Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 ...and away we go! :lol: Love winter. Cheap entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Usually most of the gripes are here on the wire and this wire represents a very tiny minority of SASS members. Most of the people I run into at matches are having a great time. Yep, but you have to admit it is cheap entertainment during the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diablo slim shootist Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If we want SASS to grow you need to do the TEXAS TEN HORNS did this year -Had 2 shooters clinics that had almost 50 participants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tennessee Stud, SASS# 43634 Life Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Is SASS growing? Yeah... but so is my woman's hind-end. If it gets any more dimples in it... gonna nick-name it "Titlelist". But to get back to the subject... hell... I think SASS needs to lose some weight. From what I hear... startin' at the top. ts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Read the real early chronicles ,Just a few of the early articles like we would not allow political articles, we would not allow our game to be driven by manufactures,We would not allow an equipment race to develop, ETC.and on and on. Best wishes T J B How is the game driven by manufactures? I am confused, I thought the gun covenants stopped any equipment race to develop. Maybe you are just upset your view lost back then to the vast majority of members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond S Doug Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I may not work on any candidates' campaigns, but I do go to SASS matches on a weekly basis. TJB, you have no clue as to what goes on at a SASS match anymore, let alone if SASS is growing or in stagnation...........despite the hundreds of thousands or rounds you (supposedly) put down range every year. You can have an opinion, just like everyone else.........but due to your lack of participation in SASS matches or support of local SASS clubs, your opinion carries little weight in my view. CS Time out here guys, I've only been in Sass for 2 years but hear me out. Maybe what we are missing here is finding out why so many no longer participate. Sour grapes could be part of it, health reasons could be part of it, but why have so many quit participating? Maybe they don't like the 10-10-4 dump. I don't, but some of the stages should be like that for those that do. One problem I have seen is that only a couple of people write stages, that means monotony. Our club has started exchanging stages with other clubs to inject some variety. Members should write stages and give them to the range master for the club. Different people writing stages means more variety. Maybe someone got their feelings hurt and doesn't want to come back. Point is that unless you ask them you won't know why some left, or maybe were driven away. Just because they don't participate anymore doesn't mean we can't learn from them or even invite them back. just my .02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royal barnes sass #5792 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Several of us were working a gun show last weekend promoting SASS and I pulled out a photo taken at one of our local matches in '96. There are 36 people in the photo and only two of us are still actively participating. Some are deceased, some have moved on to other shooting venues and some just walked away for whatever reason. Age is making a real dent in our shooting population and the economy is not helping. Guns of August last year was down 100 shooters and it's a great shoot. I hear match directors decrying the drop in attendance at local matches. I remember monthly matches in the late nineties with 75 shooters. I know this may not seem like many for some locations but it was a lot around here. Those matches are now bringing in 25 to 30. SASS declining? Maybe, but when I started there were three clubs in N.C. and now there are 16 or 17. People just don't have to travel so far for a weekend of fun. I still shoot 3 matches a month. I just don't see as many people as I used to but we haven't had any clubs fold. All seem to be doing OK and we're picking up new shooters along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Time out here guys, I've only been in Sass for 2 years but hear me out. Maybe what we are missing here is finding out why so many no longer participate. Sour grapes could be part of it, health reasons could be part of it, but why have so many quit participating? Maybe they don't like the 10-10-4 dump. I don't, but some of the stages should be like that for those that do. One problem I have seen is that only a couple of people write stages, that means monotony. Our club has started exchanging stages with other clubs to inject some variety. Members should write stages and give them to the range master for the club. Different people writing stages means more variety. Maybe someone got their feelings hurt and doesn't want to come back. Point is that unless you ask them you won't