Is silhouette dying?

[dondlhmn]

It is true that my view on the question is quite pessimistic, but I have been shooting silhouette for over 20 years now and, as I have moved around the country over that time, have shot in HP rifle, smallbore rifle and various pistol disciplines, depending upon what sort of matches were available to shoot wherever I happened to be. I have shot in silhouette matches in Germany, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Minnesota, and Nevada over the years and, pessimism or optimism or whatever an observer cares to label it, the overall attendence is WAY DOWN everywhere I have shot/observed over the years. When we moved to our current residence, we went out and shot at a match not too far from town. The "locals" all had very unfriendly attitudes, would barely talk to us, and made it VERY CLEAR that they were in no way happy to see new shooters come out to compete (especially if they were female as is my wife, who beat all of them at "their own game"). All sad, but true and I can see where a new shooter would feel quite unwelcome and would likely never again even think about joining THAT sport!

And I know that, typically, that is not what one finds when going to shoot in a new place, whether experienced or a new shooter. I have often seen expereinced shooters answering questions asked by folks that just show up at a match out of curiosity. And MANY, MANY times the experienced shooters (and I mean B shooters, AAA shooters, Masters....pretty much every level of shooter) would then put a gun and ammo in the hands of the "newbie" and mentor and coach them through a match, all the while being VERY positive about the whole thing and strongly encouraging the new shooter to join the sport. Still, the sport tends to decline and I just do not understand it.

I, personally, have offered to become a match director for silhouette matches at a club that is about a two hour drive from home, but that particular club has so many "circumstances" that are not conducive to getting silhouette going again (they once upon a time did have silhouette matches and still have the range and targets, etc) that not only was my offer refused, but there seemed to be so much negativity IN GENERAL that it would have taken a great deal of time and effort to even get things started again after a once thriving sport had pretty much withered up and ceased to exist there.....I would have been going against the grain, so to speak.

I wish that my observations weren't what I have actually seen, but it seems to be the way things are going. Again, sad, but true. I love to shoot and to compete and have joined whatever local groups there were wherever I found myself living. One problem is that, whether the club activity be guns, RC models, cars, motorcycles, skiing, flying or whatever, you will find that, if a club has 300 members, there will be about 12 or 15 people that care enough to actually DO THINGS, ORGANIZE THINGS, and generally keep the club moving. Then there will be another bunch that does NOTHING but gripe about whatever goes on and that is all they do. The remainder will attend meetings (maybe) and will participte in club events, but they DO NOT want to be involved any further than that as it is just too "inconvenient" to actually invest of themselves and their efforts and time in the interest of helping the club even stay in existence, much less to advance it. I have seen this sort of situation so many times that it is disgusting. I have always offered to help out and have done things like digging, mowing, building, welding, and etc. to help out and have observed the same few people actually doing anything, while others, at best, contribute nothing, while still others do nothing but raise h*ll and gripe about whatever the "doers" do. Eventually this wears the "doers" down, they get tired of being taken advantage of and they just quit. Happens over and over.....

I have tried wearing my rose colored glasses, but I am too much of a realist to be able to fool myself that way for very long........

[kevinbear]

I was just reading about the Londoners and the negativity from many over the upcoming olympics, there's probably good cause for it but talk about doom and gloom whiners, pretty tough to be the brits in that sport! I knew you were going so it will be interesting get your take on the situation when you return.

[quote="Trent"]Leave your politics out of this Kevin! [/quote]

[kevinbear]

dondlhmn, I am sorry that you have had a lifetime of bad experiences in the gun clubs, I feel fortunate that nearly all my exposure to shooting games and clubs has been wonderful. One thing I would take exception with that is that the "doers" in gun clubs wear down and quit, most of them that I know cannot quit because it's part of their personality, be it at their work or where ever, their born to lead.
Of course that's just my opinion, and my glass is always half full.
Kb

[teetertotter]

One of our members, Silhouette, retired 3 years ago and moved way up to northern part of Wisconsin. Late last year I heard that he was going to start up Silhouette in his area. I learned too, that he is not an electronic person and keeps in contact with some back here at home and is active in, "Friends of the NRA." Anyway, I started looking up shooting ranges in his area and emailed them about hearing possibility that Bill was working with someone to build a Silhouette range. BANGO, there is a county range that acknowledged the fact that Bill will be starting up a group this year! It is people like this that will keep the sport ALIVE!
I may have mentioned this before and worth mentioning again.

Yes, dond....there are the same few at every club or church or school that do all the work to keep things going with few helpers. It is people like that we so appreciate. Without them, we would not have what we have today! There are inspirational people and dead beats. I elect to be inspirational. Some people get burnt out and time to move on while others never give up.

[1stlttightwad]

Tonight we had our club meeting welcoming in 93 new members, which is done once a year. We had our Silhouette table all set-up with rifle and pistol animals, display of pins, pictures of our Silhouette range, and a handout with more information. It seemed like we were received pretty well. We will see how many will come to our Monday night winter indoor practice. It seemed like maybe 7 people were interested with 4 really wanting to talk. Hopefully, there will be 4 good possibles that will show up over the next couple of Mondays. Who knows too, when comes May for official outdoor competition, how many might try. If we could get just 2 or 4 to commit, that would be really nice. On the handout, I mentioned several links and to check our club website and the Silhouette discipline for more quick information. We gotta keep it going.

