How do we increase membership today?

I would much rather make some positive suggestions, but think its neccessary to look at our sport from the shoes the new comer is in.
First, there is nothing attractive about NBRSA unless you are
already a stool shooter, with equipt. Its a cost-cost thing.
Second, Many of us were already dabling in accuracy when we heard
of the organizations. WE grew and acquired piece at a time, no
second mortgage needed. Some of us read Warren Pages book
and the rest was history.
Third , to the new shooter, the publication is of no interest, no
draw card there. Few members read it anyways and new shooters are not interested in the minutes of meetings. No articles of interest.
Match sceduling in some areas hardly allows time to mow the grass.
A lot of new and potential members are not retired yet. This is not
supposed to be an old guys retired hobby, but it has become that.
Sadly, a great sport may die with out new and young people.
Suggestions:
Travel and lodging is now what it is, let the new shooter enter for
half price. Maybe first year.Help him thru the inital crunch
Create a postal Group match, witnessed by a courant NBRSA
member, for woodchuck rifles . Then cover it in a publication.
Find or create a publication of such interest that people will
include membership fee when subscribing. A how to article
each month. But leave the politics out. Varmint Hunter Magazine
is a fine example- they also have shooting matches.
Loaning guns and equipt from an organization may be full
of legal ramifications. But an individual can invite someone to
a match and loan him equipt for the event.
Have a quest match, where a trophy is given to the
guest that shoots well. They would be far less intimidated.
It must appeal to the new guy
Lots of possibilites
 
Here is my Take on It

I agree with Glenn Chisolm, the club match Format is possibly the best avenue to introduce new shooters to Benchrest. At Tomball, we started up a Club Match program again this year, shooting 100 yard score. We have three classes, so if it goes "bang", we will have a place for the shooter to compete.
We also, (except Safety), keep it as informal as possible.

We are stressing the Factory and Modified Class. We let AR's shoot in these two classes, and encourage EVERYBODY to come out and participate.


New Braufels and Denton also have very active Club Match programs.
The only problem all three clubs seem to be having is shooters actually taking the plunge into Registered Competition. For many, it is a huge step, and is intimidating. But in my opinion, Registered Benchrest is SUPPOSED to be intimidating

Another place where many are putting a maximum effort is on this very Web Site. It is no secret that many established shooters look down on this site, and deplore the free flow of info. A few years back, I even had a veteran shooter tell me, (in the presence of several friends), that I would be looked upon much more favoribly in the Benchrest Community if I would simply get off of the darned Web Site. I believe that said more about him than it did me.

But I believe that the free flow of Info is a good thing. Having shooters stumble around in the dark, get discouraged, and quit is not a good way to attract new participants.

One thing I do NOT favor is some sort of shooter classification system in the NBRSA, or establishing a new class that would cater to shooters who "just want to get a feel for Benchrest". There are Club Matches held all over the country. It is difficult enough putting on Registered Matches as it is. Let's encourage new shooters to participate in local Club Matches, seeing if they really like this game to jump in and make the investment in time, effort, and money that it takes to be Competitive........jackie
 
Something that is not been brought up. How many members will we gain by making sure all shooters are an IBS or NBRSA member? Our secretary should send out an updated roster to the regional directors monthly. The directors can email that list to the respective ranges. I have only been to 2 matches in the last 15 yrs or so that went to the trouble to check. I believe Jeff's fliers and the club presence are a great way to attract people.
Butch
 
Butch Lambert said:
Something that is not been brought up. How many members will we gain by making sure all shooters are an IBS or NBRSA member? Our secretary should send out an updated roster to the regional directors monthly. The directors can email that list to the respective ranges. I have only been to 2 matches in the last 15 yrs or so that went to the trouble to check. I believe Jeff's fliers and the club presence are a great way to attract people.
Butch
Click to expand...

More 'members' should be the expected result of a marketing plan, but should not be the goal. I think a better target would be more shooters at the matches. Get 'em hooked on the sport, then introduce them to the organizations.
 
Members

Advertise to the locals, the non-club members. Lure them in.
At the local range near Clarkston, WA where we just started having NBRSA score matches, I am the only person from a metropolis of 40,000 people that competes, well except for the two guys with their factory guns who shot once. Most I talk too didn't know anything about the matches.?????
 
Rock63,
I am speaking about oldtime shooters that haven't renewed, not new blood. They still need to pay for their membership to shoot registered matches. Club or fun matches are another story.
Butch
 
I have found that finding the folks interested in this sport is like panning for gold , I am happy for the nuggets I do find. Like many others I have answered lots of questions at the range, let people shoot my rifles [it took one guy several years to stop saying 'you SOB!' when ever he saw me] and help them shoot small groups. I have to be careful to hide the fevered gleam in my eyes, I think it might scare them off. It takes a true fanatic to stay in this sport as it is not a spectator sport.

My nine year old likes to shoot and shoots well. We talk about shooting with his friends and I work to make it fun for them [reactive targets] as shooting groups or dots has not grabbed them yet. Firearms safety and fun are big topics in my world. He woke up the other day and said 'Dad lets go shoot some targets!' I love that!

Long ramble, but we need to focus on the younger generation.

BTW, I have a buddy who is a spotter for an F1 team and they are REAL jealous of the NASCAR draw and will tell you that F1 requires better drivers due to the open wheels. Sound like us?

Keep talking, answering, inviting! Find those nuggets.

Russ
 
my method, drag a buddy to a club factory varmit match and let him use my spare gun,rest,flags & bag, it's all first class and in dublin we let a first timer in club match's sit on the bench next to thier "coach" so we can help them with timing and flags/holdoff, so far 3 of 5 have been twice or more with one looking for a used starter rig and one still shooting factory club match's if they don't over lap IBS match's, for every one that go's probley 5 invited that haven't been..................yet, I think a bone stock factory IBS/NBRSA class would hold down startup cost and make more people come into the sport,hell 4-6k to start is kinda hard on the wallet

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DD
 
Last edited by a moderator:
membership

would love to join. read about the denton matches and tomball and think another place around dallas.100 plus dollar oil very few days off this year. want to attend a match and watch and ask questions. i like being around people with same interests. read forums daily. like the mentor idea and the loaner idea. think the tv shows with how to get started series and or bring your deer rifle and shoot for fun and bragging rights. money for most people stretched pretty thin right now. could try going to schools to hand out fliers for father son-daughter day at the range. may be against the law i dont know. hard to compete with video games. maybe a low entry level class cheap rests less than 200 dollars stock deer rifle 3x9 scope factory ammo varmit class heavy barrel stock rifles. got hte money but no time. maybe this fall will have time to join
 
Lynn said:
Joe your second post pointed out why attendance is declining and why new shooters aren't joining your sport.
If every new shooter was to meet Lou Murdica,Bill Shehane or Skip Talbot when they showed up attendance would climb.I took my wife to a benchrest match and her first question was whats wrong with all these guys.At her first Trapshoot everybody was great and treated her nicely.At her first FCSA 50 caliber match Skip Talbot grabbed hold of her and introduced her to every shooter there.
The shortrange guys just didn't appeal to us so we went to a 1,000 yard match 3 hours from home and the first person I met was Bill Shehane from North Carolina.
I now own a half dozen of his stocks and he also sold me several nightforce scopes.Nice guys is a huge plus a bunch of grouches draws no new shooters.
I still don't shoot shortrange benchrest because it isn't very inviting.
Lynn
Click to expand...

Absolutely 110% correct! New shooters are driven away by the " Range Bullies " before they ever get to know the really nice people and the bullies are usually running the show.
 
Mike

Hi Mike,

Your idea of recruiting youth to the sport is correct, they are our future. But you have a few very high officials in the IBS that could careless. The only thing they get involved with is what they shoot or what they can make money off of. One of those guys, in a heated talk told us what he really felt. His words were that the youth and females do nothing for the sport. Then you got another guy saying that he could careless about any other discipline other than what he shoots but yet he is on a board that decides rules and things for all the disciplines. My suggestion is to gather up a bunch of guns and shooters, advertise to the youth on having a fun shoot so that they can come and experience our sport. Starting with a Boy Scout club near by.
 
Bullies

Lynn,
I must agree with your statemant as far as who you meet first and how you are treated.
It's a big turn off to show up to your first match and be told you MUST have this, you MUST have that. I have found it more inviting to when told
"This is what works for me", by the other competitors.
This is huge on getting people to return. And as Mr. Valentine said the bullies usually run the show.
I have stepped out of my quiet comfort zone recently to try to entice shooters to give BR a try, I hope it pays off. With the purchace of a second gun now I can offer them to shoot a BR setup to see if they like it.
This dilemna will go on forever.
 
Will talk about my recent experience.
First, in my country there are no NBRSA or IBS matches.

When I went to IBS School in East Tawas this year (thanks to Francis Becigneul!), my instructor (Joe Krupa) on the second day just invited me to attend the 2009 Super Shoot saying:

" Come to Super Shoot next year! Dont bother on bringing any equipment, just shows up and use mine! "


This kind of invitation really started my plans to go to Super Shoot next year! I am a totally rookie and I only participated on one registered BR match in my life (at IBS School), but I loved the experience of a true BR shooting!

Besides my personsal enthusiasm, I am trying to have some 2 or 3 shooters in my country to start being serious and committed on Benchrest, so we can form a small team, travel to US, Argentina and Chile (they held regular BR matches) to get experience.
Sure it is lots of money and time for us (it is not gallons of fuel on cars... for us it means international air tickets!), but it is all about priorities and choices on our hobby/sport/relax time.

