I printed this same idea on the HuntingNet.com forum with no results.That was prior to finding this forum.My question is,why isn't the IBO taking advantage ofa tremendous opportunity if they would just do a better job of promoting 3-D? I dropped out of 3-D competion and went back to shooting trap because at least at trap with the class system they utilize,everyone has a chance to be a winner.They have paid score keepers so there is no cheating.Class isn't based on how much money you can invest in a bow,but rather how many targets on average you can hit.All that is recorded in a central data base and stored to be viewed by anyone with a computer.It gets real old when you only have the ability to score say a 260 and its always the same experienced guys winning that have been at it for years.Its also disheartening to be beaten by those that cheat,claiming the higher ring when its obvious that their arrow never touched that higher scoring ring.I wish that there would be a club that would have paid scorers that would go along with each group just to score and that a class system could be utilized.I also would like to see nice awards offered so that the cost of shooting and the hours of practice were made more worth while and when a person did win,he would have something to show for all his effort.If the archery companys would get behind this it would be of great benefit to all.I would also like to see a sub-junior class as well as a veterans class.Where is the promotion of this great sport?,its dieing and no one seems to care.There are over 58,000 members of the Amateur Trapshooting Association.Its mandatory to be a member to shoot registerd trap,it should be the same with 3-D and the revenues generated by the dues would help support the paper work and promotion.Maybe someone should start another orginization that wants to do something for the good of the sport.There are millions of bow hunters that I'm sure would jump aboard if they had a chance to win something and everything was made fair.Is anyone out there listening?


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[/align]Apparently not..only goes to prove...I.B.O. doesn't care!!!

Shootinghugh48, you bring up some very interesting points. I believe the IBO has addressed the cheating issue with the “double scoring” (this is when two separate score cards are kept by two different shooters in a group) of targets. This is a good check and balance to help alleviate one person incorrectly (either by accident or on purpose) recording the score of the targets shot. And it is the groups responsibility to ensure that each arrow is scored (with respect to if an arrow is “in” or “out”) correctly. I’m not familiar with the working of any Trapshooting Associations, so I really can’t make a fair comparison within the two. However, I can say that IBO puts on some very well organized 3D Archery events. I personally believe that the class system that is in place allows the best shooter to win their respected classes.
You have a great point about the promotion of the sport. IBO is doing it part by offering a great stage to showcase some of the best shooters in the world. I’m not real sure why the archery industry hasn’t promoted 3D archery more. Maybe they don’t see the benefits of such promotion. Like I say, I don’t have the answer to this. However, most people get they first introduction to 3D Archery from they friends and family members. So in reality, we are the key to helping spur the growth of 3D Archery by introducing people we know to our sport. If more people like you, who clearly has a passion for 3D Archery, would start sharing our sport with others there is no telling how big our sport could become.

Have you read the IBO rules? You ask for classes, IBO and archery in general have classes for every type of equipment. The big knock on archery is that there are too many classes. Yes the same pros that work hard have a good chance to win. It sounds like you are saying that if you go to Walmart, spend $125.00 total on all your equipment, shoot a few shots you should have a chance to win the PMR (Professional Male Release) class. Well you do have that chance. Plunk down your $275 or whatever and compete. If you are not that talented yet shoot HC (Hunter class) against others like yourself and with similar equipment and that are not as experienced.

A lot of people get on web pages like this and tell the established organizations what is wrong with archery. It is easy to do. I can nit pick things that don't suit ME. If IBO has 10,000 members they probably have 12,000 different opinions on how something should be run. If you wnat to make a difference, participate, pay your money, volunteer to help, etc. Then find your state rep and give them some constructive criticism that can be used for POSITIVE change.

