whats the sp regarding queue jumping at straw balers ?

[Guest]

So if you go to a local clay ground, not registered comp , and there are loads lined up on stand 1 and 2 etc is it acceptable to go on to a stand that has just two waiting , to me its common sence just like going to the shorter line in the super market (remember those days !?)  and lets face it everyone does that .

                    my thoughts are if every one did it the lines on each stand would average out and waiting time would be reduced , but what is acceptable/standard practice ? 

 

[Bebo]

Don't shoot many these days, but when I did I just went to whatever stand I fancied shooting next and didn't shoot them in order unless it was quiet and I didn't have to queue long.

 

[JDL]

Here the same, just go to the stand with the shortest queue.
On crowded days (long time ago..) we even tell each other where the shortest lines are, to minimize waiting times for everyone.

 

[TRINITY]

Common sense is to go to quietest stands.  Straw bailers I have been to seem to have people on them doing as they please if they are open to general public and not members only.  I have witnessed a lot more bad practices going on at them than people not going to the stands in a certain order.

Just my preference, but if straw bailers on a Sunday morning were the only shoots available to me, I would pack in shooting.

 

[tiptop]

No different to pre-pandemic, unsquaded registered shoots. Go to which ever stand you want, shoot in what ever order you want. Unless the grounds have a rule at the moment that you must go round in order.

 

[ColinD]

One we use you can go to whichever stand you want, it's open to the public and has scorers on each stand.

Must be lucky as everyone is well behaved and very safety aware, guns slipped before moving to the next stand, unlike some of the others by the comments here

 

[Dave9691]

Yes it is common sense at its best

 

[Guest]

One we use you can go to whichever stand you want, it's open to the public and has scorers on each stand.

Must be lucky as everyone is well behaved and very safety aware, guns slipped before moving to the next stand, unlike some of the others by the comments here

interesting what you say about guns slipped between stands , I always feel a open gun over the shoulder can be seen to be empty , same with auto the "flag" can be seen , but who knows if a gun in a slip is empty ?  and what about the person who waits till its their turn in the now empty cage who then slowly unzips his sleeve, hunts around his bag for cartridges, then has a chat with his mate who vacated the cage , gets in ,settled, then amazingly although he has seen the previous four in his group shoot asks to see a pair..

               sorry off topic a bit there, and yes I understand most like and use a slip 100% safely and with the proper etiquete .

 

[ColinD]

Slipped between stands, you can get the gun out, breaking the action and hold it awaiting your turn, once you've had your go, out of the cage and back in the slip and onto the next or wait around watching the others

Funny thing is, the other ''proper'' shooting grounds we go too you don't have to do this, just this one so we just abide by their rules.

It's a once a week summer run one.

 

[Guest]

I can understand that , and at a comp or registered would be the norm I would expect.

 

[DavidJ]

I'm not sure that jumping round the stands in a random order shortens the time. In my experience you always end up with one stand that has a big queue and you end up waiting just as long as you would have if everyone had shot the stands in order.

 

[westley]

Common sense is to go to quietest stands.  Straw bailers I have been to seem to have people on them doing as they please if they are open to general public and not members only.  I have witnessed a lot more bad practices going on at them than people not going to the stands in a certain order.

Just my preference, but if straw bailers on a Sunday morning were the only shoots available to me, I would pack in shooting.

And just WHERE do you think a high proportion of shooters first started shooting then, if NOT straw balers   ?  Those 'inferior' grounds are open week in and week out in all weathers providing a lot of pleasure to people who have no wish to shoot competitions.  Did you just 'witness' those 'bad practices' or did you intervene and make the offender/s aware of their mistakes  ?  I have seen and ACTED upon poor gun handling at an awful lot of shooting grounds over the last 60 years, some of which occurred on grounds where it would have been least expected. The people who attend these smaller grounds are still spending a lot of money on their equipment and certainly, their cartridges, thus allowing you to continue with 'your preference'. 

 

[TRINITY]

And just WHERE do you think a high proportion of shooters first started shooting then, if NOT straw balers   ?  Those 'inferior' grounds are open week in and week out in all weathers providing a lot of pleasure to people who have no wish to shoot competitions.  Did you just 'witness' those 'bad practices' or did you intervene and make the offender/s aware of their mistakes  ?  I have seen and ACTED upon poor gun handling at an awful lot of shooting grounds over the last 60 years, some of which occurred on grounds where it would have been least expected. The people who attend these smaller grounds are still spending a lot of money on their equipment and certainly, their cartridges, thus allowing you to continue with 'your preference'. 

Seems like I have rattled your cage dosnt it. 

For your info I have only been shooting a couple of years. I do not enter comps and will never be good enough to fo so. Yes I did intervene on more than one occasion . I then sat back and thought, do I need this ? I am here for a bit of leisure and fun and not here to tell other people how to behave . 

Last but not least, there are plenty of grounds open somewhere every day of the week. So new shooters have many options.

