Raton Dates announcement

[DeadEye]

I think a little more has to be said about Mr. Nasty (semtav),

I guess it's plain old modesty that kept him from adding that for a number of years now, since about 2012, he has been the Match Director for the Montana 1000. The shoot has been held annually on the site of the Quigley and is a 1000 yard gong match. It has attracted between 60 and 70 shooters all of those years. I know this because of the write-ups with photos of the winners and the scores that are available on the quigleymatch.com web site. I've never made it to this shoot because of a conflict but I enjoy reading the write-up and seeing who won.

In addition to this Brian runs the monthly 1000 yard on the same venue which seems to draw about 20 shooters a month according to the write-up he posts along with the scores on this forum.

He has also taken on the new Buz Coker Memorial shoot in September. For those who do not recognize the name, Buz took over the reins of the Quigley when it got too much for Al Lee to handle. Sadly we lost Buz June 7, 2017. It too follows the pattern of the Montana 1000. This year was a first try but most of the 50+ shooters who showed up thought the match should turn into an annual affair. I did make it to this shoot, finally got to meet Brian, and we'll be back.

Additionally, for those of us who have been to the Quigley and have enjoyed the mosquito free environment that allows us relax in the evenings with our friends you may thank semtav for that. If you're there early in the week you get to watch the air show as Brian makes multiple passes over the breeding grounds. This is done at his own expense. Thanks Brian.

[Kurt]

I also thank Brian for using his bug bomber to make it pleasant in the evenings to enjoy the company with friends without swatting the pesky skeeters.

Kurt

[Jim Kidwell]

Brian,

You made a good point, the NRA is not doing enough marketing to promote our Nationals. Having a tent on the Quigley vendors row is a good idea. We are not opponents. We all want our sport to succeed. I believe the NRA wants the Nationals to grow like it use to be.

Thanks again for your concern, Mr Nasty, keep your suggestions coming ................

[semtav]

Thanks Paul, Kurt and Jim
Hopefully my inadvertant pushing this spiraling thread off a cliff brings it back to a constructive discussion.
Brian

[jackrabbit]

Unfortunately, comments and thoughts often come across as nasty here on the forum. I don't ever intend for mine to sound that way, but I suspect they often do. If we were talking in person, one would hear my voice deflection and see the flash of a smile. I would encourage readers to assume the best when reading posts. Thank you to Jim for a bit of bright light in reminding us that we are all on the same side. He is right, we all want the sport to grow and the national's to flourish. That is why there are so many strong feelings! If we didn't care, nothing would be said. That being said, if the powers that be truly care, I have four things that absolutely must be corrected in order for the nationals to grow. I will leave out any controversial discussion on dates, schedule, etc.

1)As Brian said, the Nationals have to be promoted. A tent at the Q, print, facebook, emails, forums, all that you can. There has been nothing done for years by the powers that be. I would like to remind you, Jeanie, that you are the ONLY paid match director any of us will ever encounter. Many, many match directors do what you do, and a lot more year around for free. Most of us also put in a lot of our personal money as well as all the time. We are all working our butts off promoting the sport, you guys need to take the ball and run. A strong national match will only make our job easier.

2) I have encouraged everyone I know to go to the nationals, and have been embarrassed to have sent several new guys. All of you reunioners take for granted that everyone knows how things go. I am telling you, it is intimidating and confusing for a first time shooter to figure where to go and what to do, especially if they are only shooting one match. This must be corrected. One happy and fun person that would head up the new shooters would be great start. They would help them through sign up, be available to answer questions throughout the week, maybe have a sack of goodies, tee shirt, coupons, whatever just for the new guys. You can choose to believe it or not, but new shooters have not felt welcomed and this must be fixed.

3) As I look at the shooters I know, most of them have been to the nationals, got fed up and won't go back. Something must be done to prove to these guys that things have changed, and then dang sure don't disappoint them if they try it again. It is a competitive world, and only the best matches will be supported. People are not going to support the nationals out of a sense of duty, or just because they should. The matches have to be good for people to come, and judging by those that vote by coming or not, it appears they have not been too great. We can all argue about what makes a great match, but among the most agreed on is great organization, great prizes, great range, great food, and the most important is a staff that tries hard, cares, wants to improve, and makes everyone feel welcome and wanted. Without dragging up a bunch of crap, I am sure we can all think of examples of the "don't care" attitude. I know there are several that I have a hard time not still being pissed off about.... I know that after every one of our matches, 4 or 5 of us that are active in putting it on sit around directly after the match and talk about what went well, what needs improved, what we can do different, etc. I can tell you we are quite critical of ourselves and we get a lot of pleasure out of trying to improve each time. It is also important to continually add some new things to keep the match interesting and folks coming back.

