RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

Well I think that after reading back though 5 pages of these comments it is quite apparent that many people have what they consider to be solutions to a very good problem.
We will never come up with a way to fix a problem that is only a problem to a few people. The scores in Hunter class are not a problem to most of the shooters in that class or they would be in another class but what other class can they shoot at a distance that satisfies their desires and shooting skillls. For how many years did everyone shoot at a longer distance. If you want to see a change in the classes leave the hunter class a no money class for awards and change the MBR or MBO to a 35 yard max and see what happens. Any entry class should not have the same rewards as an established class and the incentive to move to another class should be the prestiege of moving up. You will always have some individuals that will stay where they are because they are happy in that class. Not everyone wants to or can be a winner in their class. The hunter class IMHO has grown to where it is because it was the first time that individuals had a chooice of what yardage to shoot other than 45 yards. Shooting all these classes is a privileage and should be given on a free choice to all regardless of their skill. I know of no one shooting today that started at the top of any class. Some where along the line the top people in the Hunter class had to start and work their way up to where they are now. The growth of the Organization is not being effected by where the entry level of a competitive shooter is or should be. It has grown and will continue to grow with members that are interested in joining because they have things in common with the membership and would possibly like to try their skill at 3D shooting. If everyone on the forum puts as much effort into bringing in new members who want to parsticipate with friends and other bowhunters as they try to fix a problem of a few archers in a certain class I'm sure that we will have more growth and will be shooting in a class because it suits our needs and desires not because we are new and deserve a brake. Every organization needs new members and what could be an easier requirement than a $25.00 fee with no other requirements. This money supports many needs and requirements of the organization. To qualify for the World Championship you must qualify and pay the required entry fee for the class that YOU CHOOSE. At your home course you shoot the distance that your club sets for you and this is the first impression that most shooters get when entering 3D. If this distance is to long in the other classes it sure makes the hunter class look good and will route many first time shooters.
Overall what I am trying to say is that the clubs control where a shooter shoots more than the IBO does and maybe the first requirement that each club should have for entry level shooters should be membership in the IBO for all the good reasons including the competitivie shoots. Maybe there are people shooting IBO who do not have a home club so making this a requirement for the competitive shooting is possible.
Let everyone submitt what they consider to be answers to any problem but first of all lets start at the begining and see where the clubs and the IBO can benefit and help one another not just a few individuals. The ladder to succes starts at the bottom and each step gets a little higher and tougher but if you are willing to work hard enough to get to the next step eventulally you will reach the top.
I have rambled on long enough and posted enough thoughts for now. For the most part I think that everyone has the best interest of the organization and would like to see it grow.
I appreciate spending this time with you and hope that each one of the threads is read and taken with the real meaning, the good of the organization.
Good Luck and GOOD SHOOTING. See you at the WORLD SHOOT.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

I know Katelyn and she is a great shot ! She is correct in that there are very few places to shoot in our area, clubs folding every year or cutting back on the number of shoots they hold. The figures I quoted were in 3-d Times I think afew years back ? We sell hundreds of bow tags every year in this store and very few of these people EVER go to a 3-d shoot of any type. There is a hardcore group of 3-d shooters but they can't support a club by themselves.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

yep same thing goin on in my neck of the woods in pa a lot of clubs who hold shoots are folding each year, i think i good solution would be to have IBO regulated clubs, so the rules were the same everywhere and everybody new what to expect when going there there are alot of guys who would like to shoot the longer yardeges with there pins but like to compete too and dont want to shoot against the guy with the 3x lens and his movible sight, we shoot against them because we use the local shoots as practice but i think if the IBO would mabye even help out with some funding of these local clubs and reglulate the classes and yardages we could make it much more organized and i think we would have a lot more shooters getting into it and the average guy would start coming along with the better shooters.

