ENCOURAGINGPARTICIPATION
52
RECREATIONAL
SHOOTERS
A REPORT BY DAVE JOHNSON
I
n a recent issue of
ClayShootingUSA I happened
upon the ‘Publisher’s
Comment’ – not a column I read in
most magazines. But on this
occasion our Publisher was
suggesting that more research
was needed to establish exactly
what recreational shooters wanted
from our sport. I found myself
agreeing with the comment that
the sport, led by the NSCA,
appears to cater more to the
registered shooter. Unfortunately,
recreational shooters are often
intimidated by registered events –
particularly Big Blasts. They
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don’t know how the events work,
don’t know how to sign up and
feel they don’t belong at such
events.
Recreational shooters tend to
have older model Browning and
Beretta shotguns or their
Grandfather’s old ‘hand-me down’
pump gun or double – and they’re
very proud of the stories that
Grandpa told them about how
many ducks and pheasants that old
gun claimed as they grew in to it!
These shooters belong to the
many smaller gun clubs across
America that have one to three
skeet or trap fields, or maybe a two
to eight lane combo rifle/pistol
range. A few clubs have enough
land and have been forward
looking enough to set up sporting
clays courses out back on land that
until the last 10 years or so, really
wasn’t used that much. They use
these clubs to sight in their slug
guns or to tune themselves up for
the up-coming goose or grouse
season – but more importantly,
they get to hang out with folks that
share a common interest in
sporting clays and enjoy each
other’s stories about their Fathers
and Grandfathers hunting and
fishing experiences.
ENCOURAGINGPARTICIPATION
54
Good Example
In western New York there’s a
Sporting Clays League that has
doubled in size in the last three
years. So, what’s the secret? A
good bit of the growth is because
the Hunter’s Tour Directors
stopped catering to the top Master
class shooters and started
providing a traveling sporting
clays venue for the guys and girls
that just want to have fun shooting
clay targets and spending time
with friends and family.
The Hunter’s Tour of WNY
(Western New York) makes the
claim of being the oldest Sporting
Clays League in the country –
currently in its 21st year. It has eight
sporting clays clubs that center near
Rochester (NY) –four clubs within
30 miles of Rochester, two clubs
roughly 80 miles to the east and two
clubs 80 miles to the south. These
clubs range in size from a couple of
small clubs out in the country to a
large club that has hosted the US
Open Skeet tournament and
everything in between.
The Hunter’s Tour holds a total
of 16 events each year – each is
more about participation then it is
about scores, though bragging
rights in the car on the way home
is also important! Those attending
are made up of groups of three or
four shooters that have worked
hard all week and just want to blow
off steam. They often meet at a
local greasy spoon for breakfast
and then load up one car and travel
to whatever event is scheduled.
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The League starts in late
August and completes in early
May, holding one or two events
each month. The League is very
careful not to interfere with ‘big
events’, like deer season and the
Super Bowl!
Such events represent big
income for the participating clubs
without putting an unnecessary
burden on the shooters wallet. The
standard price is $15 ($13 to the club
and $2 to the League) for 50 targets.
The Main Event is the Open
class, but there’s also separate
classes for Ladies and youngsters.
The Open class event must be the
first event shot when you arrive.
This is to simulate a hunting
event where you have to react to
what you see the first time you
see it! After you get done with the
Open class event, then you can
shoot the exact same targets in
sub gauge (.410, 28, and 20 gauge
each have separate classes) or
pump classes. You can show up
on either Saturday or Sunday to
shoot and to help promote
shooting sports, the youngsters
(18 and under) shoot one round
free when accompanied by a
paying adult.
Encouraging
Participation
The Hunter’s Tour is all about
participation. They want folks to
show up, shoot and have fun. If you
make at least eight events per
class, then you’ll get a prize. The
more you shoot, the bigger the
prize – and the more opportunities
you have to win other stuff by way
of a raffle. At the end of the year,
most of the $2/shooter/class is
divided up among all shooters that
have shot eight events or more –
paid back to the shooters in the
form of gift certificates to a local
gun store that adds 10% above
what the League gives the store
(probably because the gun store
owner knows that when the
shooter shows up, they’ll always
spend more than the gift certificate
will cover!).
For every event shot after the
seventh shoot, your name is added
to a raffle drawing – if you shoot all
the events in one class, you’ll have
your name in the raffle eight times.
The Hunter’s Tour
is all about
participation.
They want folks
to show up, shoot
and have fun.
If you shoot all the events in a
second or third class, your name
goes in the hat up to 8 times per
sub-gauge or pump class shot. The
raffle Grand Prize is $500, followed
by $200 and $100.
Additional prizes are
continually being added by the
‘Incentive to Shoot’ sponsors.
(High end shooting glasses, a
Savage rifle was donated last year,
cases of shells, gun cases, gift
baskets, optics and all kinds of
other shooting/hunting gear).
Such prizes are clearly appreciated
by the shooters – in the last three
years participation has more than
doubled. Each year the list of local
sponsors continues to grow. To
keep the youth shooters
interested, every youngster that
makes eight events or more gets a
trophy.
A couple of years back a
number of Master class shooters
implied that the League needed to
throw harder targets and have less
events in order to keep the high
ENCOURAGINGPARTICIPATION
56
end shooters involved. At some
regional shoots you often hear
some Master and AA shooters
refer to easy targets as ‘Hunter’s
Tours Targets’! However, when
you review the scores from each
Hunter’s Tour event, the average
score is typically 35 out of 50. It’s
very rare that a score of 49 or 50 is
ever posted. Far from being easy,
the League target setters get it just
about right – time after time.
Three years ago the Hunter’s
Tour averaged 95 shooters per
weekend event. Last year the
average was 125 shooters per
event. Having just completed the
mid-point of the 2011-2012 season
(8 shoots) the Hunter’s Tour is
averaging 192 shooters per
tournament, which is comparable
to a lot of Big Blast events and
demonstrates 203 percent growth
in 3 years.
This improvement in shooter
participation provides a great
insight as to what recreational
shooters are looking for – fun
shoots with good friends and nice
prizes available to all that attend. If
you’d like to learn more about the
Hunter’s Tour of Western New
York, visit their website
(www.hunterstour.org) ■
This improvement
in shooter
participation
provides a
FALL OR WINTER –
EVENTS ARE ALWAYS WELL SUPPORTED.
great insight
as to what
recreational
shooters are
looking for –
fun shoots
with good
friends and
nice prizes
available
to all that
attend.
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