Popcorn Kelly

As we announced on March 19th, Illowa Irregulars are incorporating a long-range option into our May 2024 Cowboy match. Our regular cowboy shooters will shoot a traditional 6-stage match at our standard target distance of about 12’ to 15’ for pistols and 30’ for rifles. However, we’ve added a third set of targets set to about 60’ to 70’ for those wanting an extra challenge of shooting a longer-range match. Shooters choosing the long-range option at the May match will shoot the same 6 stages but will shoot their pistols at the 30’ targets and their rifles at the 60’+ targets. Some of the 60’+ targets are likely to be just a bit smaller as well. We’ve even created a new category for Cowboys/Cowgirls accepting the challenge – we’ve name it “Open Range.” We tested the setup and am sharing it with you here. The test consisted of a 3-target pistol/rifle stage at our normal distance, along with a third set of targets set at 70’. We shot the stage once at our standard target distances (15’/30’) and then again at the long range (Open Range category) distance (30’/70’). We even downsized the distant targets. Five people participated in the test. We recorded each shooter’s attempt at the normal and long-distance stage. The video below shows what happened. Take a look and see how each fared. Suffice it to say, the May match should be very interesting.

2023_Illinois_State_Championsip_ Event_ Program.pdf Here is a pdf of Illowa Irregulars' 2023 Illinois State Championship Event Program. As I recall, these thirty-two page, 8.5 x 11 inch, four color, saddle stitched booklets cost just under $4 each. Here are my thoughts on this subject. Event Programs are one of the first touch points shooters experience upon arrival. We want them to have a very positive tactile and visual experience when they pull it out of their registration packet. It helps set the stage for what's to come. We're doing something similar in 2024. www.illowairregulars.com

Click here to view the video and find out. Hint - it has to do with the 2024 Illinois State Championship.

As of 5:00 p.m. Sunday, April 7, the Illinois State Champion has 126 registrants from 13 states and one foreign country, shooting across 36 categories. This is 56% more registrations at 133 days out than we had last year. We are now 70% of the way to our 180-shooter limit. While we’re not assigning posses yet, one posse is 100% full and a second is 70% full just from common posse with requests. Click here to see the Who's Coming List. Here are some interesting registration characteristics so far: Posse With Requests: As of today, I have one request that could be a challenge meeting because they asked to posse with someone on the already full posse (It’s early and it may still happen.) I can add that all other posse with requests received so far are safe and should remain so. However, please understand we accommodate posse with requests in the order we receive them. Generally, this won’t pose an issue until very late in the game. However, if getting your posse with request is important, I encourage you to get your registration in – the sooner the better. Please know we will do all we can, but we prioritize posse with requests in in the order we received them - it's the fairest way of doing it. Registration Characteristics: Forty-niners have the most shooters registered, followed by Cattle Baron, and Classic Cowboy. Elder Statesman just replaced Frontier Cartridge as the 4th most entered category. For ladies, Lady Forty-niner and Lady Silver Senior have the most registrations (6) followed by Grand Dame and Lady Senior (5). Yr to Yr Comparison: The chart above shows how registrations compare to last year’s with 137 days to go. At this time, we are now running 56% ahead of last year. Click here to see the Who's Coming List which include shooter specifics, category counts, and states. As always, there’s no time like the present to get that registration in. Click here for more information on how you can register.

As of 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 31, the Illinois State Championship "Mayhem on the Mississippi - Illinois Against the World" has 121 registrants, which is over 66% of the way to its 180-shooter with 137 days to go. We've shooters coming from 13 different states, plus an international shooter, making this a true Illinois Against the World Border War. Click here to see the Who's Coming list as well as which foreign country the international shooter hails from. (Of course, they'll be on the out-of-staters' team for the border war.) The list also includes shooters by category and state. On a related note, we’re starting to order awards and working on, among other things, the meals and banquet supplies, door prizes, raffle items, stages, shooter information packet, and event program. Join us for the 2024 Illinois State Championship. 3 days of Cowboy Action Shooting, 10 Championship-caliber stages, an optional Saturday evening Riverboat dinner cruise, another once-a-year chance to set a State Record or set a Club Record if you're fast, or lucky enough, and more. Our range is conveniently located near the juncture of Interstates 80 and 74, along the Illinois/Iowa border. This area offers plenty of nearby hotels and restaurants all within a few minutes’ drive of the range. Click here for more information on the state championship or visit our website at www.illowairregulars.com. What else do you have to do in August?