know why some left, or maybe were driven away. Just because they don't participate anymore doesn't mean we can't learn from them or even invite them back. just my .02 Hi Doug, If this were Facebook, I'd press "LIKE." Guess I'd better get busy writing stages. However, I haven't complained about others' stages in a LONG time. I only shoot two matches a month now (down from 4-5 when Hubby was shooting and before we both retired). One of those is WBAS. So, I get plenty of variety between one CAS and one WBAS match. Still, I see only benefit coming from asking why others don't participate. Regards, Allie Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Time out here guys, I've only been in Sass for 2 years but hear me out. Maybe what we are missing here is finding out why so many no longer participate. Sour grapes could be part of it, health reasons could be part of it, but why have so many quit participating? Maybe they don't like the 10-10-4 dump. I don't, but some of the stages should be like that for those that do. One problem I have seen is that only a couple of people write stages, that means monotony. Our club has started exchanging stages with other clubs to inject some variety. Members should write stages and give them to the range master for the club. Different people writing stages means more variety. Maybe someone got their feelings hurt and doesn't want to come back. Point is that unless you ask them you won't know why some left, or maybe were driven away. Just because they don't participate anymore doesn't mean we can't learn from them or even invite them back. just my .02 Absolutely 100% But understand... Participating doesn't mean shooting only or attending matches! One can participate in a variety of ways . Just supporting our sport and promoting it in the community, facebook, social media, wherever you go is a way of 'participating'... and there are folks on here (specifically one) that always chime in with the same anti-SASS junk and it gets old...to me, that is not a way to promote our sport...and I will counter it. GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Dog, SASS #20401 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 SASS and CAS may be on the downhill slide... ...but it was a helluva ride! I have thoroughly enjoyed myself for the last almost 17 years, most especially at the beginning when we still did goofy stuff both ON and off the clock. Now we never do any of that stuff even off the clock. We had rifle shots that befitted the rifle. Not just see who can toggle it the fastest on too close targets. We shoot 4 and 4 only sg shells on each and every stage. The new regime has firmly entrenched itself and any of the old ways are not allowed. Every stage is cookie cutter 10 10 4. I cannot believe they like this better than the outright fun we used to have but they appear to and they ain't about to take it back in time even half a step. But I still show up 3 and 4 times a month if at all possible. And I intend to keep doing so as long as I am able. Around here the pendulum has swung all the way to the big and close stand and deliver side and appears to be stuck there but oh well I still have hope. Saturday at lunch I was expounding on why I just loved Comancheria Days 09 and 10 (couldn't make '11 darn it) and was asked what I liked so much about those 2 shoots. I responded because they had goofy stuff on every stage you know like we USED to do around here. The new regime sat silent, whether shocked, stunned, or seething I know not but when the conversation resumed it was on a new topic. I remember I was running around CD 09 with a silly grin and made the comment to a posse mate "This is a throwback match!" Sheriff Robert Love heard me and sez "what's wrong with that?". "Not a thing", sez I grinning a silly grin. I most especially like the stage in 09 where you started in the barber chair and at the beep threw off the sheet and go to blasting with the pistols. The main thing hurting attendance at CRR is we are no longer a monopoly. Used to we were the only shoot for hundreds of square miles. Now a half dozen clubs have sprung up down south a little ways (little ways in the High Plains means 200 miles or so). Folks no longer have to drive for hours to get their CAS fix. Last Sat the weather could not have been more ideal for the North Pole of Texas in January and we had 18 shooters. Used to we would have 3 dozen or so on such a purdy day. The new regime promised attendance would improve if we moved the rifle targets to this side of the creek and got with the big and close paradigm but so far it hasn't happened. I really feel lots of folks are sick and tired and downright bored with the new CAS. I'm not too jaded but CAS is my life, I am going to be there regardless. This disaffection with modern CAS is the main reason Wild Bunch appeals to me. It is new and exciting. Targets are out there and it's not just the same ole same ole ad nauseum. I know I am excited about it, it has rejuvenated my interest in shooting and I just love WB. Apparently I am the only one, out of the maybe 7 or 8 WB shoots we have had, I was the only one to show up with a 1911 for over half of them. I do not have all the answers or any answers for sure and by golly but one of them might just be to turn back the clock a little and get back to our roots and what made CAS the fastest growing and most fun shooting sport of all time. Isn't something about a time machine what we're all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcd567 Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Nope - #1 is still around You mentioned 'badges'...what was your alias and #? GG ~ My alias was Gringo Bob SASS#23405* I believe. I'd have to dig my badges to be sure. Glad to hear #1's still kicking. I never made any big matches. And shot with a local NCOWS group before joining SASS cause that's all we had around here. But I lurked on the wire for awhile before joining back then. Flint one time sent me a bunch of empty cigar boxes that I still use today for gun parts and some silver coins. I've given up smoking but still enjoy the smell of them boxes. Like I previously said, I exchanged several emails and stories with Susy Silk Snickers. I imagine lots of folks did. She was just that kind of person. The freak accident that took her was a shock to us all. Whats the highest number issued today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackrabbit Joe #414 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well there folks I'm still involved in cowboy action shooting and have been for quite awhile and enjoy every minute. Don't practice 3-4 times a week any more and still do my best to take on the other cowboys in my category which is Elder Statesman and heading for Cattle Baron this year. Joined SASS in Feb 1988 badge #414, got my family involved for awhile. Sly Puppy my partner joined #78115 about 3years coming up and we belong to ACSA and CowTown here in Arizona. I still believe the sport is still growing and we're getting new members in our club ACSA. It's a fantastic sport along with fantastic folks from all over and I've met quite a few over the years. You all take care and hope to see you on the range. We'll be there. Jackrabbit and Sly Puppy Peoria, Arizona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 SASS and CAS may be on the downhill slide... ...but it was a helluva ride! I have thoroughly enjoyed myself for the last almost 17 years, most especially at the beginning when we still did goofy stuff both ON and off the clock. Now we never do any of that stuff even off the clock. We had rifle shots that befitted the rifle. Not just see who can toggle it the fastest on too close targets. We shoot 4 and 4 only sg shells on each and every stage. The new regime has firmly entrenched itself and any of the old ways are not allowed. Every stage is cookie cutter 10 10 4. I cannot believe they like this better than the outright fun we used to have but they appear to and they ain't about to take it back in time even half a step. It was fun and exciting for you way back when cause it was new and different, you have gotten use to it now. Try shooting a different catagory (duelist, gunfighter, BP, ect) to rechallenge yourself. Targets to close you say? Then aim for the tippy-top part of the diamond target or shoot a tight group in the middle or head/ankle shots on the cowboy steel targets. That will challenge ya, even if the targets are in your face. I suppose you can still do some goofy stuff on your own. Sing a song while you shoot is goofy, go ahead. Go up to the firing line with an apron on is goofy, go ahead and do all that you want. You get the idea. You can not believe the rest of us like it big and close? Well, I guess the majority of us do. We just get our thrill out of going faster w/o missing. You want to go back to the goofy stuff? Write stages and become match director. Get into a position of authority at your club(s),,, or start a new goofy club and go for it,,,,and invite all the other shooters that like goofy stages and you will be a sucess. But I still show up 3 and 4 times a month if at all possible. And I intend to keep doing so as long as I am able. Around here the pendulum has swung all the way to the big and close stand and deliver side and appears to be stuck there but oh well I still have hope. Saturday at lunch I was expounding on why I just loved Comancheria Days 09 and 10 (couldn't make '11 darn it) and was asked what I liked so much about those 2 shoots. I responded because they had goofy stuff on every stage you know like we USED to do around here. The new regime sat silent, whether shocked, stunned, or seething I know not but when the conversation resumed it was on a new topic. Where you a doer or a fence sitter for the CD match or any other match for that matter? Just saying..... I remember I was running around CD 09 with a silly grin and made the comment to a posse mate "This is a throwback match!" Sheriff Robert Love heard me and sez "what's wrong with that?". "Not a thing", sez I grinning a silly grin. I most especially like the stage in 09 where you started in the barber chair and at the beep threw off the sheet and go to blasting with the pistols. The main thing hurting attendance at CRR is we are no longer a