Opening a Can Of Worms, State of BHA|General Business|Forum|Bow Hunters of Alabama

I have only been in BHA stuff for about 4 years or so. This is just my take on things and nothing else. I personally dont give a crap about what rules are used or whether its asa scoring rings or ibo centers. If a club is having a shoot and i can make it i will go and shoot under those rules except if range finders are not allowed. I cant judge yardage. Thats my issue no one elses so just my two cents on RF.
I am a hunter but never viewed this as a hunting platform for honing skills because i hunt 30 ft up a tree not standing on the ground. Im sure some do and thats fine. I have not seen any posts promoting any seminars or classes etc on hunter safety or promoting hunting on any regular basis since i have been using the website. They may be and we just dont see it but i would love to see these things posted. It should be posted so it can be promoted in the communities. That said this is more of a 3d thing which i personally am ok with. No reason you cant do both.
So i look at it like a menu. Do you want to go into a place that has three words on the menu (breakfast lunch dinner) or do you want options. I personally want options and i dont care if it is called bha or asa or something else.
I go not because i want to win something because im not going to at bha or asa. I go for the love of shooting and the atmosphere it provides. The only thing i am trying to beat is my personal best score. I could not care less about what anyone else shoots.
I think there is more to it than asa vs bha and classes and how many there are. I personally think people’s priorities change. The economy is in the toilet and everything is going up but wages. Other things take priority. Life is happening and it dont include archery for many people.
i dont have issue with range finders. Some are very good at judging yardage. I am not so good at it and as a hunter I owe it to the animal to make the best ethical shot i can make. Doesnt always workout like i want even with a range finder but why not use every legal tool you can to minimize those things. If they outlaw range finders then i will just wait for asa to come around or go somewhere else. GA has some shoots that are in driving distance. Should it just be all trad and no sights at all? Im sure some would like it and some wont. How many stakes are enough? Less targets? One day shoot? No food or drink to minimize impact on the club? If it is truley about hunting then nothing but hunting bows and hunting arrows? No fat arrows, scopes, lens, long stabs, etc. make it truley hunting setup and nothjng else legal to shoot with. I dont really want answers to these questions. Just things to think about.
I dont think there is anything that will change it much. It may for a short time but long term is a different story. Life changes things for people everyday.
Any who want to change things for next year gather your masses and go to the board meeting and voice your wishes. See what shakes out. I will shoot anywhere i can as long as i can use my range finder

The facts are that adult numbers are down period. This downward trend started when ASA rules and Classes were installed instead of fine tuning the existing rules to work better. With that said, ASA rules and Classes are two separate items. Through the years, ASA has fine tuned their rules to be fair and the classes to accommodate the amount of shooters they have at each event. Most classes in ASA will have more shooters than an entire BHA shoot.
BHA could combine classes, allowing shooters to still use their ASA setup, and distances.
Example. One Hunter B, One Hunter A, One Known, One Open.
Have some close and some over between 30-40 classes and 45-50 classes
Do the same for the women.
All Pros shoot together.
Leave the kids and youth alone. They are holding their on right now.

In my opinion, this would help bring back the hunter classes that paid the bills for clubs for many years.

Here is one example.
North Jeffereson shoot May 2013

If BHA could get back to these numbers with the kids and youth, well it would exciting.

Something to think about.

While I stand by my original post, it was not about range finders per se and no one jumped on them, range finders were mentioned by the starter of this thread calling them laughable. Then those of us who did what was asked, which was to simply provide our take on the state of BHA today, were then chastised for posting our thoughts by being thanked for participating and that our participation trophies were on the way or something like that. If range finders were not in question then why even bring them up to begin with? I guess some just don’t know how to parse the English language or say what they really mean. So I guess my take now is that if you post your thoughts when asked to do so, it’s taken the wrong way and that one will only get mocked for doing what was asked in the first place.

The point of the post was not missed as most stated they did not care about how many classes there are that we can shoot because of our love for archery and competition. The competition for me is only with myself. The numbers were on the decline well before changing to ASA rules, period. I watched it when I started. Those folks were on the way out already.

Now let’s see if the classes get changed back, who has the guts to come call out the classes that only have 1 to 2 shooters and say they need to be done away with.
Better example from June 2013 at the Central Zone CHAMPIONSHIP!

http://archerytalk.com/vb/show…..?t=2034598

I will not shoot anymore at BHA.

Bobby Ingram said
Well Captain, glad you asked… Back about 10 or so years ago. There were many chapters in the state that was promoting BHA. Membership drives, Money shoot’s. Membership’s were great, always working for sponsorship’s having fun shooting, We and many other chapters use to show up at a shoot with several vehicles, 8 to 12 folks pour out and it made for GREAT fun. Clubs supporting each other shoots would have 200 show up. So here’s the biggie…. Where doe’s BHA stand right now folks may ask…This is my opinion and my opinion only. How many folks do you see out there working or running for office and helping each other and chapters supporting other chapters? When someone runs for office, They pretty much have a bulls-eye on them. There is No real support from most out there. They expect the leaders to do most of everything. What makes me say that some may ask. Been there-Done that. I’ve seen it. Sad to say. I have seen many Great leaders in the past lead with support from the organization. But this is nothing new, but it can change. Folks fought for years about rules, wanting to adopt ASA or IBO rules. That’s all fine I enjoy shooting Trad from what use to be the Red stake 50 yard max. I would love nothing more than to show up shoot with new or old members and have a blast. But everyone will have to get on the same page. Why and How is the question, can WE do that again? I hear about changes from folks at the past meeting that want to change the way that this organization was founded on. Most of them have not even been in BHA much more than 2 or 3 years. They probable can’t even tell you what or when on anything about BHA. Trying to make changes on something that is and has been in place for years. Why? That’s my question. If you want to play in someone’s house, you play by their rules. I know of other archery clubs and chapters in other states, they don’t have these issues. Simple fix to me. Show up and support and shoot. We did it before WE can do it again.  

I applaud that long speech, but you dodged the question with a politicians broom. Where does the money from entry fees actually go? What makes BHA anything different than a weekend archery shoot?
Why would a club want to be a member of BHA, what makes giving BHA $5 per shooter that visits your club over the weekend worth it?
I’ll hang up and listen.