[/align]Brian from GA.....It is far from my contention that anyone should think that buying Walmart equipment and shooting a few arrows should allow them the chance at any kind of pro title.I guess its really not so much IBO that I should be attacking as it is the lack of orginization of the small clubs that have 3-D shooting tournaments.I have participated in a few IBO shoots and agree they were very well ran.I guess I'm just frustrated that 99% of the shoots in my area are just local shoots and no one cares how they are ran.But yet complain that after awhile attendence goes down.I do however wish that abetter system was made for classifying shooters.The IBO shoots ( all two of them ) didn't care so much about the shooters ability as it it did the equipment that was used.I'm just venting some frustration here and wish that I could volunteer my services to try and steer things in the direction that I think they should be going,but can't.I usually work a 60 hour work week and the nearest 3-D club is a good 30 miles away.It also frustrates me that with as many companys making money off of archery that there isn't more being "given back" to promote the sport.This thread wasn't meant to slam IBO,I'm just wishing something could be done to better encourage participation.The gun club I belong to only has 10 acres,not much of an area when you consider that it also houses two combination trap and skeet fields as well as a pistol/rifle range.I'm hoping to try and talk the powers that be into purchasing about 20 3-D targets and let me put on some shoots.Keeping track of everyones scores in a computor so that they can be placed in a class with shooters of their own abilitie.Along with paying a kid to follow each group of shooters to do nothing but score are the two things that I think will make an improvement along with providing some nice awards to the winners of each class.As it has been in trap it was as big a trophy having made it into class AAA as it was winning any tangible trophy.The same should hold true of 3-D.If I'm succesful,and I hope that I am,maybe then other clubs will see what I'm doing and follow suit.Thanks for allowing me the chance to share my frustration .Shootinghugh48

Great enthusiasm and I would never try to curb that. However, the uphill battle you are fighting is what every small club fights. Alot of your wish list is too expensive for a local club. Its hard enough to draw a decent crowd some times.

As far as sandbagging... Archery has to be fun or folks will drop out. You need to come up with a fun way to make folks move up the ladder. If a guy goes to his first shoot and comes in third from say a 35 yard stake and the club makes him immediatley move to a 45 yard class, he may not have fun next time. A local shooter of the year type race might work where the top 10 has to move up, etc. I hope I am reading you right that you do not like sand bagging. This is a problem with archery. There are always one or two that will shoot as low of a class as possible just for the "atta boy". However if you can show someone how they earned the right to move up rather than that they were sandbagging to begin with they may move up with a smile.

Good ideas but a national organization can not fix all the ills of a local shoot. There is a big difference in preparing for 50 to 100 people rather than 1000-2000. Locally here we shoot ASA rules and we combine a lot of classes to get more shooters in each class. Good luck on getting a club and remember to find a way to keep the shoots fun.

shooting hugh, you state you have shot a couple of ibo shoots, is that saying you have attended a national ibo shoot, or a local shoot that uses the ibo rules. sounds like you have not been to a national shoot.

its the same as your local club trap shoot vs the grand...different critter all together.

my advise is to attend a national ibo event, the southern triple crown, the indoor world, national triple crown, or world shoot. then form an opinion of the ibo. if you are experiencing problems with the local clubs, please dont think that is the way the ibo isran. there are some extremely hard working folks that take care of the ibo and the shooters. please dont mix the two up between local clubs and the real ibo. go to www.ibo.net and look at the rules, i think you will find all the answers you need there.

if you dont think the ibo promotes archery, or does anything to grow the sport, attend the ibo world at snowshoe wv this year. i think the attitude will change. again, i think you are caught up in some local range stuff that isnt a good representation of the real ibo, its ideas, and views on 3d archery.

you mention classing people, the same problem you are experiencing at you local club is the largest contributing factor to not being able to accurately class shooters. the range difficulties differ, the range rules between clubs differ, even though they may state they are an ibo club, the only time a score could count toward an ibo classification for score would be an ibo qualifier or state tournament. the other scores could be obtained thru shooting the national level shoots, but you would have to attend several to get a good baseline to accurately place shooters into classes.

the ibo offers classes from pee wee to seniors, with classes with varying max yardages from 20 yards to 50 yards approximate. without a baseline to start a shooter in ibo events, you would have to start them in the most difficult class offered for that shooters equipment. they may be a very legitimate bowhunter, but, without a history on that shooter, you cannot assume they either have the ability, or need to develope the ability to shoot longer yardages. start them off in a class too dificult for that shooters ability, and they may never return. let them shoot in a class that is not challenging enough for them they have the opportunity to move up, but this is not mandatory in the ibo. if you want to shoot a specific class, not effected by age progression as in the cub, pee wee..etc..you can shoot it from now on. that differs from firearm shooting sports, where there is a large group of shooters, paying enough money to afford to pay someone to keep scores, keep up with scores, and report them back via the internet or paper methods. the ibo is non profit. there whole funtcion is to promote 3d archery, which makes them money, so they can fight for bowhuters rights, which is where they spend the money we pay in.