monopoly. Used to we were the only shoot for hundreds of square miles. Now a half dozen clubs have sprung up down south a little ways (little ways in the High Plains means 200 miles or so). Folks no longer have to drive for hours to get their CAS fix. Last Sat the weather could not have been more ideal for the North Pole of Texas in January and we had 18 shooters. Used to we would have 3 dozen or so on such a purdy day. The new regime promised attendance would improve if we moved the rifle targets to this side of the creek and got with the big and close paradigm but so far it hasn't happened. I really feel lots of folks are sick and tired and downright bored with the new CAS. I'm not too jaded but CAS is my life, I am going to be there regardless. You got it... Shooters vote with their feet and go to matches that provide shoots they enjoy. Big and close seems to be the answer for a whole lot of shooters. If a MD tries to please ALL the people ALL the time, he ends up only pleasing some of the people some of the time and attendace drops, new clubs are formed and so on. This disaffection with modern CAS is the main reason Wild Bunch appeals to me. It is new and exciting. Targets are out there and it's not just the same ole same ole ad nauseum. I know I am excited about it, it has rejuvenated my interest in shooting and I just love WB. Apparently I am the only one, out of the maybe 7 or 8 WB shoots we have had, I was the only one to show up with a 1911 for over half of them. I do not have all the answers or any answers for sure and by golly but one of them might just be to turn back the clock a little and get back to our roots and what made CAS the fastest growing and most fun shooting sport of all time. Isn't something about a time machine what we're all about? Go for it,,,,, stop whining and start a club that turns the clock backwards to whatever style of shooting YOU prefer and watch the crowd flock to ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 My alias was Gringo Bob SASS#23405* I believe. I'd have to dig my badges to be sure. Glad to hear #1's still kicking. I never made any big matches. And shot with a local NCOWS group before joining SASS cause that's all we had around here. But I lurked on the wire for awhile before joining back then. Flint one time sent me a bunch of empty cigar boxes that I still use today for gun parts and some silver coins. I've given up smoking but still enjoy the smell of them boxes. Like I previously said, I exchanged several emails and stories with Susy Silk Snickers. I imagine lots of folks did. She was just that kind of person. The freak accident that took her was a shock to us all. Whats the highest number issued today? Gringo Bob - right on! Hope ya get back in the saddle again soon I think the badge #'s are up near 94000... GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 btt......this is fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack Hacker, #60477 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yawn, this comes up every so often, yet still about every shoot I go to I see new folks. I can identify with that. Nobody seems to want to shoot with me more than once either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Over 30,000 new members since I joined. That's almost 1/3 of the total membership in the last 6 years. We're growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Ringer Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Please share what you do know since you brought up the subject? KK Good point! What do you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Ringer Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Lots of things I agree with and lots I don't! We go to a match at least 3 times a month. (except this time of year. Only 2 a month) have seen lots of new shooters join in the past 2 years. After I started, I got my wife "Miss Behavin'" involved. Next was my brother "Stumptown Kid", then My dad "Big Brim". Miss Behavin' got a friend from work involved, "Ferrous". I think that's how it's supposed to work. I dont believe lack of growth has a lot to do with changing times? Or 10-10-4 stand and deliver????? I mean really, how often do we really shoot a stand and deliver? Twice every 6 months?? And that challenges peoples patience or ability to stay in SASS?? It's about people stepping up, getting involved, talking to interested spectators with passion and enthusiasm. It takes effort to develope friendships and new members, but that's what it takes to attract and retain new Cowboys! I'll now step down from the soap box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Ringer Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Oh ya, be a mentor! Help a new shooter. Load for a new guy a littlewhile. Then teach him or her to reload. Lone a gun, holster, the old shotgun you don't use, share your cart. I was very fortunate to have some great mentors and be surrounded by folks willing to help. A short two years later they are good friends:) it just dosnt get any better than that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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