All of this is because of IBS School and the nice shooters I met there! There are some shooters here that, now that I told what I saw and learn there, are looking for next BR School in US!!!

I think BR Schools reallly works to hook new shooters :)
 
Mr. Campos: I am glad your experience at the IBS School was so positive. There were good people involved there; I would expect nothing else.

Lynn: My first match experience and observations since then are the exact opposite of what you relate. I showed up at the 1976 Super Shoot just to "watch". Within 30 minutes I had offers from at least 2 guys (Ned Hosey and Eddie Goff) to lend a rifle, ammo and equipment. I did shoot HV.

I was out of the game for many years, but during that lay-off lamented the great people that I knew during that early 10 year period.

Most recently, I have helped new shooters and witnessed many others doing the same. In fact, I have had comments from some of the new shooters that benchresters were more friendly than some of the other disciplines.

Jeff
 
Just a perspective from way out there..

By far most shooters do it for a reason, -mostly hunting.
They shoot off a bench at set ranges and ideal conditions, as part of load development and to help define their capabilities. That is, their shooting capability as contributing to hunting potential.. IT'S VALUE to them personally.
If you think it's easy to get hunting guns, barrels, bullets and cartridges shooting well -cold barrel-, you need to try it..
I suspect this is what BR competition mutated out of from the beginning. But whatever humans do, it always leads to competition, and then sadly, competition always leads away from what people do!

Anyway, to bring back the original VALUE in BR shooting, the IBS would have to change -more than it will.
The shooters would need to change -and they won't.
So the sport will fade away, displaced by something with clear, potential, value.

You might wonder how shooters could change..
Well to begin, It's your bubble that has to go. The tiny little world you've cuddled into.

- Stop condescending potential shooters. We have our own guns thank you. If anything we can cut a couple checks just like you did. We have money. We're not all poor and pitiful. And believe it or not, male, female, young, old, we can shoot..
- Stop with this 'We're Formula1' stuff..
Truly, you're potential amounts to 1/8th mile drag racing for only those who would drive straight ahead and exactly 1/8th mile at a time. No turns or surprising stretches.. No trickle-down technologies advancing humankind..
BR endeavors contributing no more than bowling.
- Snap out of it, the world around you is different. Those around you are reluctant to waste TIME. They work their butts off to pay taxes, and with no retirement checks, SS, or motorhomes on the horizon. They're worried about college costs, their kid's college, their healthcare, their future, or even the next pandemic out of squaller.. Less worried about shooting ever smaller holes at 100yds..
How is it that you're so different? Look outside the bubble. Could your kids, and grandchildren, benefit if they were more of your priority than bullets downrange?
Just a thought.

What could IBS change?
They won't. Really no value in discussion there.
But to draw in new shooters the events would need to be diverse enough that all the hours, days, and months of preparation, benefit the vast majority of participating shooters -who would be hunters -and not a traveling bowling league. Which is why the IBS won't change..

These are perspectives from a shooter who is guilty of all implications made. Even worse, I've invested into shooting, more than most BR shooters, and have never even had a notion to compete(an excuse). I just enjoy shooting, by myself, overcoming my personal shooting challenges. I would gain nothing from your competition.
So it doesn't bother me to call it the way I see it, right or wrong.
 
Mikecr,
As usual you have nothing to contribute. Check your post, they are all negative. I guess you need to be on another forum. It is easy to see why somebody would seem condescending to you.
Butch
 
This discussion should be about ideas and perspectives, not individuals.....
 
At major matches, we need to hit surrounding gun stores, etc., with fliers. And the interwebz while we're at it - a lot of shooters are online.

Hit military bases - a lot of the guys are into the position shooting realm...

And halfway through the day, over lunch time, and match directors are gonna HATE this, run a one-target familiarization for anyone who is interested. Give each of them a mentor, who will load and explain how it is working. Then plunk 'em down behind a bench, set up the rest, bag, rifle, and various impedimentia, and have at it. Their mentor is there telling them how the wind is working.

This could likely add an hour to the day's activities, so match directors, especially those who run their stuff like track meets, will hate it.

Why noon? Enough time to score the targets, get them into the idea of a competition around accuracy, etc., and to make sure they are still there... The first benchrest match I attended, was an all-day event, and after it was over, the Bartman insisted I shoot a group out of his heavy... I got hooked. But I might not have if I hadn't stuck around.

Sporter was intentioned to get folks shooting "sporter" rifles. Hah... Some of the rules need to be changed.

For that matter, I'd like to see semi-auto rifles permitted, as long as there aren't muzzle brakes and the brass doesn't leave the bench. If a "chamber flag" is good enough for high-power, then it should be good enough for us.
 
There it is!

It's all right there in mikecr's post. Read it again and try not to be offended. I can't imagine that anyone would not take offense but try if you will.

The message is profound.

I'll leave you with that on an air of Bill Calfee...teaching you to fish if you will..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top