BPTR midrange reminder

[Don McDowell]

I don't for one single minute buy this argument about the pissin post matches on Shiloh having one damn thing to do with the decline in attendance at the nationals.. or any where else for that matter.
Case in point Lodi, look at how that went from 50 or more shooters to 20 or less. What really amazes me is the number of folks that just a couple of years ago argued hard to have the nationals held in Lodi, never even bothered to show up to shoot the regionals..

The nationals have been in decline since 2013 when the NRA match director refused to acknowledge scope class. That turned a number of shooters away that have never returned, some have returned on occasion
2014, the NRA match director made the announcement at the competitors meeting, that would be the last match at the Whittington, the matches would move to Camp Perry the next year, the second week in July... That turned a number of folks away.
2015 the matches did in fact get scheduled back in Raton, but for what ever stupid reason, director of competitions came out with the pronouncement 45 days prior to entries closing, that there weren't enough entries into the match and it was going to be cancelled. Most folks simply had not entered yet, many went ahead and entered. Some said screw it don't trust them to keep the match and don't want to fight to get the 220$ entry fee back.
2016, the year that combining the two matches was supposed to be the savior of the sport, barely eclipsed the numbers of 2015. Then combine that with the awarding of medals at the 2016 match with 2015 dates on them... I know two shooters that said they'll never go back after spending the sort of money in entry fee's and travel to be given a printed piece of paper and left over medals from the year before as awards at a NATIONAL championship..
2018 schedule the match for opening week of hunting season across the country. At least 7 past national champions or contenders didn't go because of the time frame chosen.
Pissing post contests on Shiloh? not hardly.