GO BOWTECH

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

One last comment on this subject. The " hunter " who goes to a 3-d shoot should look at it as " practice for hunting season " , and only that. A friend of mine will go to maybe 2 shoots with me during Sept. to help get ready for bow season. He is a GOOD shot but does not know the targets nor use his binos. He looks and shoots and usually says, " That's a dead deer !", then we go score and it is an 8 ! Guys like him should not even keep score if this is their mindset. If he doesn't score as well as the rest of us he gets discouraged. That is one aspect of 3-d competition, you have to shoot them where the guy who made the target wants you to, not where you would shoot a real animal. The same goes for angled shots. Shooting back on an angled away target will get you a 5 in a hurry ! Some of the local clubs have a preseason warmup shoot that are fairly well attended. Score doesn't matter for most of these guys as it shouldn't. The Defence course would be an option for these guys but I doubt people would travel far or spend alot to do it. This type of shooter has to realize the difference between " hunting practice " and " 3-d comp. " and accept the fact they are not going to be at the top.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

I couldn't agree with you more. I do however think that if we could offer something to this type of shooter, the ones closer to the major shoots would show up for the "fun" of it. But, like you said, most of these guys arent wanting to travel far or spend a ton of money to shoot. But we could just maybe get some shooters from close to these tournaments to show up and get bitten by the bug and start shooting year round. One of the things about competition shooting I like is the fact that when i get ready to go hunting, I put on my broad heads and adjust my site for them and I am ready to get it on (and I agree with you that there is a difference between 3-d competition and hunting practice, the targets dont move, and you have 2 minutes to shoot him). Shooting regularly has rewards which I need not explain on this forum, you already know what they are. But I will point out what I think is the most important of those, and that is the practice and endurance. You can hold longer, and you will have confidence in your shot. No need to shoot two hours a day for the two weeks leading up to season, no rushing to the bow shop days before season when it is likely that they are too busy to get to you right away because thats the same thing the average hunter has done, you have been ready for months, your biggest quandry is how much stuff you need to take for opening day. butchb

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

If you all want to see some of the changes implemented ,you need to stop the bickering and get together with some concrete ideas and post a poll. Have members vote on the ideas to see what the majority wants. These ideas then need to be submitted to the IBO board of directors for consideration. It's like Ken said in one of his previous posts , You need" focus and direction " to be acted on. Just my thought . Hope it helps you all in your campaign.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

Still trying to make sure we cover all angles.

Lets say we move the top 40 shooters from the hunter class to the MBR OR a class of their choice. Are we then burying the lower score shooters of the other class deeper into the bottom of that class and what do you think their response will be it we try to regulate one class and in the process burden the other class at the lower level score wise. I do not shoot in the hunter class or have I ever but I do feel that we have a majority of the people in that class shooting where they want to shoot and the problems are not theirs or ours.
There are various ways that you can pay for targets and the worse case senerio would be that they never get shot up. Our club is trying a different target now and we feel that it is worth the difference in cost so far. The auctions at the National events seem to bring some good prices and that should help those clubs.
There are ways to have someone pay for the targets and increase your club treasury with a little work by all the members. The winter schedule helps us keep the club at a blue figure operating level.
A positive situation is a plus and changing that situation only becomes an unknown. A strong organization survives based on its strength and ability to satisfy as many members as possible now and in the future.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

My thoughts are after reading all the responses are.

1 To get new shooters to come play lower the entry fee to around $15 for national and world shoots.
2 No IBO membership needed ( I know the IBO relies on members)
3 Seeing there is no membership, no titles, no pay back, maybe just a plaque with a thanks for coming.
4 Just make it a fun class for the average Joe. Those that want the titles and pay back will soon move up.

But no matter what the IBO does there are going to be those that are happy and those that are going to be upset.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

i am not competitive enough in any class to win and rarely made the top 20 scores at the world and national events. my wife and son both compete and i was paying my 30-45 dollars for something to do while they competed, just practice on a world or national range. last year i started shoot the defence range while they shot the main range and had a ball. i could go around 3 times for 10.00 what a savings. but at snowshoe last year the defence ranges were so crowded each time i tried to shoot i didnt get to shoot at all. i would gladly pay 10.00-20.00 at a major shoot for a 40 target range to shoot no payback no awards just fun and if the ibo made money on this have prizes drawn at random for the competors. the guy who shoots a 200 would have the same chance as a guy who shoots a 420. i love to shoot but i cant afford to pay 25-60 dollars just for the fun of shooting. for now i will stick to the defence ranges and still support the ibo.

RE: HUNTER CLASS IDEAS
 

After reading all the comments, you all must understand, the hunters class was designed to get the novice shooters to join us, not for the people in the other classes to drop down so they can win. It's pretty sad when your at the nationals & the top 101 people are above 400. I shot the hunters class the first year they had it, I ended up 13th overall & figured it was time to move up. So I guess if someone was to ask me my opinion on the hunters class, I would have to say, if your not a novice shooter you shouldn't be in the hunters class or if you shoot over 400 at any shoot you should move up!