I do what I can.
Maybe if you payed attention to what you read and stopped being an ass for a bit you’d know. But I feel no compunction to answer to your combative ass. Have a nice day.
In defense of lash, If the match is within the rules of the national organization, you do what you can do, but options are limited.
Altus as run outlaw matches for the last couple of years. I have to say they are a lot of fun. But too many folks are looking for points, Points rule, what we want and what we can have often makes for hard choices and mad folks.
I would like to jump in! For 37 years I shot IHMSA sillouette I saw it go from full 2 day matches to total death!!! Low light is correct to keep PRS from dieing you need two things a classing system, and help the new shooter with spotting calls!!!!! I am 68 years old I still move pretty well my firearm shoots in the .300,s and I like to shoot long range. BUT from a bottom of the list shooter What I see from down here is ( as it was so eliquently put at our finally match) ( you lower shooters shoudn't expect to do well this match is set up for the top shooters) The stages are more about how complicated they can be then marksmanship. I come to stage do all the right things and shoot a perfect hole in the ground 2 inches off the target while 5 guys stand there looking throught 2000 dollar spoting scopes and can't say anything until after you are done missing then they say oh you were off just a little!!!! Even our finest military snipers shoot in teams! I want to tell you I enjoy time shooting with my son and some mighty fine other people BUT like I have told our local state and the national directors unless you change soon YOUR SPORT IS GOING TO BE DEAD IN 5 YEARS! Rant over OH and I am from WISCONSIN
I would like to add, at this year’s IHMSA International, they drew 79 shooters. In that sport you can enter more than one class of firearm and shoot multiple entries, but in the entire world, 79 people showed up for the annual championship. As
@ramslammer said, it used to be full two day LOCAL matches. This was for a full centerfire, small bore (22lr) and air handgun firearms.
I shot a centerfire PRS match at Altus Saturday a week ago and a PRS .22 match the following Sunday. We had 60 shooters on Saturday and 24 shooters on Sunday. 84 people; more than a sports world championship where anyone who is a member can show up and shoot. .
Sports die, Some totally go away. Some settle back into something of a niche but they keep on going. Sailing is a good example. Once front page news, now still participated worldwide. They pine about growth, and do have occasional spurts of growth but in the end it reminds relatively stable. Young people come in, old people stay as long as they can. How does this happen? Young people sail Lazers, catamarans, racing scows, Blindly fast, wet, often overturned but exciting. Older folks sail larger sloops, with full interiors, comfortable, seaworthy not nearly as wet nor as fast but far more comfortable and still sailing. The sport fits people not people having to fit the sport.
New sports? Wonder how the current “wonder sports” such as pickle ball, corn hole will last. Neither seem the least bit interesting to me, but they do move people off the couch and outdoors. That’s important. And they are sports that in someways fit people more than people fitting the sport.
I understand that Percision Rifle is not a team sport. But growth is important. To make the sport “growable” it must accommodate newer/young/very old members. I do like Altus method of having diabolically difficult stages back to back with stages that a weak shooter can score well on if not clean. Too easy, No! Too hard for every stage, will drive the weaker shooters away. But If a shooter in my current age and class can clean every stage in a match, it’s not worth the time to even show up. Same if I can’t hit hardly any targets at all. You cool kids may not like it, but there has to be middle ground. Otherwise, you will find yourselves with no ground.
In the end I stand on my two points of successful matches.
1. The Point of shooting steel is shooting steel. Because shooting dirt is pretty much pointless because dirt is already pretty much dead.
2.. (regarding any sport) It has to have a point, it either has to be fun, or it has to be a challenge of accomplishment or, it has to make you a living. Anything else, is just a waste of your time.
Final thought, it’s fun to watch a great competitor. But EVERY sport is built on its base. Without its base/foundation, it’s going to fail.