Look I know some small Sunday morning shoots are ok , but some are a bit of a free for all. Please explain wtf have people spending money and cartridges at straw bailers, have got to do with me going clay shooting.

 

[El Spavo]

I've not been shooting three years, so similar timescale, but a couple of points that seem obvious from the above dude...

Firstly, I see it as everyone's responsibilty to intervene if people are being unsafe cos a) it brings what we do into disreputeand would therefore possibly shorten the lifespan of the thing we love doing if that carries on (has certainly been pointed out at my local ground where members of the public can see things), and b), it's blatantly just protecting yourself and the people around you, which seems like common sense?! If someone is acting a knob, somebody gets hurt, the ground you go to gets closed on the strength of it, and you could have stopped it, are you still going to say why do you need this when you've then got nowhere convenient to go to and your hobby is no longer there? It's a gun... it's does gun stuff... and people can be idiots!

Secondly, competitions aren't just to compete, it's to experience different layouts, targets, etc. which help you become a better shooter. If you're happy to hit the same 10 targets for 40 years then I'm sure you will become the best in the world... at that ground, but variety breeds ability. I only ever shoot 'birds only', I'm not a CPSA member, I don't have a rating, I will never win stuff either, but I enjoy the registered shoots when I can do them. Indeed, I've geniunely picked up a lot of fantastic tips and info on what I'm doing and how to hit stuff that I might never have discovered without doing it, much of which I've thanked people on here for. So comps aren't just for winning, they're also for learning and just having fun.

I have come away really, REALLY p1ssed off from a few though when I've pulled a stinker cos they're hard!

 

[MartynB]

The term Straw Baler covers all sorts of grounds . There are a couple within an hours drive of here that are superb and you’ll see guys who’ve shot for England having a round .  They are also the places where newcomers feel comfortable and mates go to have a chinwag . For that reason alone the speed of rotation through a stand might be slower , especially if there is  a big bunch of mates , so stand hopping  is no big deal . The other thing of course is courtesy and if I was with 5 mates , waiting , and two shooters were behind us we’d ask them to shoot through .  With respect to guns over shoulder , I personally don’t like to see that , mainly because I invested in some very expensive dental work , and don’t want to lose it to 15 inches of hardwood  when someone turns around without checking who’s  there ! 

 

[westley]

Seems like I have rattled your cage dosnt it. 

For your info I have only been shooting a couple of years. I do not enter comps and will never be good enough to fo so. Yes I did intervene on more than one occasion . I then sat back and thought, do I need this ? I am here for a bit of leisure and fun and not here to tell other people how to behave . 

Last but not least, there are plenty of grounds open somewhere every day of the week. So new shooters have many options.

Look I know some small Sunday morning shoots are ok , but some are a bit of a free for all. Please explain wtf have people spending money and cartridges at straw bailers, have got to do with me going clay shooting.

Because it was YOUR words and not mine that stated, and I quote, "If straw balers on a Sunday morning were the only shoots available to me, I would pack up shooting"  leading one to believe that you only ever shot registered shoots or major Competitions ?  The money for the sponsorship that some people enjoy, comes from the sale of whatever the Company either makes or sells. That money is in no small amount,  generated by the 'Grass Root' shooters.

 

[TRINITY]

Westley look at my original post and I will clarify the point I was trying to explain. It all comes down to what people refer to as a straw bailer. I did differentiate between a small run members shoot and an open shoot were no one seems to give two hoots who turns up and what they get up to. I accept you can have some very modest little shoots that are well run and attended by like minded respectfull shooters.  It's the open Sunday morning affairs were three knob heads turn up sharing one gun and acting like idiots is their normal behaviour in life.  If you havnt come across that type then you are lucky. In my short time shooting ,I have come across more than one. That's what I was referring to and that's what I mean when I say ,if those were the only type of shoots, I would pack it in.

 

[ColinD]

But don't forget one of the three idiots with one gun must have a SC for it.

So it's his responsibility who he hands it to, to shoot, just remind them of that next time their mucking about, whos names on the SC if the worst happens

I do a lot of target shooting and it has always been drummed into us that we are all responsible for everyones safety around firearms, especially when idiots are about and boy theres plenty out there

 

[TRINITY]

But don't forget one of the three idiots with one gun must have a SC for it.

So it's his responsibility who he hands it to, to shoot, just remind them of that next time their mucking about, whos names on the SC if the worst happens

I do a lot of target shooting and it has always been drummed into us that we are all responsible for everyones safety around firearms, especially when idiots are about and boy theres plenty out there

Colin, you make a valid point. But read my earlier post. I have intervened and on one occasion it got a bit unpleasant. Not from the gun owner but one knob head mate. I have also seen others get undeserved flak when trying  to point out poor behaviour.  You are right these people need telling. However I am getting to the stage in life ,as I said before, do I need to be getting involved with this. Shooting is a pastime I enjoy and therefore I now avoid certain grounds. I have plenty of alternatives.  In fact I have been to one this morning. I can relax and enjoy good company and not be continually keeping an eye out what is going on around me or trying to give a wide berth to idiots.