4) You guys have got to get on board with some kind of post match reporting. Match reports must be written and distributed, and I am not talking about a tabulation of the scores. Several pages of written information, stories, facts, and anything else talking about what is going on and how much fun folks are having is what we need. If there is no one on staff to do that, it must be hired out. Lots of free lance writers would gladly take the job for a few hundred bucks. These forums, ASSRA, cast boolits, and other forums as well as facebook and an email list are all free! The only excuse for not doing it is laziness. Updates during the matches and live video feeds would also be great. You have got to get people interested in the Nationals and following what is going on. I have found people will read about it for several years sometimes before actually going. I am reminded of what we were told during science lab projects. That is, if you don't record what you are doing, you are just screwing around. If we don't record and circulate what happens at these matches, they didn't happen. We were just screwing around....

We will know how much the powers that be truly care by how many of these steps are taken.
Respectully, Cody Smith

[Gussy]

I think the best suggestion I've read is a tent at the Q. I always had questions about other shoots and most are posted about here and on other sites.

It's not my type of shooting but I would like to go to see the layout and how it's done. Might change my mind.

A good booth with photos and information would go a long way to generate interest. There is several hundred young shooters at the Q. Another several hundred not so young but with more likely to have the time and means.

Where else can you reach that many that easily?

[Don McDowell]

A display at the Quigley might surely generate some interest, but if those folks that look at the info in the booth don't have a match to go to in close proximity to their homes, then their time spent at the booth will just of been something to do in the 2 1/2 hour wait they have between targets..

[semtav]

I built a single target pseudo BPTR range not far from Forsyth if anyone wanted to shoot it just to get the feel of scoring that type of match and see how they'd stack up shooting a real match. Only took one day to build so lack of that type shooting opportunities shouldn't be a hinderane for those serious about it.

[SFogler]

Someone who can help the new guy is a really good idea - I went to the Byers Regional match for my first 1000 yard shoot in Sep 2017. Eron was savvy enough to pair me with Desert Deuce who helped me get on target and stay there but he also helped me with the details like how to score the targets in the pits and get my gear better organized and in the right place for the next relay. Little things maybe, but made all the difference. I was "brought up right" in long range shooting so I wanted to stay with it and enjoy it. And go to the Nationals. Cody practices what he preaches at Smithmoor and my wife was made to feel welcome there and she really enjoys the .22BPCR sport now. After the last match she said - "I need to practice more at the range so I can get better." What it's about right?

[Del]

I built a single target pseudo BPTR range not far from Forsyth if anyone wanted to shoot it just to get the feel of scoring that type of match and see how they'd stack up shooting a real match. Only took one day to build so lack of that type shooting opportunities shouldn't be a hinderane for those serious about it.

Maybe we could build a single set of rails for silhouette at the Quigley range for newbie/wantabie/maybies to try during the week before the Quigley match. It would need to be done to allow for the targets to be reset.

And maybe Jeannie could forward names and emails of new shooters without spotters and that need help and pointers to make it easier to get them comfortable. I would help with that...

[semtav]

Forsyth held a 22 BPCR match before the Quigley this year . Think they are going to again next year. Maybe that will generate a little interest.

[Don McDowell]

As I understand it, the Forsyth club has a full silhouette range at the same place they hold the 22 match, maybe it would be possible to run a BPCRS match along with the 22 match?

[DeadEye]

Don,

Simultaneously is not doable as the .22 firing line is ahead of and in line with the BPCR line by about 50 yards. I'll let the powers that be deal with the feasibility of the suggestion. Also the Bruce Shaver Memorial match is held around the 15-18 of May each year on that range. Register ahead as places are limited. 1 day Scope, 2 days Iron.

Paul

[Del]

I was just thinking that if it was at the Quigley range that there would be lots of folks standing around at times that might give it a try. To drive back to the silhouette range knocks out most of the newbie types as they won't make that effort to just go to try, at least in my opinion...

[DeadEye]

I think you might be right Del. A couple years ago they did a Bucket Shoot at the same distance as in the movie. So much a shot and the proceeds went to charity. That was done at the extreme Eastern end of the range and shot to the East. Far enough to be safe and close enough to draw attention. Something like that might work.

Paul