How to get more people involved in Competitive Shooting

You talkin about my gravel pit? ;)

It is alright , it would just be nice to be in the structure of a range that is designed for long range shooting.It does have it's perk though too.

Mind you , a guy is usually challenging himself to improve anyways so sometimes having dozens of other shooters around isn't needed either.



Brutus said:
Some of us just live too far away & our scheduales don't jive. No biggy though, some of as have found other similar but less formal venues. ;)

Cheers!
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Gunnerlove said:
Step one would be changing the PRA/DCRA renewal dates to Jan 1st instead of April 1st.
Step two is a nation wide PRA/DCRA day use policy.
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Does it really matter if the membership year is Jan 1-Dec 31, or April 1-March 31? I am not really sure the thought process behind the Apr-Mar membership year. It might be most people won't bother to pay their membership dues until it is almost time to start the shooting season.

Nation wide PRA/DCRA day use policy is also a hard one. Some PRA's own their own ranges (insert upkeep cost here) and some use DND Ranges (insert user fees/caretaker fees here). User fees even across Ontario differ from range to range depending on what base administers the range. These even differ in the amount of insurance the ORA must carry for some ranges. ie, Cedar Springs and Winona require 4 million in liability insurance while Borden and Kingston only require 2 million.

The ORA also has a pay as you go membership. Pay the guest fee of $45 times 4 days and you get a basic membership. It cost a little more to do it this way and you do not get voting privileges with a basic membership only, but you do get range time.
 
It matters to me because of how jammed up April, May and June are. We delay the start to match the DCRA membership cycle. Then jam matches and practices in before the fire hazard might shut us down.

If the DCRA said their cut is $10 a day and the PRAs can set their cut at least we would have guidance from an organization that currently lacks a day pass policy.
 
Gunnerlove,
The shooting season, at least here, is more weather permitting/related and really doesn't have much to do with the membership cycle. As the current membership year runs from April 1-March 31 any shoots earlier than April 1 would be covered under last years membership. Now I am not 100% positive on this but I believe that if a new member pays for their membership in January you would be covered from say Jan 2014 until March 31 2015. If it does not, you should talk to your PRA about making this happen for new members. If your PRA delays the start of the shooting season to jive with the membership year, again that is a PRA issue.

Shooting season in Ontario starts usually doesn't get started until May except for some service conditions matches that could start as early as March or April. Last year I managed to get one day on the outdoor range before heading to the West Indies Championship. While other members of the team from Winnipeg had not fired the fullbore rifles that season because there was still a foot of snow on the ground in Winnipeg the first weekend in May.
 
I wonder if shifting the season dates would encourage the planning phase of the season to start earlier. I don't see any reason why we couldn't have range dates submitted, confirmed and posted by now for every discipline. The sooner people can put stuff in their calendars, the less chance there is of the date already being booked for something else (by the shooter's significant other). It also gives people who work weekends a better chance of being able to get the time off work if the can book it well in advance.
 
We can't shoot much earlier than May in Ontario east. Ground is still thawing, wet and soft depending on the last winter and weather.
Even our Victoria Day matches at Connaught can be shot in hot temps one year and snowmobile suits the next.
 
We like all PRAs can't shift our membership dates as they are dictated by the mandatory DCRA membership dates.
It needs to be pushed by the DCRA.

Imagine we could all have our matches and practices booked, membership cards in hand and nothing but loading ammo to worry about.
 
Down this way we have 6 Militia units within about 1.5 hour drive from Cedar Springs. 5 Units are within an hour or so of Winona. These ranges offer some other training besides shooting, rapel tower, obstacle course, seacan villages, FOB and they are booked pretty solid. As the DND owns these ranges PRA's are left with whatever date are left over. Most of these dates fall into the months when the units are stood down for the summer, July and Aug. Both Cedar Springs and Winona are administered through Petawawa 700 km away.

CFB Borden will only take bookings 3 month in advance and are not as generous as they once were with dates.

CFB Kingston I have no experience with, but I understand that dates would have the same problems with local militia units wanting range time.

All these CF Range bookings by non-DND users can be cancelled at any time.

Since the PRA's are not really in the loop with the DND about other units that may cancel their dates, the ranges might go unused for several weekends. It isn't like they would contact us and let us know that the range is available next weekend if we wanted it. Because someone somewhere might have to do 10 minutes worth of paperwork.

If your PRA wanted to attract a few new members early in the year they could extend an invitation to participate pending PRA and DCRA membeship. The new member could be a probationary member between Jan 1- April 1. Your co-joint membership fees are sent to your own PRA's membership secretary and the DCRA protion is then forwarded to the DCRA. Something to discuss at the PRA's AGM.
 
Life is easier when you get the military on board. The BCRA helps to run the annual Brigade rifle competition and the Brigade uses BCRA practices and competitions as training events.
As such BCRA dates are pretty firm.
 
cet said:
"If you want new people to show up at practices instead of big matches for their first experience, then someone should create a thread that lists all of the practices and matches, their times and locations, what people need to bring, etc... Streamline the information for them. We can sticky it to the top of the forum,"
Great idea, but, to me, a practice day suggests competitions are imminent.....!!

I don’t understand, please forgive me and excuse my rant.

Are members obliged to compete?
Is a membership at Connaught not the same as a membership at any other club?

Why are shooters not invited to just shoot? Not practice......not compete.......no pressure....no expectations...just have fun.
Why not put out the word that Connaught is a great place to try out your Varmint rifle, your Savage, your new scope etc.
Maybe put a little distance between the pressures of competition and just having a membership at Connaught for the simple fun of it.

I asked Scott recently if a "club level factory" group for newbies could be arranged, is it possible?
What about "club level factory" competitions, is it possible?
Is it just a matter of not having the manpower/volunteers to manage it?

Or is it more than that, maybe the members are not interested in having someone wasting ammo
beside them and having fun doing it?
Is there room at Connaught for fun shooting or not?

Spell it out guys……because I’m still in the dark, and I’ve read all the threads on the subject not just this one.
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This isn't for Connaught, but I think it may be what you're asking for:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1045391-2014-ORA-Recreational-Shooting-Days
 
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