old shooter Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Ok, so in Nov I ante up for an open gun and join uspsa, practice my ass off in Dec, look for a match in Jan to get classified, and now, here it is March 13 and I have been rained out on 4 consecutive matches that I planned on attending (1 was a rainout after an hour and 45 min drive). This sucks...Now I am full of anxiety over finally getting to shoot a uspsa match, if indeed I ever get to. What is the record for match cancellations. Mike (hope to be classified someday) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsrdx Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Here in VA-MD, we don't even schedule (outdoor) matches from Dec-Feb. We could, but the result more often than not would be cancelled matches and frustration. I know a lot of clubs schedule outdoor matches year round, but I do wonder how many winter matches actually happen at clubs where the weather is likely to be rotten that time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 One of the (very few) plusses of being a shooter in California is just about year-round good shootin' weather. Bring your shades! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 We (Georgia Sect.) shoot in the rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Mike I know it was a long time ago, but in '86, 9 of us shot a match at Bailey's Range in Houston, and it rained 7" while we were there. I guess they don't shoot in the rain now cause they are afraid the C More might short out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Rain pisses me off too. It's been beautiful shooting weather during the week, but three IPSC matches in a row have been cancelled due to Fri/Sat rain. It's really getting annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Matches cancelled by rain. That's just plain Wuss! I have shot in rain, snow, hail, windstorms, tule fog, on flooded ranges where we waded through the COF, and in full darkness because we ran late. On with the match, don't stop until you are done! Cancelled for rain, Hmmph! Buncha Wusses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 It's not the shooters.. it's the range owners that get gripy at us for moonscaping their ranges. Well, that and 4WD's getting stuck to the axles navigating the parking lot. Mud no fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Old Shooter, almost all of the matches over here in the Netherlands are indoors, but I hope you'll be classified. Wait for the weather to become friendly and classify! Good luck, DVC, Henny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old shooter Posted March 21, 2004 Author Share Posted March 21, 2004 Ok, make it 5 in a row. After spending 4 hours driving (round trip) and spending 20+ bucks on gas, I am on a roll for racking up the most consecutive rainouts in uspsa history. I have several matches to chose from, and lately have the misfortune of scheduling one that will be rained out. Since the weather didn't look bad, I didn't check email this morning before I left, and they had posted a notice.. Mike (still unclassified) BTW it didn't rain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Mike I was on the way out of the driveway and decided to doublecheck the email for cancellation, or I would have been sitting at the gate with you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Move to Oregon: Rain, sleet, snow, knee-deep mud..........the match goes on. I don't buy the "rained-out" thing. Put on your boots and GoreTex and suck it up. The only place I'd buy that is in the Southwest during the monsoon season where it's genuinely dangerous to be in the wrong place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old shooter Posted March 21, 2004 Author Share Posted March 21, 2004 Eric, At this point, I would gladly shoot in the rain, sleet, or snow. But, Eric, if you haven't shot in Texas red mud, you are in for an exciting experience. Tightloop, The last time I checked my email, the club sent an email around noon saying that the match was on. Sure enough, when I got home, there it was...the cancellation...... BTW, this is the second month in a row that I have driven there without shooting. Last month there was no email.. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPoLo Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 I was on the way out of the driveway and decided to doublecheck the email for cancellation, or I would have been sitting at the gate with you... I feel your pain, guys. This central Texas weather has been very unkind to us IPSC shooters. A word to the wise: If there's even a hint of bad weather (and even if there's not), always check your email before heading out to the range to confirm the match status. It will save one much heartache (and gas $$). -Chet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmccrock Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I hate when a match is cancelled because rain is merely forecast. It rained just enough to spot the car..... Yep, 2 Austin classifiers and 2 San Antonio matches cancelled for rain, or snow, which is unusual. These clubs are very good about email notifications (thanks, Chet, et al). Also a Somerville 3-gun cancelled, although the match organizers let us shoot for practice. The targets were setup, why not? The "other" San Antonio club had a classifier last month so I am now classified. It was shot partially in the rain. I am having trouble getting trigger time under match conditions. May have to shoot some IDPA. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I am with you. In the OLD days, we shot rain or shine. I have actually shot a match ankle deep in water. Can these new shooters spell Pansy Assed. What is the deal here, I thought the P in IPSC stood for practical, and that ment any kind of weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul B Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't willingly shoot a club match in the rain for a lot of reasons. 