Teetertotter, next silhouette match have someone video tape it and burn it to CD..Next meeting when someone shows an interest pop in the CD. It doesn't have to be long or a major production. Just something to show the animals clanging and falling. Some close ups of the hits would be a plus..Emphasise that the basic rifle such a squirrel is just fine to bring to the match.. Try to have folks show up an hour before the match to help them sight in with fellow shooters helping, one on one if possible. Dave aka dbp1stltartillery on RFS Dave Deo Vindice

[teetertotter]

1st......so noted and I do have the means which to do. We will have to put some thought into it with some kind of script. This would also be put on our club website and on the Wisconsin Force website. Nice idea and your input is very much appreciated! Jon

[1stlttightwad]

Teeter, perhaps with many heads working toward the same goal we can accomplish a noble goal. I am in the process of having my BIL make me a few sets of swingers so that we can shoot at our family range using NRA Silhouette Rules. I was invited to join our local club but in talking to some of my friends that are members it seemed that the rules in almost every discipline had been..uhmm "tweaked" by the powers that be and as a result not many of the various matches are sanctioned. I have a couple of friends that shoot bulls eye and one is a national champion the other is not far behind. I plan on going to the match to see them shoot and that's it. If they ever get around to following the rules I will reconsider. Other than that I can go to my own range and follow the rules. I shot hunter pistol, smallbore pistol, and smallbore rifle for years and spent thousands of dollars in travel, motel expense, along with my shooting buddy (my ex) winning hundreds of trophies. if everyone cannot be on the same page leave the book on the shelf. There is a place for "fun" matches to introduce new shooters but not when you say your matches are sanctioned,( yeah by the club founders and not the NRA) and you show up with a sanctioned,100% legal rifle and find out Ooops, the only allow up to 9 power scopes. The point I am trying to make is make it fun, but don't mislead anyone. Picture this: You read of a match that will be held 150 miles from home, take time off, gas up your car and go. Oops, the master class rating that you are one short of getting is not to be had. Dave Deo Vindice

[teetertotter]

In the last 4 weeks, we have 4 new shooters and bought books on their second visit. One is a current member, and 3 others have an hours drive +. One of them had been shooting HP Silhouette at his club and had known about our SB for some time. The other 2 are across the border into IL and heard about our SB range. I need to ask them how they knew about our club. Anyway,
we must have made them feel welcomed and comfortable. One of them had an original Kimber 80 the first year they came out, which I think was around 1982 he said? Still had the original receipt and box. You could tell he was proud to bring and we all got a look at it. The 3 that live a distance away, hopefully they will mention to their friends to come join us.

I just spoke to the other club in our state with SB Silhouette and sounds like they are pretty much shooting only for fun with only a handful taking it seriously. I did have to send him 2 extra of our classification books yesterday. They just don't have any interest in coming to the State Championship, which would be a 2 hour drive max. He said there might be 2 people coming to the State Championship from his club. If it is not so hot next Monday, I will be making a showing at their Monday eve match. One other fellow from our club will probably join me. I might have to do some PR work.

[Kokenee]

I am not a silhouette shooter but I want to get into it. For me it is really a matter of time and money before I get involved. I think silhouette is a great sport. Most of the younger shooting enthusiasts I know(25-40) are interested in shooting tactical style guns and like to buy tactical style equipment. I personally prefer standard silhouette targets but someone could create new target styles that could simulate tactical targets like a 'Sniper' a 'Suicide Bomber' a 'RPG Insurgent, and an "IED' or whatever. These are just ideas off of the top of my head. Shooting enthusiast used to be more focused on hunting but this is not as popular or trendy now as compared with the focus in shooting on tactical targets. Maybe this would work and it may not just an idea based on what I've observed.

[teetertotter]

kokanee, you might have a good point. We have just about everything at our range except tactical. CMP, trap, black powder,and pistol are most popular, followed by HP and Cowboy action and lowly Silhouette. We have new membership coming up in February and perhaps we need a better presentation at our table. I am still brain storming how we can get people interested in our sport. Thank you for you comments!

[rogersptl]

The Shooting Sports USA publishing delay does the sport a disfavor. With the electronic mag/rag corrections and updates should be timely. Wis email address is no good; snail mail to Jon doesnt get answered--at least 2+ weeks should be long enough I'd think. What's up??

[teetertotter]

The Shooting Sports USA publishing delay does the sport a disfavor. With the electronic mag/rag corrections and updates should be timely. Wis email address is no good; snail mail to Jon doesnt get answered--at least 2+ weeks should be long enough I'd think. What's up??

I received your letter today and will reply to your e-mail address. Also, will check in with Shooting Sports USA.
Below is our website. Jon

[Jerry G]

With Shooting Sports USA on line, you would expect about a 2 hour delay.

With less than 90 at the SB Nationals, something needs to be done. They get a bigger turnout at PeEll with only 6 animals in a bank and a very small parking lot.

[malinois]

Maybe they need to hold the nationals in some place other than where its been held shooting the same two places gets a bit old...I miss the variety of the old championships like Crestline, Ft worth, Nebraska , Oregon and so on ..one always waited with anticipation to see where it was being held...plus it would give a chance to some of the locals that dont travel long distance...my two cents.

[teetertotter]

I live in Wisconsin and don't have the money for hotel.....etc. PA, is close but to congested of an area, which I would not drive.
I was thinking about Southern Nationals this year, but visit with relative in AL, was not at the right time for them. The midwest, SB Silhouette facilities are few and with the right kind of requirements to hold a National.

Priority is spending gas money to visit relatives in AL and GA every summer. Wife and I going to Louisville for state fair and world horse show together. Going on various 4 day excursions together. My wife does not care about firearms. We just as soon be together if we go anywhere.

The last 5 days gas has jumped from 3.39 to 3.79. Descent hotel is $90.00+ a night. I just don't have the extra change to travel myself to shoot anywhere long distance.