What keeps you from LR competition shooting?

[NRA4LIFE]

I'd have to learn something new. That doesn't work real good anymore.

 

[SDHNTR]

lack of interest

 

[parshal]

All these comments are pretty spot on. The two closest matches I have are 2-3 hours and the rest are 8-17 hours. It's both a time commitment and expensive given the entry fee, gas, lodging and vacation day(s).

At least for NRL Hunter, some of these comments are addressed. They have a loaner program for full rifles, tripods and gear if you don't have it. I can't say how many they have but you can certainly ask the match director when you sign up.

For skills, they've had an experienced shooter guiding a whole stage of skills shooters. They take them up to the stage and guide them through everything. They've asked all the skills shooters if they want to be in that squad at the last few matches I've been to. I think more than a few folks think they've got it all figured out and don't want to look new but it's a steep learning curve at the first match.

With the exception of the Vernal match this year, I'd say most matches have been relatively straightforward. They aren't target hunting matches. There are stages that most beginners can easily hit targets if they get all the stuff figured out before shooting. By that I mean finding the targets, getting an accurate range, getting all their gear together and building a shooting position. Most every RO will allow the skills shooters to extend their time 2-3 minutes to get shots off.

The NRL Hunter One was supposed to be the answer to the one-day match format but it doesn't seem to have taken off. I do hope more of those start popping up. I'd go to any of those within a 3-4 hour drive.

At the Finale, Travis said they have a whole lot more match directors wanting to hold matches and that there should be a bunch more matches next year compared to this year.

Hunter matches have a whole different vibe to them than PRS. Everyone, including the top shooters, are friendly and more than willing to help. If they're in the hunt for a win they may not seem as friendly but they really are.

I've offered to take more than few friends to these matches and coach them through stages if they shoot after me. None have taken up the offer and none can give me a really good explanation. One knows everything about Hunter based on what he sees on Instagram and Youtube. He tells me what all the shooters are using, etc, and says he can't afford that equipment. He doesn't believe me when I tell him what he sees in the videos is NOT what everyone is using.

 

[Macintosh]

That ^^^ would be great. The format sounds more interesting to me anyway, I would love to go to a couple of those and see how they are. This past year the closest nrl hunter match was a 16 hour one-way drive for me, the others significantly further, so that’s been the issue specifically with NRL Hunter. If there were two or three matches per season within an easy days drive, it would probably be a no-brainer.

 

[kharb22]

At least for NRL Hunter, some of these comments are addressed. They have a loaner program for full rifles, tripods and gear if you don't have it. I can't say how many they have but you can certainly ask the match director when you sign up.

For skills, they've had an experienced shooter guiding a whole stage of skills shooters. They take them up to the stage and guide them through everything. They've asked all the skills shooters if they want to be in that squad at the last few matches I've been to. I think more than a few folks think they've got it all figured out and don't want to look new but it's a steep learning curve at the first match.

The NRL Hunter One was supposed to be the answer to the one-day match format but it doesn't seem to have taken off. I do hope more of those start popping up. I'd go to any of those within a 3-4 hour drive.

I know they have at least 3 sets of loaner gear. The guys from South Africa used it at the Grand Slam this year, but I think they actually have closer to 5.

At the Madras Oregon match, they had John Pynch take a whole squad of skills. That squad got a master class with a really, really good shooter.

I really hope they bump up the amount of Hunter One matches. We've had 2 local these years, and I think we're getting ready to have a lot more. While I like the 2 days matches, the one day locals are way easier to attend.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[justinspicher]

Do you not own a larger caliber than 556? You can certainly shoot the local PRS-style matches at Ft. Carson with a 556.

I don’t, and don’t plan to purchase one anytime soon. Carson is still a 5hr drive one way for me.

 

[Fatcamp]

Time and money. And money.

 

[SDHNTR]

If I have time to go play, I’m going hunting for real. Not playing hunting games.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I don’t shoot when it’s hot and I hunt when it’s cold. There’s no time for me to fit it in that schedule.

 

[Lawnboi]

If I have time to go play, I’m going hunting for real. Not playing hunting games.

If you look at it as valuable range time it makes more sense. I think a lot of the little rules and such are dumb but at the end of the day the pressure placed on shooters under someone else’s rules and time are only bested by shooting actual animals.

If you told me to pick nrl for a weekend or a weekend of prairie dogs and coyotes, I’m going to have a hard time choosing. No doubt I have learned more at the single nrl hunter match that I shot than my last few outings shooting small game.

 

[SDHNTR]

If you look at it as valuable range time it makes more sense. I think a lot of the little rules and such are dumb but at the end of the day the pressure placed on shooters under someone else’s rules and time are only bested by shooting actual animals.

