Down Range Radio #65 - Report from the Shooting Sports Summit

[Marshal Halloway]

Down Range Radio #65 - Report from the Shooting Sports Summit

http://www.downrange.tv/radio/65.htm

[Hazcat]

I am not a writer so I will do my best here to articulate my thoughts on shooters, hunters and the relationship as well as decline thereof respectively.

I am a shooter or maybe I should say I’m a ‘plinker’, I also occasionally hunt and would like to more (I’ll get into that more in depth later).  I do not belong to SASS or IDPA or any of those other acronym organizations except the NRA.  I am a range officer at my club so I do interact with all disciplines of the shooting world.

First on all fronts there is a lack of communication.  I did not say talking, I said communication.  The discipline shooters talk about 10x and time scores and IDPA vs. IPSIC and no one outside their arena has the slightest idea what the hell they’re talking about.  Hunters talk about harvesting and food plots and scent and shooters wonder what the hell that has to do with guns or shooting.

We have to come up with a language we can all understand and a reason to talk to each other.  Shooters need to better communicate why they like doing what they do and if they happen to hunt as well then try to relate their skills to a hunting scenario “I think the last buck I got was because I had been practicing fast sight acquisition.  It really helped me get the bead on him fast” or “I got that last buck with a long 200 yard shot that I wouldn’t have taken before I started shooting NRA Sporter rifle”.

Hunters like to talk about the whole experience of “the hunt” and we need to listen and try to relate to their experience.  Hunters though also need to actually reach out to regular people to reverse their declining numbers.  Most every show on TV is pro hunters on private lands with outrageously expensive outfitters.  I would like to hunt more here in my state of Florida but honest to Pete you need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to figure out the regulations and most of the hunters I have talked to either have a deal with a local farmer, lease land or will not share how to get the permits for ‘their hunting are’ even though it is state game lands. 
Now to help the groups get started. Have well known hunters and shooters get together on TV.  The shows are watched pretty much by only the group they are targeted to, so have some shooters go on the hunt shows and have some hunters on the shooting shows and show clips on both shows.  If the hunting and shooting world does not see cooperation and camaraderie at the top it’s not going to happen at the grass roots.  Uncle Teds show is primarily hunting but he does a segment on his favorite guns.  Many, possibly most are not hunting guns.  They are anything from AR/AK types to full auto to .22 plinkers to handguns, you name it he shoots it and extols the fun of doing so, just like he waxes poetic about the hunt.

Well, that’s my .02.

[tombogan03884]

Very good points Haz, once COMMUNICATION is established both groups can only benefit. The Zumbo situation could justly be blamed on this lack. Jim Zumbo was a "hunting guy" with limited interest in guns beyond "hunting " guns. He failed to see the correlation between the "sporterized" Mauser's, and 03's that have taken so much game and the AR as a varmint gun, or the AK / SKS as a deer cartridge. Practically speaking there is no functional difference between a Cetme G-3 or FN FAL and a Remington 700, While the military style rifles are mechanically operated and the Rem. is manually operated they are all just .308 launchers, and there fore despite cosmetic differences, equally suitable for game.

[Trevor]

While I appreciate an insider's look at what is happening at NSSF, I wonder when the consideraton of shooters will trickle down to the local retail level.  Here in Reno we have two large stores (Cabela's & Sportman's Warehouse), a third on the way (Scheel's), and several smaller retail units that all serve hunters while offering little for shooters.  Granted, a person can buy a 1911 or a Glock and some cleaning supplies in these stores, but when it comes to the accessories needed for sports shooting (bulk ammo, cheaper reloading supplies, targets, holsters, belts, shooters' range bags, gun parts, sights, tools, etc.), there is a paucity of product.  I, and everyone else I know who is into sports shooting, use mail order to buy our accouterments.  Don't bother to ask for it locally either because store employees only respond with blank stares.  They have no idea what sports shooters are talking about. 

Industry leaders holding a summit is one thing, getting it down to the street and gun range is something else entirely.  In other words, if hunting is on the decline, why does retail behave as if it is the future?

There is also the market for concealed carry goods.  There is not even a place in Reno to buy a decent CCW holster.  It is no wonder the good holster makers elsewhere are backed up for months with mail orders because what goes in Reno probably applies to many other markets too. 

[tombogan03884]

While I appreciate an insider's look at what is happening at NSSF, I wonder when the consideraton of shooters will trickle down to the local retail level.  Here in Reno we have two large stores (Cabela's & Sportman's Warehouse), a third on the way (Scheel's), and several smaller retail units that all serve hunters while offering little for shooters.  Granted, a person can buy a 1911 or a Glock and some cleaning supplies in these stores, but when it comes to the accessories needed for sports shooting (bulk ammo, cheaper reloading supplies, targets, holsters, belts, shooters' range bags, gun parts, sights, tools, etc.), there is a paucity of product.  I, and everyone else I know who is into sports shooting, use mail order to buy our accouterments.  Don't bother to ask for it locally either because store employees only respond with blank stares.  They have no idea what sports shooters are talking about. 

Industry leaders holding a summit is one thing, getting it down to the street and gun range is something else entirely.  In other words, if hunting is on the decline, why does retail behave as if it is the future?

There is also the market for concealed carry goods.  There is not even a place in Reno to buy a decent CCW holster.  It is no wonder the good holster makers elsewhere are backed up for months with mail orders because what goes in Reno probably applies to many other markets too. 

When retailers are aware of how much  $ they are missing out on they will add these things to their inventory. Make sure you and your freinds inform local retailers that you are buying your NON hunting shooting supplies else ware to give them an idea of the markey size. Many of the smaller shops may not be aware of the demand.

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