Illowa Irregulars enhanced its website four years ago. We started accepting both paper and on-line registrations in late 2022 - in time for the 2023Illinois State Championship. We are taking both online and paper registrations again this year for the 2024 State Championship. My goal was to make signing up as easy as possible using any method the customer wants to use. Last year 56% of registration came in online. This year we are running 66%. In the end, I don't care which form the registrant uses - I just want to provide them with whatever option they are comfortable with and find easy to use. Other nice things about online registrations? The money is deposited automatically into our bank account according to a frequency I select No trips to the bank or fiddling with my phone to do mobile deposit of a hand-written check I can import the registrant's information directly into my registration spreadsheet Actually, more of a download/then link process I don't have to decipher handwriting or worry about making a typing error Waivers are incorporated into the form so with one click, everything is done The shooter can select category and order/pay for extra meals, t-shirts, etc., The shooter gets an instant email acknowledgment I still send them an email confirming our receipt In terms of the credit card fees, we consider the fees a cost of doing business, so we absorb them. We used PayPal in 2022 because it was easier for me to set up at the time. I switched to Stripe this year. Between the two I prefer Stripe. Square's good I'm sure, but WP-Forms has a ready-made integration with Stripe that is provided as part of our subscription level so that is what we're using. I'm very satisfied. I agree with several of the previous comments about the need to have a quality website. IMHO, almost every club should have an easy to access, clean, and well-designed website that provides and makes it easy to find, information about the club matches, scores, and other activities. I (grudgingly) use FB but do so only to enhance our website communications. Virtually all of our FB posts are web posts that autocross-linked to FB, and then point back to our website. I personally would never consider using FB as our primary means of communicating with our shooters or potential shooters (i.e.., as a replacement for our website), but . . . , that's just me. You may feel differently, and if you do I wish you success.

As of tonight, Sunday, March 24, we’ve 116 registrants from 13 states, one foreign country, and shooting in 32 categories. Click here to see Who's Coming. Yr to Yr Comparison: The web post includes a chart showing how registrations compare to last year’s with 145 days to go. We are running 66% ahead of last year at this time. Interestingly, about 30% of shooters are new to our State Championship. There’s plenty of time, and I still think it’s a stretch we’ll actually hit our 180-shooter limit, but who knows? I'm beginning to wonder. As always, there’s no time like the present to get that registration in. Click here for more information on how you can register. Hopefully, we’ll see you there, Popcorn Kelly

Here is a direct link to the file that should work: https://illowairregulars.com/?sdm_process_download=1&download_id=10131

Chief Rick, Here's another thought. If you Unprotect the Registration Worksheet you can hide the unwanted columns. I advise you to Protect the worksheet again once you're done. Also, make a copy of the workbook prior to unprotecting it in case an unintended change is made you can simply use the backup copy instead of trying to fix the broken one. PK

Chief Rick, Glad to hear it's working for you so far. Yes, I included things on this model we don't use either, e.g., side match and warm-up match information. I included them because I've seen others ask about them on their registration forms. As you say, it's easier to have the option to record the information but not need it, than it is to need the option but not have it. Good luck and let me know how the model worked for you when your match is in the history books. PK

I just posted my latest video titled: Up Next Ep 6: Large Match Registration and Posse Assignments Made Easy When we held our first Illinois State Championship match in 2022 I needed a way to register shooters and then assign them to posses according to their posse requests. Having never done this, I had to figure it out. In this episode I describe the Match Registration and Posse Assignment program I developed that simplified registration and posse assignments taking into consideration every shooters' Posse With requests. The program as currently configured accommodates match sizes of up to 200 shooters and 12 Posse Marshals, although it could easily be altered to accommodate 500, 800, 1,000 shooters, and more (although I don't have a need to go that big). As I say in the video, I'm not holding this out as the "best." I'm sure there are several ways to skin this cat. All I know is that this is very easy and works well for me. If you are in charge of registering shooters and assigning them to posses according to their Posse With requests, this may be of some interest to you. I am making this program available free of charge to download to anyone that would like to try it out. The link is in the video description as well as in the video itself. Users should be modestly familiar with Excel. The Aliases have been changed in this video to protect the innocent. Here is a link to the YouTube video https://youtu.be/zIInh1dd460

BREAKING NEWS

I recently posted a video status update about the 2024 Illinois State Championship – Illinois Against the World, including: a YTD update on the number of registrations, categories entered, and number of states represented to date, and then look at how registrations compare to this stage last year; information about our Match Theme and provide images of our Event Program Cover and Name Badges, award buckles and side match pins; and, information on the Riverboat Dinner Cruise and the State Record Stage, which we’ll be shooting again. For more information about how you can join us at the 2024 Illinois State Championship, or check out our Who’s Coming List, go to www.illowairregulars.com and look for the appropriate link in the top menu of our home page. PK

Illowa Irregulars are pleased to announce that registration is open for all three of our 2024 Buffalo Shoots which are scheduled for May 18, July 28, October 19, 2024. Shooters may register for one or more Buffalo shoots at the same time. As you can see in the images in the link at the end of this post, the Milan Rifle Club offers a picturesque and beautiful range that is perfect backdrop for a Buffalo Shoot – a herd of 33 Buffalo graving on a grassy field. We’re also one of the few clubs using reactive targets – reactive in the sense that the Buffalo targets fall over when hit. See the video in the link below to get a sense of what to expect. We are offering three registration options (with a caveat for #3 - Onsite Registration) 1. An online registration; May 2024; July 2024 ; October 2024 2. A paper registration form; Paper Registration Form and, 3. * On-site registration on match day. Preregistration is encouraged but not required: Although preregistration is not required, we are encouraging everyone who plans to attend the Buffalo Shoot to submit their registrations in advance.  This does two things: 1. It provides us some idea of how many people to expect; and, 2. It guarantees your entry if we hit our maximum number of shooters; Although it's unlikely, it's possible we could get close to the maximum number of shooters we can handle in a single day. Should we reach our maximum, all preregistrations would be honored, but we'd stop accepting new registrations and limit the number of on-site registrations allowed. Click here for more information