If you told me to pick nrl for a weekend or a weekend of prairie dogs and coyotes, I’m going to have a hard time choosing. No doubt I have learned more at the single nrl hunter match that I shot than my last few outings shooting small game.

I get that, I’m fortunate that I can hunt year round. I can practice on hogs.

 

[Carl Ross]

I do shoot competition, and shot the Grand Slam this weekend. Did okay, not great, have hardware and software both to improve.

Firearms competition of many types can have a decent barrier to entry. The longer a discipline has been around, the more rules they tend to accumulate. The longer the rulebook and the more narrow the acceptable equipment, the more intimidating it is to just show up with your gear and hope you have all the correct boxes checked. I actually think some of the video's that list out what to bring to a match and what to expect at a stage should be really helpful for someone looking at attending their first one, second only to being guided by someone you actually know.

The equipment and consumables are both pretty expensive. I bet at the match this weekend more competitors had over $5k into their rifle & optic than under, and $3K+ into other gear between RF binos, bipods, tripods, support bags, packs, fancy pants, etc. Some of which makes a significant difference, some of which are shiny lures to convince folks to pull out their wallets. Then, assume $1k per person on the low end to pay the match fees, ammo (NRL Hunter does take less than PRS here), gas, hotel. Probably double that if you're flying and renting a car. The amount of people who are willing to lay out that kind of cash before they have the competition bug and are committed is pretty low.

Then, most new competitors, regardless of time and money spent, are going to get pretty beat down. There are exceptions, but for certain at first more people finish in the bottom half than not, and many stay there for a while. The money spent vs the reward is going to be hard to justify for many, unless you catch the bug. I have the bug for certain, but I also get more than my share of rewards out of it.

Regarding not having matches close enough to people, there are practical problems and chicken/egg problems. Practically, places to put on a LR rifle match aren't that easy to come by, especially in the east. This is more than doubly true for an event that is supposed to be blind, like NRL Hunter, which in my opinion does have more crossover (still not perfect) to western style hunting than PRS does. The chicken/egg problem is that if there are no matches for many hours around you, there really isn't the community of shooters in place to attend an event if someone did go to the trouble to put one on. And getting started as a Match Director from scratch, even if you have a property, isn't cheap either.

Locally, we have a good community for PRS style matches, and can set up new shooters with loaner gear and an experienced shooter to squad with, though that isn't widely advertised. In fact, matches at all are primarily advertised within the community, and most growth happens organically with competitors bringing friends, some of whom stick around.

Long way to say; I like competition shooting, see the ways it does and doesn't apply to hunting, and understand why more people don't do it.

Also, if you have questions about trying to go to a match for the first time, I'm happy to try to help via pm.

 

[Justin Crossley]

For anyone who is interested but doesn't have the gear needed to try a match, I am happy to provide everything you need (throw me a little $$ for powder/bullets), and I'll coach you through the entire match.

Once the schedule comes out, I'll figure out which matches I can attend and start a thread. I'm sure there are others who would help out new shooters as well.

The practice you get at these matches really will make you a much more efficient killer in the field.

One more thought. You can shoot 223 if you're shooting the skills division. I have an extra one of those as well that is set up and ready anytime someone wants to shoot a match with it.

 

[parshal]

I offer to do the same as Justin. I'm willing to help anyone who wants to do this. I don't know that I've got guns to share like he does, though.

 

[parshal]

I'd also add that I can help someone through the stage process here at my house. We can through multiple target engagements (at 100 yards) off different props. I do all of my training for these matches at 100 yards.

 

[XLR]

I’m going to give it a try this winter. I live right near Cameo, why not?

Shoot me a message if you have any questions! I run most of the centerfire matches for WCPS.

 

[11boo]

Shoot me a message if you have any questions! I run most of the centerfire matches for WCPS.

Will do. I am on the edge of archery elk, then rifle elk. It’ll be this winter.

killer facility up there, but I’ve only observed you guys tagging steel way out there.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

"Average shot distance is 600 yards." That's what keeps me out - I suck. (I know these are LR competitions). I'm not sure I'm the target audience though, I'm just a guy who might go to a local match to get some practice shooting my hunting rifle in the field.

 

[chutinlead]

I’m going to give it a try this winter. I live right near Cameo, why not?

Cameo is doing some sort of hunter style matches that looked interesting. Not quite 10hr drive interesting, but maybe someday.

 

[NSI]

If anyone lives in western wyoming and wants to split gas to a match within 500 miles, I'd be happy to fly us. As it stands, matches are too far away, book up far too early in advance, and I can't justify all the gas to get there.

-J