Hey Illinois. Just a note. The Grand or what used to be Grand when it was in Ohio, so far has only attracted 470 Illinois shooters. Ohio and PA have leagues with close to that many shooters. Great job supporting trapshooting!
Thanks for the info! It’s been great shooting this week. Place looks great. I’m even looking at a getting a new Perazzi! I miss Dawson’s though, they had great deals. I did see Pat and his daughter shooting the other day. I could of swore I heard he was never going back to Illinois…
Did you" hear" he wasn't ever going back TO SELL ANYTHING or never going back to shoot? Why don't you introduce yourself to him and ask him if what you "heard" was true? Hey Pat, I heard you were never coming back to Illinois' and yet here you are. What's up with that? Let us know what he said. The place SHOULD look great. They had a whole year to get it in shape since they weren't allowed to shoot there last year. LOL
470? That’s all the shooters from the home state. Yikes! Pat McCarthy is a gentleman. Maybe KRayer could have asked Pat what it is like to get ripped off by Illinois. Rayer doesn’t shoot registered trap. Should have lots of time there.
The grand has established numbers over the past 15 + years, though they may gain or lose a few one way or the other those established numbers do not lie ... They had a year and a half to spiff the joint up so it should look good, but they still cannot get the big numbers on the attendance sheets for reasons well beyond the facility it self, think Location, location, location ... There are many shooters who will not attend due to the Political climate in the State of Illinois besides all of the additional driving to the lodging they have found ... The facility has added in excess of 25 million dollars to the State deficit because it cannot generate enough income to break even ... The Biggest attraction in Sparta, Ill is the Wal Mart, even those attending the grand depend on it being there to provide essentials, food, and ammo ... Good Luck, shoot well and have fun ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
The Bradford's of the 2003 ATA promised that the surrounding states would more than make up for the lost Ohio and Pa shooters. They must have not meant Illinois since it wasn't a surrounding state.
Lots of wives are still spooked by gummit reports on the Corona virus. Traveling and crowds are still off the list for many.
The Grand is not the Grand of yesterday, The shooters lost their love of the Grand when the ATA turned it in to just another (large) shoot. The Grand lost its allure when the EC ignored the wishes of the members and the company they hired to evaluate the Sparta location. It will never be the Grand of yesterday and that is sad. To many changes were made to the game that were not in the best interests of the sport by people that thought they knew all there was to know about the competitive spirit in the average shooter. Big mistake. Roger C.