No trad club in your area? Nobody to shoot with? No place to go for 3D? Hmmmm. But ya think there are quite a few guys around who shoot trad and it's hard to meet them. You only bump into them once in a while when hunting public land so you know they are there. Might be cool to start a local trad club eh?
Well........
Just thought I'd pass along an idea that has started taking shape here in the Kansas City area recently so that others can maybe start something similar in their own area.
A couple weeks ago, Tom Porter started a post about getting some guys together around KC here to maybe try to start a club. Since I'd tried already myself and didn't really get it to take off, I was glad to see someone else make the effort. Well, Tom was more organized than I and plans were made for anyone interested to meet at our local Cabella's food court on a Saturday and talk it over. He even got two members of an existing local archery club to come so they could explain some of the do's and don'ts they'd learned at their club.
Well, long story short, most of us were all hepped up about starting an actual club with dues, memberships, meetings etc but weren't really sure what it involved and in the discussion time, it was brought up that in most cases, 90% of the work got done by 10% (or less) of the members and it really took a dedicated group to swing it. Somebody spoke up finally and said they weren't sure if a dues paying club was the way to go and in a little while, an idea surfaced to NOT form a club, rather, form a "Network" of trad archers from the area.
The idea is this.... we all gave our phone numbers and emails and agreed to have informal "get togethers" on a regular basis. Sort of informal picnic/BBQ and shoot get togethers. But keep it flexible. One time might be at a conservation area to the north but the next time might be a public park to the south. Move it around a little to make it easy for everyone to attend at some point.
Besides shoots, it would be a chance to network with others in the area with similar interests ya might never meet otherwise. Sort of a virtual buddy circle. In the spring, if someone wants to go bowfishing, well, throw out an invite and get a gang together and do it. If someone has land and wants to have some guys over to shoot, send an invite out. Late season bunny hunt? Heck, we'd probably all go to that. Want to have a mini Mojam? Just say when or where.
Around the city, we have several local public places to shoot such as parks and conservation areas (CA's) some of which already have target butts but no 3D's or anything like that. One local CA has a nice walk through course that needs a little sprucing up but again, no 3d's. But there is a nice pavillion and BBQ grill made to order for a good time. But, how does a "non club" organization manage to have real 3D shoots if there isn't a club to provide the targets?
Simple!!! Each member of the group is expected to buy ONE 3D target of their choice. It is THEIR target and they keep it at THEIR house and shoot it when they want but when we decide to have a get together, toss it in the car and bring it along. If we have 20 guys show up, we'll have 20 3D's!!!!! How cool is that?
I mean, NO storage issues. NO work party getting stuck putting them up and tearing them down. Everybody is responsible for their own. NO risk of having a storage area broken into or range gate lock cut and all of them stolen at once. Yea, we'll probably end up with a high percentage of deer but that's ok. It is the number one animal of choice for most of us anyway.
I've already met more local trad shooters than I thought existed and just by talking to them have come to realize that they've almost all got a couple buddies who shoot trad so there could easily be a hundred plus guys just around our town who might be interested.
It's a chance to network. Trade hunts, find a new hunting buddy, tell stories, meet new people. It's just a win win deal and it's pretty exciting. We talked about getting kids involved, bringing wives or girlfriends to shoots. Even better, bring one non hunter and let them give archery a try. Maybe they'll really like it. Maybe have a "public" shoot open to anyone interested. Cub scouts? Youth groups? If they are interested in archery, maybe we could arrange something. Single parents of kids who want to learn about hunting? I'd give some of my time to teach a kid to shoot and hunt. There's all sorts of GOOD that could come of it.
Anyway, just thought I'd share. Whaddaya think?
Topic: No trad club in your area? Cool alternative! (Read 345 times)
