Having being involved in benchrest off and on for the past 15 years or so it has become appparant what a sad state of affairs it has become over the past 5 years in Victoria. The Crayfish Classic has been held in Portland for 15 years as well as the Vic state titles and by the way the trend is going it might not continue. The May state titles were a case in point after being lead to believe we would have good numbers from Melbourne and South Australia, only to recieve a email on the Thursday that no one from Melb or SA would be attending was very disappointing. We had on shooter enroute from Brisbane and the event was held. If the current trend continues the Portland club members will not continue to waste their funds on trophies and catering just to held at the wims of travelling shooters. We have decided to still hold the November event and see what happens from there. Our focus has changed to providing more events for local Benchrest shooters. It will be a shame to lose the Portland range off the calender as it is the only dedicated Benchrest Range in Victoria, we can close the range to solely shoot Benchrest. I hope things might improve and all the rumours that started at the nationals will end. Cheers
The Voice of Australia's Benchrest Shooters
Roger,
I personally have no idea what you are talking about re rumors at the Nationals. The only thing I heard and was involved in is potentially holding the Nationals in 2016 at Portland. We said we would have to ask the Portland Club.
Why Portland? Because it is a great place to shoot, other competitors mentioned they would like it there, everything is close and hopefully a $ can be made to help keep it all going in the future at Portland.
As for the May " State Titles" shoot I have said for 10yrs it is the wrong time. Whether it is changed to November or January before Aust Day or some other time it should be changed.
Lastly the shoots should be promoted better. Half the time it gets to a couple of weeks to a week before to see what is happening. Normally Ross Hutchins does a bit of a ring around. Thats OK for locals and maybe a few Vic's to come, but if you want anyone else they need notice - several months notice. So for the November shoot make a flyer, post it on here in say September. Come back on the site every 4 weeks and promote it again
For the Crayfish get on here in January, make a flyer up and I will print it and put it up at Aust Day Comp. email is mhuebner@y7mail.com
Take advantage of Robs site and online nominations so you potentailly have an idea of interested parties, ask him to do it several months in advance.
Now dont shoot the messenger. I promote the Portland Range all the time. I have encouraged interstaters to attend. Picked them up from Tulla Airport and driven them to Portland etc as I love the shoots down there, the club etc
I know I have not attended the last two Crayfish Classics, but I was married in one and had our son on the other. But I was there for the 12 before and I will be back next year.
Holding the Nationals should be seriously considered as it would be great promotion for the Portland club and potentially the 2015 and 2016 Crayfish classics could have several interstaters as they will be see what this Portland Range is all about
If you do the above I will guarantee you the problems you have had will be a distant memory
Michael Huebner
There has been much debate over this issue for years now, but the common thread is information and notice. As jobs in the past 30 years have changed from Monday to Friday, now any time of day or night people have to plan what they attend and also there is the attraction of the shoot in question. The 500m fly has been increasing in numbers for years now and we actively look forward to the next shoot and concentrate highly on the motivation to get there.
I have over the past couple of years decided to give the short range benchrest a solid go and really enjoy it both for the shooting but also to belong to another shooting discipline.
Shooters attract shooters, if you want numbers you have to get them from other shooting disciplines or the kids of the current shooters. There is no pool of the un initiated when it comes to rifles or shooting, they have to start somewhere. A lot of people are actively trying to get memberships up everywhere and the was some great discussion i think it was started by Murray Hicks on this subject.
I think this site and the 500m fly site should have a calander of events for all bench rest shooting, there are 500m fly shooters now buying short range gear to have a go.
Information and continual updates will help you no end in getting the numbers up.......
:~ les
shooting is more a mental control of your thoughts rather than just pulling the trigger
Les
If you click the "other stuff" menu above, you will find a link to the 2014 calendar. This contains all SSAA registered benchrest matches, for all BR sub-disiplines. This list is updated each year, so it should be very easy to plan out what events you want to attend each year.
Hi guys. One thing I agree with Michael is you have to promote a shoot well in advance and keep promoting it.
The one thing we have in common is we love our shooting, so let's get on with the shooting and leave all the crap out.
Kim