Club/Organization Membership

[redriverclerk]

Our local club, one of only 3 in the state and established in 1979, has seen decreasing numbers since the mid-1990s. While the topic has been discussed in our local meetings, I'm wondering what other clubs/organizations are doing to keep their membership alive? Any *fantastic* ideas out there?

 

:blah: Get cozy with the ladies. :rotf:

 

[Smokey in Oz]

Redriverclerk,
I live in Tasmania, an island state, and we have two or three BP clubs who dont correspond at all.
Our club has seen static numbers of BP shooters for several years. There's not a great interest in BP due to the hassle of obtaining powder in Tasmania.
I've been attempting to get a reliable supply of BP in Tasmania for 12 months with little success, so far. People are hesitant to shoot BP due to powder issues and gunshops are unable to stock BP due to stupid laws. I think a reliable source of powder would give shooters the confidence to buy & shoot BP.
I notice also that we dont have a state championship for BP shooters. I would like to resurrect this. I have contacted one other club (who only have a few BP shooters) with a view to inviting them to our club to shoot. I am in the process of contacting the remaining club to invite them aswell.
I think as a combined group we would have more influence in arranging powder deliveries into the state and it would be a great day with all BP shooters at the one range.
I encourage all new shooters at our club to come and watch the BP competition and offer my gear for those who wish to try it.

Apart from BP, we have been asked by the local Naval Cadets to run their firearms training. We see this as a great opportunity to encourage junior shooters and their parents to come to the range & see what we do and hopefully get involved.

That's my thoughts and my/our attempts at improving numbers.
Cheers, Smokey.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Hold shoots for kids and their parents, hold sighting in days at your range, put on shooting demonstrations at public events so that people can ask questions on how you get those old guns to fire, and " You aren't really shooting something out of that gun are you? " or " Could that gun actually hurt someone?" They have to learn somewhere, and sometimes you have to take the show to them. We march in annual parades, firing blanks charges into the air to make noise and smoke. The crowds love it, and we always get someone coming up to us to ask how he can learn more about shooting MLs. Invite Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops to your range to earn their merit badges for shooting and marksmanship! pair each member with a child, and make sure all the kids gets a chance to shoot.

If those ideas don't get you more members, I have more.

paul

 

[paco97]

I think we need to have some PRB seminars to help separate myth from fact. I talked with a guy in church this weekend and he's a big time hunter. spends 30K/year hunting aroudn the world. I got talking to him about my flinter and PRB and he was blown away about the things I was telling him about the PRB.

I think the devil rifle craze has caused a lot of confusion about the PRB. Most of my friends just assume it's an obselete, inaccurate projectile, then when I tell them I'm shooting 1in70" twist they really are blown away.

I think we need more grass roots efforts to reeducate people to how much fun a BP gun is and how effective they are in hunting.

 

[CrackStock]

The last club that I looked at joining used such ridiculous targets and had a crusty and grumpy old guy that I never went back. Their recruiting program clearly needed some work!

Oddly enough, I had been a faithful member and officer in a club for 4 years previously.

In my old club, they had an annual aggregate for the yearly bragging rights. They took the best scores of your of 8 matches and added them up to get your total score. This score was compared to the other shooters and ranked. This encouraged people to attend a good number of shooting matches, but an absence or two would not put you out of the running.

We also had very good food at our meetings which followed our matches. This was a very good idea.

We had an A class and a B class. A was for higher scoring and experienced shooters. B was for new shooters or shooters whose physical situations dropped them to that category.

We had prizes for each category at almost every shoot. One member traced out many of the animals from the commonly usd targets to make a templet. I used these to trace onto Luan (thin decorative plywood) and cut this out. We had an artistically inclined young lady who prettied up this wood and wrote the details (date and name of the club) on this prize. Many people proudly displayed their little awards for years in their homes. I have a couple in my office.

We often held blanket shoots where the winner of each class would take first pick and the next until all prizes were taken.

We always gave a bit extra for junior members to encourage them.

We hosted the territorials and later the state match which got local and regional press.

We assisted with youth activities such as YHEC, Jakes International and Boy Scouts to gain exposure to shooters. We also volunteered at the state range to meet shooters and give some exposure to our long guns.

Just a few thoughts that came to mind...

CS

 

[redriverclerk]

Some of these are similar to ideas we've been considering. Others are fantastic things we haven't considered. I hope we can keep these coming. This could be very helpful to our club.

 

[54mountain]

Our club has an annnual youth day where we let the local kids come out and see what it's all about.We load 'em and let the kids shoot 'em generally we have rifles, pistols, shotguns, archary, and bb guns We also give demos on firestarting with flint and steel, and fir trapping as well as primitive camps.We usualy have a turnout of between 100 & 125 kids, but I think the parents get a bigger kick out of it than the kids.

 

[Boomer]

The key to any clubs future is in the youth.

A buddy of mine & I used to teach hunter safety for the MNDNR. He & I were the perfect team because from a philosophical standpoint we were at opposite ends.
He was into the most modern of technologies in ever respect & I went traditional in every respect.

When we would give our class on MLing he came decked out in blaze orange camo & his plastic gun. He would sing its praise & talk about its performance.
I came repleat in my 1770's garb & longrifle & spoke about sportsmanship & tradition.
Almost without exception they were more interested in me than my counterpart.
On range day I also always had the longest line

While I cant confirm it I am willing to bet I have added more than a few to our ranks :thumbsup: