How is attendance?

Just wondering how many shooters are showing up at the shoots?

The last couple of months it has died in my area. We were doing pretty well with our game shoots this winter but that has died. I haven't been to a registered shoot this year so I can't say how they are doing. I just don't have the shells. They are still hard to find around here.

I'm happy to see that the youth shooters turned out in Ohio.

 

Youth sports are always well-funded.

I've seen about a 10% drop in trap participation (non-youth). Sporting clays seems to have picked up about the same amount. Go figure.

 

Some sporting clays shoots have picked up, but some of the local ones around here are down from even last year, which was lower than usual in itself.

 

Looks like the start of the Ohio State shoot is down
a little could be the Heat. Will see come the weekend

 

Yeah. I've seen that as well.
We had a local event that started two years ago. The initial participation was not what the organizers had hoped, but they decided to hold it again last year. The event had even fewer shooters in 2021. The decision was made to NOT have it again this year (in 2022).
I'm not using this as a bellweather to judge sporting as a whole being down, since it seemed to be a problem with the event itself (advertising, location, etc....the shoot had excellent targets thrown).
Another local charity event, having demonstrated increasing participation each year for the last ten years or so, saw record participation again this year. So, there's that.

 

My local show is increasingly packed, as are the gun stores and the ranges as well.

 

With the shortages of EVERYTHING you need to shoot, and the cost even if you can find it, let alone fuel and food, did you really expect the big shoots to be up? Or even the same as 3 years ago?

Let’s go Brandon!

 

With the saggy state of the economy, I'm not expecting a massive turnup like in the past

 

PA down 971 entries.

 

Daughter and I shot in Almira, WA on Saturday. Turnout was poor, way below what they expected. It was a 50/50/25, non registered. There was 3 or 4 squads of singles and Handi, some were not full, 1 squad of doubles. There wasn't any ATA shoots to compete with close by last weekend, wondering if gas & ammo prices are beginning to catch up with shooters. It was a very fun time, good lunch, nice birds. My only complaint was a little dust devil launched one of my handicap targets into orbit and I couldn't catch it...

 

The biggest change from last year is the price of gasoline (roughly 58% higher) and that may very well have curtailed discretionary spending.

 

Gas was around $2.00 now it’s around $5.00 plus
I’m thinking that’s a lot more then 58%
Just my math

 

I used the "official" average numbers published. A year ago gas was "officially" around $3. YMMV.

 

This time 2 years ago gas was around $2 according to the EIA. Again, YMMV.

 

Trapshooting now is mostly an old man's sport. We have actually picked up a few young shooters but with this inflation - seniors are starting to run scared. The largest percentage of our local shooters (seniors) have slowed down - they still shoot but they don't make every shoot like they used too.

If it was just $5 gas and $10 shells - most could handle that - it is just everything else going sky high too. I just looked at my personal numbers over the last year. Medicare supplement up 36% last 2 years, Homeowners insurance up 20%, property tax up 25% - and will be up another 30% next year, and don't even talk about food, natural gas, electricity and on and on. It's killing us old Codgers. And it is not just trapshooting. It's affecting all the old timers past times. Drive by the local McDonalds, Hardees - Where have all the old guys went, who used to hang out in those places gone? Yeah, you can say Covid ran em off, but they were making a comeback - then the Sausage Biscuit combo meal went sky high and chased the ones who did come back off. Wait till they open up their 2nd quarter brokerage statements - they might not ever come back.

The golf courses here are still busy weekends and nights after work but they tell me the old guys who played during the middle of the day and week have slowed down big time.

But like I said in first paragraph we are getting some young shooters because they are making more money than they ever have but not enough young shooters to replace the old guys who showed down.

Inflation is horrible and us old guys look too far back and remember what you could get for a $1. LOL

Hell remember the TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies"? Old Jed couldn't afford to live in Beverly Hills on his 40 Million in the bank now. First that house he lived in - would cost more than that. Second, he had the money in a commercial bank - probably a money market account - over the last few years probably paid 0.001 a year. So, what's that? $40,000 a year? Hell, he couldn't get the grass cut for that now.

Sorry about the long-winded diatribe. Got off on a tangent. Just wanted to say our shoots are still down from last fall and our winter game shoots but we are picking up a few younger shooters - just not enough.

 

THIS^^^^^^