Attendence at my gun club has dropped dramatically this year. I understand that my club lost over thirty grand during the first quarter, so we have had to cut way back on several things. The kids who have worked during the summers have been cut back. And our clubhouse that was opened six days a week is now only open three days a week. People can come out and shoot on any day, (except Mondays which the club has always been closed) but we have gone to the token system where someone has to put a token in the machine,(much like a car wash)in order to shoot. Plus the system was put in for the simple fact that people would come out and shoot and then drive off without paying. So, how has business been at your club? Like I said, attendence at our has dropped off significantly to the point where some of us are afraid of it closing down.

MSSA is doing great...sounds like youz guys need to put another qwa'ta in the juke bOx Jammy.

Our skeet and trap club is struggling to break even, but making it.

Increased competition is more of a factor than declining shooters. In the St. Louis area there at least 5 other sporting clay facilities, and five other skeet/trap ranges. Several also offer 5-Stand.

A round of skeet or trap varies from $3 at the state-owned shooting range to $7.50 at some clubs.

Jerry

Jimmy, sorry to hear that. We have six different venues at my club that has about 350 members. Shotgun has about 20 diehard members and we gross about $22,000 a year for shotgun. We're up about 6% net this year. We're not near the size of your club but all our venues are up this year. Hope you guys start doing better in the future- we can't afford to lose any gun clubs. Paul

A problem that a lot of clubs have is that a large portion of their regular shooters are retired or nearing retirement. When you think about what happened to most of the retirement plans last year, in the market, it is easy to understand the drop in shooting. If you lost a third or more of your lifetime savings your shooting would be down also.

I am active in three clubs. One is down a lot in shooting but they have no real debts to worry about. The two others are trying to keep shooters active with fun, low cost shoots. They are worried that the membership may suffer a large decrease at renewal time. Shells are up, targets are up and jobs are not going that well for too many.

I am working on a fun shoot for Skeet where each station has a gun and shells on it and all shooters must use the same gun. Couple pump guns, a long barrel bolt action, lever action, side by side on a couple stations, bent barrel auto on a station, gun with no sights on a station, Wheel chair to shoot from at a station, a trap gun on seven or station eight. Lots of work rounding up all the guns and loading shells for the shoot. Every shooter needs what amounts to a box of shells. So we charge $4.00 for targets and I donate about 20-30 boxes of shells. Shooters can reenter but the second round cost $8.00, third round cost $12.00. One fellow shot four rounds and thought it was a blast.

Make a high score the last thing to worry about and have a shoot where people laugh at each other and not get mad. Gadget shoots are fun and stir up the interest the first time or two you do them. Give away a turkey to the top score and lowest score.

I belong to two clubs.

The first club, as far as shotgun shooting is concerned, offers sporting clays and trap and is just holding on. Money-wise, we are just making a tiny profit. The number of shooters is certainly down. A few of the club's directors have been beating the drum to close down sporting clays for about six years now, and they will likely succeed in doing so by the end of the year. Go figure that I saw one of the directors looking at Parkers at the Vintage Cup!? Nothing is written in stone, but it does look like that will happen. I hope I'm wrong.

The other club, again, as far as shotgun shooting is concerned, offers trap and skeet and is not doing good either but for a different reason. It turns out that the club's president has allegedly misappropriated about $38,000 of the club's revenue. The club's property taxes are unpaid for two years as well as a host of other bills are past due. So, they are in danger of closing too.

My club is doing well. Membership is near the maximum (1000)and we are making improvements (raising berms, replacing traps,improving drainage etc.) We have added an impromptu 5 stand sporting clays course (will soon be lighted) that we shoot on Thursday evenings that is exremely popular.(73 rounds last time) We also have lighted trap and skeet available at any time to members,as well as access to 25,50 100-200 yard ranges,archery course and club lakes. We have the club house, rifle, trap and skeet operation buildings and pavilions open for member use, plus RV parking sights with hook ups. Like many clubs, urban sprawl is closing in on our sight and may at some time affect the 100-200 yard rifle ranges. We do have a substantial land acquisition fund if this becomes an issue. We have, almost weekly, some type of Pistol, Rifle (Small bore-High power)or Cowboy shoot. We had a modest memebership due increase a couple of years ago,and trap and skeet price went up to $3.00 per round for members $4.00 per guest)

You are right about the retirement, KY Jon. A lot of our members are retired and have not shot for years. Our membership is up around 2,000. (You can see our website at middletownsportmensclub.com) We usually throw over two million birds a year. I have been trying to get people to use the large clubhouse for other things like gunshows. And we have several skeet and trap shoots per year. Our winter trap league just started up and our skeet league should be starting soon. One of our problems is that we just bought several acres around the club to keep others from buying it. If someone else would have bought it, they could have caused problems for us. Hopefully things will work out. But the economy has been the main cause I guess. Hope things are working out well at all of your clubs.

let my membership expire...never did shoot in a league, just a little fun/practice now and then...now I just go to the state run range if I feel the need to shoot...

I think that most of our membership feel the same way. A lot of our guys seem timid about joining a league or shooting a match although all the chairmen are extremely helpful and patient with new shooters. Except for the first week before deer season the 200 yard range rarely sees any action except for the normally scheduled matches. Same for the skeet and trap fields, I can shoot just about anytime I want. My good shooting buddy and I are one of the few that use most of the club facilities. Of course my wife say's I can't pursue any hobby like a normal individual, but I can't imagine having the facilities that we have and not making use of them. Of course I do like to shoot...a lot....

KYJon sees the core problem. Fixed incomes of retiree mainstays of trap and skeet. The hunting season practise is, shall we say, seasonal among younger men with the pressure of both occupation and growing family. We are now at 3$ per round for members; 4.50 non. Fortunately, the club will go on because it is also a "swim club". I also feel the pressure of the one buck increase as I near retirement. Recently had shooter appreciation nite; I shot a squad of trap and two of skeet prior to the dinner but a scan of those being "appreciated" might be taken as an indication that the membership also views the club as a soup kitchen.

jack