1. I can cover up with a rain coat, but the target protection leaves much to be desired. If you use target condoms the match is essentially changed for those who get to shoot without them. It takes twice as long to cycle a stage because of the pasting difficulties. Perhaps the rain covers in the new Front Sight will be an answer to this. 2. I'm sorry, but I just don't like to have to disassemble, dry and oil all my equipment after a long match and a 2 hour drive. This also includes things like ear muffs and ammunition. Call me a wimp, but there are too many club matches that are dry in my area. 3. Last but not least, rain causes mud and slick conditions. I think I hate mud more than the rain. I've seen even major matches where the conditions of mud actually made footing unstable and dangerous (people were falling in the course of fire). Continuing a stage or a match in these conditions is a tough decision for a match director, but if people are slipping it's just too dangerous and if the surface cannot be repaired then the stage or match should be stopped - unless we just want to keep a legal firm on retainer. If you can't set up the pits with gravel or another way of eliminating mud don't have rain matches that require movement. Rant off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Paul B everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect yours. The point Old Shooter and I were trying to make is that cancellation of the match was based on the weather report, not on actual conditions and we know how accurate the weather report is. About the only time they get the rain part of it right is during an actual hurricane. As stated, he drove to the range and it was not raining. Probably could have shot the match since the stages supposedly were set up the day B4. You don't suppost the MD woke up and just did not want to do it, do you? Nah... There might have been some safety issues, but it is always your choice as a shooter to not shoot the match if you think conditions are not what they should be. My point being, don't automatically cancel the match just because you look out the window and it looks like it might rain a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Well.. I talked to the MD on the phone Saturday.. He was all for setting up the match, but, his helpers were not, given the previous month's experience (perfect weather right up until 30 minutes before the match, then teardown in a downpour) and 70% chance of rain, so there were no stages setup. It was not an easy decision for him. That range owner is especially anal about not getting his range messed up by shooting in the mud as well. Turns out it didn't rain much there, but the Austin range got 3/4" in 30 minutes. Who knew? Btw, I am MD for Austin next month and will do my best to not cancel. Anybody know where I can rent canoes for a day just in case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I have a couple of kayaks... BTW what date is the match in April, I would like to shoot it but don't want to conflict with SCC, and what is the classifier for April? As you know I am one who "cheats" and likes to practice the stages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 2nd Saturday, April 10th-- Conflicts with the TX3G, but it's the week before Space City. My ideas right now are to do a couple SCC-like stages as well as some international IPSC flavor since some of us are going to the Columbus Cup in Nicaragua the week after SCC. (Mixing Classic and Metric targets in a match?? The Horror!) Classifier I haven't decided yet. I'm still torqued at how I did on 99-36, but some of the Wacoians might object since they shot it Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I'm MD of a match with generally poor attendence, although I have plans to turn that around. My match that was the same weekend as the GA state match drew a grand total of 3 shooters. I held the match anyway since I could just reuse the targets (9 holes = reuse). Shooting in the rain means that every target used gets trashed. If only a few hardy souls show up then I loose money trashing all those targets. I ran 6 stages yesterday with a 160 minimum round count. There's no way I'd get enough shooters to cover expenses if it rained. There's a match around here every weekend, so shooters will just stay home if it rains. Of course no shooters equals no teardown help either. I'll be damned if I'm going to set up the entire match myself and then tear it all back down myself due to rain. I could see me not wasting my time setting up based on a bad weather report. So far everytime I've challenged the weather report I've lost. Actually do the work and that pansy talk will end. For yesterday's match I set up on Friday and Saturday night (my standard setup days). Friday was perfect, but Saturday night a thunderstorm hit before I could setup the last (lots of steel) stage. I took a chance and came back at midnight to finish the setup. I ended up finishing at 4:30 am and managed 1 hour sleep. Thankfully the shooting gods smiled on me and the weather was perfect Sunday. The range had even dried out enough so that mud wasn't a problem. My January match was sleeted out, but I took another chance and didn't set up anything beforehand. That was a good bet. I did set up last month and after the match was rained out (2 shooters showed up) I had the pleasure of tearing down all alone as usual. Shooting in bad weather is nothing. Big deal if you have to detail strip the blaster, it probably needed it anyway. Doing all the work involved with the match in bad weather is where hardcore comes into play. I'd be more than happy to hold my match in any weather if someone else will do all the work and cover the monetary losses that will certainly happen. I have a feeling there won't be any of those "hardcore" shooters taking me up on that offer. Maybe the fact I'm so sore I can't hardly move from setting up and tearing down yesterday's match gives me a bit more irritable viewpoint on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 JFD You talk like yu own the range. If so, I can understand your comments about the financial loss of shooting in the rain. If you are just the MD, you knew it would be lots of work when you took the job. And if you have any long term shooting background, you should have known it would be the 80/20 rule; 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. That is no surprise. It is dissapointing to put up a great match and have 5 people show up. Looks like you have 3 options. Get some more match attendance so yu don't have to do all the work yourself. Resign and let someone else try to do it, or lastly you can just tough it out. I know it doesn't take long to burn out if you do all the work, but if you haven't laid down the law to the current shooters, that if they don't help with the set up and tear down, you will stop putting on the matches; then you can't expect them to pay attention. sorry to be so harsh, but I have been there, done that...many years...I know what it takes to get their attention and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Shred Are you shooting at the Hill Country Pistol Range, if so, I will be there Apr 10th. Just tell me what the classifier is asap so I can at least look ok on one stage... Tloop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 People just need to suck it up and deal with it. Take a lesson from the Orygunners, if they had rainouts, they would not have a match for 8 months out of the year. My old club's match policy: THE SHOW WILL GO ON, period. And you know what? People showed up. They *knew* there would be a match to go to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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