Big Country, I don't mind the open class. Just enjoy poking at 'em over their serious attitude. Where I do have a falling out with them is taking their big tournament gamesmanship to the little local shoots where everyone is supposed to be having a good time, where guys are getting out the wives and kids whose lives don't revolve around 3D, and who don't want to spend all freakin' day out on an archery range. We've lost a lot of family participation in my area because of the time it takes to get around a course nowadays.

We don't allow binoculars or umbrellas on our range, so we don't draw the open class. Our shoots start by 9 and are over by 1. I've had many open class shooters tell me it's impossible to shoot a 30 target course in 4 hours. Our trads can shoot the course twice in 4 hours. Kinda gives a reference to how far apart the open class is from the other classes.

Anyway, at our club, a guy can bring his wife and kids out for some shooting in the morning, then she can go do her shopping and the kids can have time to go play with their friends in the afternoon. We're exposing those women and youngsters to archery, not beating them over the head with it. It's taken some time to get the word out, but our way is starting to pay off with more family shooting.