TargetTalk

Arizona DGF sent this out as part of a message about Ben Avery:

"According to figures from American Sports Data, Inc., there are more than 14 million active rifle target shooters and nearly 12 million handgun target shooters nationally. In the shotgun sports, more than 4 million participate in trap and skeet shooting, and 3.2 million shoot sporting clays. Average household income of recreational target shooters is between $60,000 and $72,000. The average age is between 32 and 39 years old, depending on the sport. "

good thing they don't all show up at OTC at once! but if we could just get 0.1% of them into the olympic shooting sports we'd have a heck of a turnout at Nationals!

where ARE they all?

Poole
http://arizona.rifleshooting.com/

Hi Bill,

This is not a flame, just some comments for all of us to think about.

I imagine those numbers aren't reflective of "competition" shooters, just "target" shooters. Most of those numbers are probably filled in by the shooters that go to "our" local ranges to make noise and "cap a few." You won't see them at local matches and leagues, unless we go recruit them.

A couple questions for all of us:

How often have we gone to our local range(s) to get new members?

How often have we gone to our local range(s) and then later talked about all those "blasters" that couldn't hit the backer at arm's length? Did we offer anything constructive, or invite them to our meets?

How many advertisements have we posted for our scheduled leagues and matches, in places conspicuous to those outside our ranks?

How often have we held any form of clinics?

Just a few thoughts - no need for comment(s) - but all are welcome...

Take Care,
Ed Hall
http://www.airforceshooting.org/
http://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/
http://www.geocities.com/ed_ka2fwj/

An interesting (to me, anyway) observation on Air Pistol / Air Rifle is that you won't see many AP/AR "plinkers" at your local range. They'll shoot in their back yard, or in the woods, etc.

Reaching these folks isn't as easy as walking to the public range and talking to folks.

Also, a lot of the competitiion sports, though not all, may scare folks off when they see the "high tech" looking equipment used in competition. I suggest that's why practical pistol is so popular.

The closest formula I see that can introduce folks to competition with their "regular" pistols is NRA Bullseye. To bring folks closer to that, we shoot Police L matches (can shoot offhand or two-handed) once a month at our range, and use a Lewis System to award prizes.

wra wrote:and use a Lewis System to award prizes.

For the uninformed, a what system now?

The Lewis System takes all the competitors, sorts them by their results, and divides the list into three results groups.

First place from each third gets an award. If there are enough competitors, the awards can continue to "2nd in group" etc.

As an easy example, with nine shooters, overall rank 1, 4 and 6 will get an award, and turns the match into a "fun" event!

Jon