STEVE WARE'S LETTER TO EDITOR

[Proclaim]

To implement this, we need a webmaster which we already have. Hopefully Proclaim would agree to continue. We would have the expense of domain registration & server space. We would ask Jeff how much he needs. Say each club sends him $25/year. Would that be fair for his time & cost? Then, IHMSA would have to hand over ownership of the domain to him as well.

Yours,

Steve W.

I am willing to do what I can to help this sport continue. To make sure everyone knows how this website came about, Bob Baur is the one responsible for creating this Forum. Bob got too busy with his work to keep the main website updated, I volunteered to create a new, user friendly, main website, which I did. Bob is still the 'brains' behind the Forum because it is very, very complex for the 'average Joe' like me. There are a few people who can 'moderate' this Forum to help keep it civil.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Bell aka Proclaim

[willk]

Steve, I don't think we have too much to worry about people reading our laundry list. I worry that only a few even care

[260 Striker]

If push comes to shove would IHMSA regimens be able to merge with the NRA Hunter shooting and we could fall under the NRA if our organization falls on impossible times? I suspect there would be a whole new gamut of politics to address if we had to move under the NRA. I sincerely hope that doesn't have to happen but might be an option if the worse comes to pass. I suspect many, if not all, the local MDs would continue to hold local matches and then we would to have a central organization just to coordinate with all the MDs and distribute information to the general membership so they would have visibility of ranges around the country and could continue to travel to different ranges. Specialty matches would be great if they are self supporting. I sure hope we can receive some feedback from the HQ staff concerning our issues and Steve's comments. Our organization right now is about as transparent as our Federal Government. I have never heard any comments from any of the committees over the years about what they are evaluating/considering and that would also let us know more about the workings within the HQ. I would hope we can establish a more open dialog with HQ and disseminate information to the general membership through this venue or at least in the IHMSA News.

[19 Turkeys]

Lynn,

I am not sure the NRA program is any better off than ours! Then you have the 40 yard chicken issue with small bore and field pistol. I could not comply at my range based on topography.

Steve W.

[xp-100]

Lets go back just a little. It was said that there wasn't much interest in practical hunter, well, what clubs are offering it? Haven't seen any in our area. As far as freezing the rest of the rules-I'm for it 100%. As far as the organization-I would not like to see it die in the dust, and I surely hope one of the directors will come forward and chime in and either make a statement or offer an idea on what needs to be done and how it needs to be done to save the sport and organization. Some of the clubs are wanting to stroll away from shooting steel and shooting other discipline because their members are not interested in shooting IHMSA. That is just one of the problems, now, how can we fix this type of problem? How many other problems can and will become evident?

[19 Turkeys]

Lets go back just a little. It was said that there wasn't much interest in practical hunter, well, what clubs are offering it? Haven't seen any in our area. As far as freezing the rest of the rules-I'm for it 100%. As far as the organization-I would not like to see it die in the dust, and I surely hope one of the directors will come forward and chime in and either make a statement or offer an idea on what needs to be done and how it needs to be done to save the sport and organization. Some of the clubs are wanting to stroll away from shooting steel and shooting other discipline because their members are not interested in shooting IHMSA. That is just one of the problems, now, how can we fix this type of problem? How many other problems can and will become evident?

I see no issue with a club "offering" Practical Hunter. This discipline uses the same targets (small bore, big bore & field Pistol) set at the same distances. The only difference is the shooting position & gun used. What's to offer? Bring your gun to the line & shoot.

As far as what can be done, that it simple. It is up to each of us to recruit new members. IHMSA, Inc. can't do that for us. It provides a slick 3 color brochure to put at your ranges. It offers a CD that can be played at gun shows. It advertises in The Gun Mag.Com (old Gun Week magazine). And, Lorene will send you papers to distribute. IHMSA, Inc. does support us. It is our job to take advantage of these things and find new members. Bottom line is if IHMSA dies we did it through our lack of involvement.

Steve W.

[IHMSA80x80]

It was said that there wasn't much interest in practical hunter, well, what clubs are offering it? Haven't seen any in our area.

Our club offers it, even promotes it in our monthly newsletter. We might have 1 entry per month, and that is an already well-established IHMSA shooter. Not one new shooter has been interested in either Practical Hunter or IHMSA.

[braud357]

It was said that there wasn't much interest in practical hunter, well, what clubs are offering it? Haven't seen any in our area.

Our club offers it, even promotes it in our monthly newsletter. We might have 1 entry per month, and that is an already well-established IHMSA shooter. Not one new shooter has been interested in either Practical Hunter or IHMSA.

Our experience is the same as Dean's - we are offering it - so far - zero interest !

[260 Striker]

Steve, I didn't make my comments very clear about the NRA. If that was an option it would only be under the conditions that current IHMSA rules and ranges be allowed. My comments were meant to obtain NRA administrative oversight if we still needed a central organization. I know some IHMSA ranges hold dual sanctioned matches so I suspect the NRA would accept our current range distances even though they have the 40 yard rule as you stated.

We have had shooters user our FP range to shoot non-IHMSA approved handguns just for fun and not be considered in the Hunter category. I suspect their guns would have met the IHMSA Hunter criteria but they were just shooting for fun. About like some of the side matches I have read about where shooters use their concealed carry guns or adjustable sight guns where they cannot move the sights after the chickens. I hear of lots of "side" matches at multiple ranges but those entries don't generate extra revenue for IHMSA. Keeps local shooters happy though.

Me personally, I think the Practical Hunter class should allow any handgun that is legal to use in the shooters home state. In other words, shoot whatever you bring to the range. After all that is what the Hunter class is supposed to attract. If some local hunter can use a 24X scope, who am I to tell him he can't use it to shoot a Hunter entry. Ironic also that ported revolvers are not allowed in BB but OK in Hunter. We have some weird rules.

[encore22]

Here are my suggestions to get IHMSA a boost in the financial direction
1. According to the financial report contract labor is our highest expenditure. Find someone who will volunteer to run Headquarters without a salary. That would be a BIG savings. The thing is to find a volunteer to do all the work expected of them and to do a good job. If memory serves me correctly, the person who ran headquarters always go some kind of compensation. OK, if it is a contract job, put it out for bid. We might save a few bucks there.
2. If we had a printer in our ranks, maybe they would be able to print the IHMSA News for free. I don't think that will happen, but we might be able to get a better rate than we are now paying.
I believe those two items are our most expensive entries in the financial report. We may not get them for free, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
Now, one item that I think is doable, is we get a bunch of entries at the Internationals. THAT would put money in the treasury and we would be able to operate a bit longer until we can figure out how to boost membership.