this weekend was my first time shooting a triple crown event, needless to say i did' t have that great of time. no it wasn' t because of the mud or the course at all.it was the registration time what i am refering to is, that in all the ibo magazines registration is until 5:00 p.m.. the host did not stand by this time. they shut down at 4:20. now let me tell the story i live in south central pa, it takes
5 hours to get to mckean i went to work at 2:30 a.m. sat morning got off a 9:00 a.m. pick up a buddy of mine and beat feet to mckean. was in mckean at 2:30 and got register the woman at registration said we just made it in time registration is over at 3:00, wrong shoul be 5:00. so we proceed to the course got to the tent got a group but before leaving we ask what time they would send last groups out we were told 4:30, wrong should be 5:00. so we figure we shoot first ten get back by 4:30 and start the second ten. got back to the tent at 4:25 and were told we could not shoot the second ten, why! in first place registration is supose to be until 5:00 so we were 30 mins early. there some discusion at the tent with range officals about the time, our arguement was that registration was
until 5:00 not 3:00 or 4:30. one of the range officals had ask us what time we start to shoot we told 3:00 that is when he made his desicon that we could not shoot our second ten. they punish us because we got there later in the day because i had to work. the same range offical had told us: this is gem city and we will make up the rules as they want that did not set well with me. this is an ibo event and i do not think ibo makes up the rules as they go. so on sunday we were there at 7:00 to get start and we did we did finish but it was a little rush and scores were effect. the range offical tried to smooth it over a little on sunday, they were explaining how if they didn' t quit sending shooters out at 4:20 it would have been 9:00 until they were down. this part of the job when you take on an event of its size and i know it takes alot to set these course up and tear down i have help local clubs for the last 7 years. in final i just think they could have let us shoot our second ten, we would have been off the course no later then 6:30. i also think the ibo should look at this and the commend that was made we make the rules as we go.

RazorTec1,

I think you are confusing the issues. The IBO yearbook does show a registration time untill 5pm saturday. It does not however indicate anything regarding range times. However, the handouts given to everyone as they entered to park clearly stated ranges had a last starting time of 4:00. It went on to state that the range officials could alter those times as the need presented itsself. Registration times and range times are not the same thing. It sounds to me as though the range officials tried to extend the hours a little to accomodate more shooters. They have to be able to stop somewhere, and if you came in just after that mark, thems the breaks. The folks who set up those ranges know best the effects of sun and shade as well as excessive water in those woods. They not only can, but should adjust shooting hours to take all of that into consideration for the safety of all of the participants.

I' m sure that " thems the brakes" is not the answer that a first time post person was looking for. RazorTec questions of this nature are best directed to persons with a responsible position, either at the IBO or shoot officials.

Perhaps I could have phrased that better, and if I offended RazorTec1, I appologize.

However, Fastfletch, let me ask you a direct question. Suppose you personally are responsible for the safety and well being of hundreds of people attending an event. Further suppose that you have predetermined that with weather conditions ect... available manpower, or for whatever reason you could only continue activities so long. Now also suppose that several individuals have approached wishing to extend that timeframe beyond what you have decided was a safe breaking point. You have advised them they have past the cutoff deadline and they eccepted that and went on their way. Now one more individual approaches with the same request.

Should you: (A) Decide they have special reasons and allow them to continue, despite what you have already enforced for others? or/
(B) Advise them that they must comply with the same rules that are effecting everyone else.

I' m sorry that RazorTec1 missed the cutoff to start a new course. I' m sorry if there was confusion as to when that time would be. Mostly I' m sorry that he did not enjoy himself while attending. I am not sorry that the range officials used their judgement to control the courses. That is what they are trusted to do. For the record, Friday I also missed the cutoff time by a few minutes and was also denied access to the next range. To the range crew, job well done.

Bluejacket

Your reasoning is not wrong entirely, it is only misdirected at the present time.

Sometime the rules have to be adapted to the conditions and circumstances of the event, but only when possible. The satisfaction of the majority of the contestants is still the goal of any organization. Safety never comes second.

I was had non unexpected problems at this shoot but I think that discussing such problems on the net has to be done with an intention of trying to improve things that can be improved.

The fact of the matter is that registration was until 5 on Saturday. They will not let you start on Sunday if you have no targets in. It is only reasonable to assume that if you can register until 5 on Sat and cannot start Sunday without at least ten targets in that you could indeed start Sat upon registration. Having a 4pm shutdown has nothing to do with safety. As a matter of fact it would have been safer to shoot after four on Friday because that is when the sun finally came out and you could actually see. I think IBO needs to rethink that 4pm shutoff. It really messes up a lot of people trying to make time to shoot. I would think even a 5pm shutdown is more appropriate.[>:]

Does the phrase" that' s not how it was at (plug in the place)" , sound familiar?
Last time out for the ranges is the same at all three shoots. If you are starting a 20 target range and there are shooters on it, 4p.m. is reasonable. All ranges need to be operated the same.
Well, they let me start range B at 4:30! Range B is a ten target range with no one on it. These are examples and not specific instances.
I also do not want to sound like I do not understand your frustration. I have been there and I do.
Do you remember the program passed out when you parked. If you still have it, note the range close time. Everyone had the opportunity to be informed. I say opportunity because many do not read the info.
We pushed the Triple Crown clubs for consistency from one event to the next, at the request of the shooters.
Think Bedford,rain,daylight,darkness.

Now, think this, " It got to dark to shoot and you sent us out. What are you going to do about it?" It' s not fair! You made us go out.
For every issue there are two sides, and two sets of needs to be balanced out.
We will discuss this at the meeting for the National Triple Crown and see if we can come up with a better way and time frame.
In the mean time at Nelsonville, the range times will have to be the same.
ken12

thank everyone one who replied to this subject. i really wasn' t confused on times its just i was going by what was printed in the hunting world mag and it said 5:00 registration. figure on sat. you could start a course at 5:00. i think shut down should be at 5:00, because it gives the people that have to work in the moring alittle more time. also if you start a 10 target course by 5:00 there is no reason you shouldn' t be off by 7:30 at the latest even with back ups. i know it makes for a long day for the members that put on the event but these are big events and along day should be expected.

I see registering and getting your score cards at the registration area(building) different than getting grouped up and sent out from the range scoring tent. In most case it seems as they close down the range tents for group going out from 4 to 4:30 depending on the pressure, light and weather conditions.