Have 3D shoots gone away locally for you?

[Luked]

As I get more and more into shooting again I have noticed that the many 3D shoots in my state (MO) have almost all but gone away.
I can remember years ago, and not that many years ago there was a shoot almost everyweekend around Missouri somewhere.
Now it seems almost like they are few and far between.
We Have a Reinhart R100 that I am going to try and do this year again but some of the smaller ones are all but gone.
I know there are a lot of states that have TAC now
But other than that, how are the shoots in your state?

 

[IdahoBeav]

There aren't as many as there were 10 years ago, but the archery clubs still hold a few. However, there is a NW Mountain Challenge shoot nearby, which is very popular, and IDFG built a local 3D range a few years ago. I could see these both as a cause for less interest in the club shoots.

 

[Dirtyjimmy85]

In Indiana there is still a pretty healthy number of clubs putting on shoots and a lot of bigger shoots and IBO shoots seem to be happening more and more.

 

[Billy Goat]

On the national level, 3d shoots have been getting bigger and bigger.

On a local level, they are getting smaller and smaller.

In my area, 15 years ago I could shoot a local shoot every weekend through the spring/summer. Minimum of 60 shooters, not uncommon for 90-100+.


Now, most clubs are doing well if they have 20 people show.

I think partly got too complicated, putting people in open classes because of a hunting bow with a slider sight, then youth sports seem to occupy a whole weekend instead of a few hours of it.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

I have looked into putting one on my 80 acres but just dont see how i could ever make enough to justify it.
I assume unless you have a big local organization of some kind it would be hard to sustain.

 

[Erict]

Way down around here.

It takes a lot of volunteers to run a good shoot, but how many younger volunteers do you see nowadays? Usually the same old 60+ year old retired folks doing all the work.

I remember when everyone showed up with their hunting bows and arrows, brushed off the mud from the previous season and shot FOR FUN. No kid felt intimidated like they do now shooting against the guy with $3000 of bow accessories. Shoots became too competitive with all sorts of creative ways to get around the rules. Then laser rangefinders allowed. Then additional categories. I guess it made it good practice for shooting under pressure.

I'm all for archery, but enjoyed the shoots better when they were simply no-prize hunter shoots or target archery shoots.

 

[Axlrod]

Yes dow around here too, for the same reasons @Erict mentioned. We have a 3d course at our outdoor range, and they run 1 shoot per year, if there are enough volunteers to run it.

Used to be a 2 day shoot in June at the ski area south of Dillon. Ride the lift up and shoot your way back down. Used to take my camp trailer down with my family. It was my favorite weekend of the year.

 

[roadrunner]

Maybe. Think there's still a local club that still puts them on but I left that kind of stuff years ago.

 

[Cubby]

Starting around May our club starts holding a 3D fun shoot every Friday evening, granted it takes a lot of work and volunteers but we have a good turn out every week lots of young shooters. Great to see the young ones getting dropped off by their parents and having and good time in the outdoors razing each other who can shoot better.

 

[MattB]

Way down around here.

It takes a lot of volunteers to run a good shoot, but how many younger volunteers do you see nowadays? Usually the same old 60+ year old retired folks doing all the work.

Lack of volunteers is the reason the Tuesday night league at our range didn’t happen last year. Quite a shame.

 

[19hunt92]

Yep, been shooting since the early 2000's. Went every weekend almost from May to September. What we ran into is that the clubs priced themselves out of the game and no incentives for donating time.
I think it was like $5 per shooter when i started and then went up to $12 per when i stopped going and saw a better plan to just buy my own targets. I am at 20 targets myself and have about $2000 invested to shoot whenever i want, meanwhile i used to spend $250+ a year on shoots once a week.
I went over board but i get to shoot more and have minimal upkeep to do so with no gas expense.

Second part was with volunteers, the clubs around me tried expanding and putting on such a grand banquet every year that they stopped giving a discount to memebers for a shoot nor did they give free shoots to members who helped set up and ran concessions.
No media presence at all, which didnt get any new shooters coming in. We saw our shooter numbers go from near 100 shooters a shoot, down to 30's by 2018 or so. Stopped the banquet, and now they have a shoot but looking to sell out everything if someone wants to or give to a community center for them to take over a shoot if they desire since they have other revenue streams.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

2000 for 20
That’s super cheap.
I can’t imagine being less than 6-7000 for decent targets

 

[CB4]

What would you pay for your local club to keep 3D targets up throughout the spring/summer so you could shoot anytime? I believe that is the logical route for clubs to go. Then hold 1 organized shoot a month.

 

[sodaksooner]

We have a few but nothing like it was. We have a group of 3 ranges here in OK, that are combining forces this year and are putting on 5 TAC like events in oklahoma this year. It is called SHOT if you are interested. Pretty impressive list of sponsors. KUIU is going to have their mobile setup at the first event in Tulsa at the end of March. I think people are looking for that style of event now. We still have ASA shoots around but I don't think they are as popular. My setup fits more in the open class now, but more of a bowhunting rig and I prefer just the fun events.

 

[_jeff_]

My club is just bringing them back this year. Low turnout killed them for a little while.

 

[JjamesIII]

As I get more and more into shooting again I have noticed that the many 3D shoots in my state (MO) have almost all but gone away.
I can remember years ago, and not that many years ago there was a shoot almost everyweekend around Missouri somewhere.
Now it seems almost like they are few and far between.
We Have a Reinhart R100 that I am going to try and do this year again but some of the smaller ones are all but gone.
I know there are a lot of states that have TAC now
But other than woodsthat, how are the shoots in your state?

Yes, they aren’t as prevalent as they were 10 years ago. I don’t do as many because the pace is so damned slow. I don’t enjoy standing around in the woods in the middle of summer waiting for some fuds to find arrows or b.s.ing instead of taking their shots and moving on. It’s like golfing behind a foursome of women, only I’m not chilling in a golf cart with beers to crush.

 

[Billy Goat]

only I’m not chilling in a golf cart with beers to crush.

You need to find a better club then.

 

[JjamesIII]

You need to find a better club then.

It’s all the shoots in my area. I don’t think they want to make waves and tell people to move through and speed the pace up a little . The league shoots during the week aren’t as bad/crowded. Maybe it’s my impatience growing as I get older I’m less tolerant of adults who don’t have their sh*t together.

 

[mod-it]

It is still pretty decent here. Within a two hour drive there are several different clubs that hold at least one, if not two 3d shoots every year. It is their main revenue earning besides club dues. I'd say there is definitely less than there was in the 90's around here, but really the only thing that has changed is most of them are marked yardage or "rangefinders okay" shoots now. I think that helps, not near as many lost arrows as an unknown yardage shoot would produce for many.
My BIL and I go to around 5 to 7 shoots most every year, depending on the time we have, love shooting in them and also supporting the clubs that put them on.

 

[satchamo]

I’m in southern IN and there’s 5-6 ranges within an hour that coordinate their schedules so there is a shoot nearly every weekend spring thru fall so there’s always an option.

So it must be regional?