This has been my observation, though IMO, it's more accurate to say it's
perceived as an old school game.
Regardless,
they are at least partly responsible for their own decline, as their grumpiness turns off potential shooters at least as much as any relevance issue does, and I've told them as much. Nonetheless, I'd like to shoot bullseye someday. I'll just ignore the grumps.
Completely agree - especially with that last part.
Don't let yourself get disenfranchised by a pretty simple reality. Shooting sports, of any kind, always have a stereotypic persona hanging over them which turns off new shooters - in 3 gun, it's the Billy Badass operator wanna be, in Bullseye, it's the crusty old curmudgeon, in Highpower it's the drab vanilla, coke bottle glassed 60yr old guy... But when you get out to any REAL competition, you're gonna find a lot more demographical disparity than the stereotype suggests.
Think of the group of people at a firearms competition to be more like the group at your day job, and less like the group of friends you hang out with after work. Social groups of friends become a group because they share a common set of beliefs or ideas, whereas coworkers become a group because they share a common JOB. Shooting competitors come together because they share a common competition. You WILL find friends, just like you find people at your job you really enjoy working with and might even count as friends, but just like in your day job, you'll find shooters with whom you really just don't get along (which is a nicer way of saying, you'll find some complete jerks). Or you might find a group of shooters in which YOU end up as the complete jerk...
Just go out and have fun. Nobody cares if you miss half of your shots on the 50yrd target at your first match - nobody is really good at Bullseye right out of the gate. The other shooters will help you improve faster than you ever would in trying to learn on your own. Learn some tricks at the matches, and take them back to your home range so when you come back next time. If they have a Probationary match, shoot in it, if they don't, muscle up and shoot one handed.
I say this lightheartedly, so please take it as such, but here are a few stereotypes you are likely to find at any given competition:
- The other new guys who are just learning the game and great to talk to
- The really good guys who are also good guys with lots of medals and trophies and will take their time to help you, loan you gear, whatever else you might need
- The new guys who are super NOT humble and have an excuse for why any stage didn't go well, which is always anything other than their fault
- "Gabby Abby" who will talk your ear off and is absolutely thrilled to be there, and thrilled that you're there, and thrilled there is there...
- The kids' soccer coach type who you might feel is trying to FORCE you under their wing, and will come find you after every stage to cram "improvement advice" into your ear... Which is great, most of the time, but it gets old fast...
- The uber competitive dude who winds himself up so tight he gets in the way of his actual skill - and is so self involved he's rarely distracted by others
- The dude who says he's just there to have fun and learn a bit, but then berates himself for every little mis-step in a stage
- The older dude who is legitimately there just to have fun
- The younger folks, even kids, who will be super humble and gracious, and then ABSOLUTELY SMOKE YOU ON EVERY STAGE
- The dude who has shot some OTHER type of competition, and continually talks about how this is just like that, OR how it's nothing like that...
- The guys who are really busy preparing everything and never have time to talk, then after, they talk about how they didn't do well because they were too worried trying to RO on other stages or wrangling targets or running scoresheets or whatever extra task they took on themselves
- That "chandler bing" type dude who says something which he either means to be glib, or which comes off as glib, at exactly the wrong moment for your mind set ALL OF THE TIME
- That really good shooter who is cordial, but seems pretty neutral towards you until you earn your stripes
- That middle of the road dude who sees any new blood as potential competition
- The new dude who has read and studied all of the top gear and top shooters and continually 'advises' every new shooter around them on what gear they need to get or techniques they have to try because "Joe Pro" uses or does it...
And if you pick any one of those stereotypes off of that list, get to know them a bit, you might find they're a lot more than just a stereotype...