can’t even remember how I got here

 

[foxguy]

We all get there. You cannot defeat the calender.

This me at 32, at 62, and 76. Heck, Sometimes I can’t even remember how I got here
View attachment 1480812View attachment 1480815

Accurate Rifles and Cool Old Fast Cars. YES!

 

[Ned Ludd]

We all get there. You cannot defeat the calender.

This me at 32, at 62, and 76. Heck, Sometimes I can’t even remember how I got here
View attachment 1480812View attachment 1480815

I'm sorry...what was that you were saying again? I was admiring the car.

 

[jelenko]

True on many points. I shoot F-Class so I am not immune. How many matches have you been to that the shooters are complaining about the pit service or the e-targets being out of calibration at every pause in the match?
Is the camaraderie between strings one of community and congratulations, learning, and general good times? Do we congratulate the new shooter on putting up a personal best even though it my be at the bottom of the days scores? Do we ever even take the time to talk to this new shooter and keep him involved?
Some shooting sports are thriving while others are dying. This is not new. The issue we have is that we have less replacements in general. If you want your discipline to survive, make a home for new shooters or move on to a discipline that will accept you as the new shooter.

We also have the option to just enjoy the twilight hours of our chosen/favorite discipline.

 

[jelenko]

Sometimes I can’t even remember how I got here

And, sometimes I don't want to remember.

 

[jelenko]

I'm sorry...what was that you were saying again? I was admiring the car.

!! That's the same car I had only it was grey with a black vinyl top. Drove it from Boston to Phoenix for my first job.

 

[Ned Ludd]

!! That's the same car I had only it was grey with a black vinyl top. Drove it from Boston to Phoenix for my first job.

It's pretty awesome. Once I saw it, I clean forgot what the thread was supposed to be about.

 

[JFrank]

I got flamed in another thread for saying the same thing y’all are saying now. Young people have better things to do than listen to grumpy gray tops talking about stuffy rules, bad backs, trick knees and you weren’t watching your wind flags wiggle. It’s boring unless you’re a grumpy gray top .. like me.

 

[monster300]

Cost is a factor, but not a main contributor to the decline in the shooting sports. Today's kids would rather play video games (and between games and computers spend lots of money). No one wants to do anything that is physically difficult or that takes time to master. Our society is all about instant gratification, and learning how to be a crack shot in any discipline doesn't come overnight. A couple of the newer disciplines are doing well, or at least treading water, but some of our long-treasured disciplines, sadly, are almost done.

 

[Downeast]

It doesn't help either when you have an administration that just tried to eliminate funding for hunter education, marksmanship, and archery for our young people.

 

[LuvDog]

And here is another example... many of the "kids" today look at that car and think "meh", while all of us here hit like on that post and got distracted and started day dreaming about cool classic muscle cars again.

 

[jimmymac]

I can’t speak for younger shooters since I’m 60, but the main thing that keeps me away from NBRSA group matches is a lack of time. I’m lucky if I attend one per year. I still work for a living. I get 3 weeks of vacation a year. I’m not prepared to burn that up on my shooting addiction. With one exception I’d have to travel and get lodging. Shoots are two day events but in reality I’d need two additional days minimum for travel as well as tuning the day before the match starts. Not making excuses. I like shooting group. It’s just my reality.

This is why I gravitated to UBR. I have two weekend shoots I can attend per month where I can do the whole deal including shooting in one day without burning up the little vacation I get.

If I’m lucky enough to make it to retirement, I can see my attendance increasing greatly at group shoots, but for now I’m quite satisfied with the one day simplicity of UBR.

 

[FNSafari]

IMO, people who stick with one shooting format (rifle or handgun) for a very long time are not the norm. That's why new games are constantly coming to the surface and edging out current formats. Kind of like McDonalds...the menu never stays the same for very long. Lots of folks thrive on "new" and "improved" stuff.

 

[RickyK]

Love the 66 and 69 Chevelles ..

 

[D Coots]

A few weeks ago there was a thread about how the ranks of shooters was dwindling at competitions and I said cost was a factor, some agreed, some did not. It got me to thinking and I just added up what my 30BR cost me (was just finished), here goes; Used action with stock $1500, barrel with threading and chamber $600, used scope $600, rings $85= $2785 to date.
I also am in the process of building another 6BR, so far $1500 for action $500 total for used stock(includes inlet and bedding) $700 for barrel when finished scope and rings $1400= $4100 total.
Now you tell me that cost is not a factor, I can't see a younger family man being able to afford this game we play. This is why I didn't start until I was 61 retired and family grown and out of college. Just plain couldn't afford it. Last match I shot at average age was probably 69-70.
So I will stick with my original thought- Cost to play.

13 grand for a little 150hp outboard. After the outboard comes the boat, trailer, gas, tackle, truck to pull it, and motel rooms if you travel. Lot's of other hobbies are expensive also, but the problem is, BR is not family friendly. Go racing if you want to spend money as a family. The kids can start out in a Jr Dragster while you spend big bucks on your car. The wife can keep the cars clean, cook, and be a sex toy at night in your fancy motor home.

Not swallowing the cost idea.

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[CharlieNC]

Plenty of fun to be had without being in a competition or at a range. Does nobody else just go shoot? Alone or a couple buddies or the kids. They sell targets, and whatever else is available at a range. After 4 threads, could this be the answer, for low attendance? I wouldn’t know. Maybe people are more inclined to shoot what, when, how, and wherever they want, maybe multiple times a day, I do. I do a couple local shoots in the spring but it’s really casual and fun group of people. Maybe I’m not growing the sport but I’m having fun.

Oh yeah, nearly always a few shooters there. But not many considering the number of members. Mostly us retired guys during the week.

 

[CaptainMal]

Been noticing that the long-range benchrest shoots have started promoting FOOD. Seems many shooters like that. Yet, I just got off the phone with one guy telling me he and two other older shooters are now refusing to go to shoots because of the huge upcharge for food being served at the shoots.

I heartily agree. As an older shooter, I eat breakfast and dinner. To be charged a huge amount and have to wait around to eat at shoots is a double turn-off. The expense, time involved and the unattractive eating schedule is now deterring some of us from participating.

Why the current fetish for eating at shoots?