If you shoot Hunter/Non Member make sure the club retains the target tax for themselves. The club has that option. I knew this was coming because they also raised the NSSA dues. Opted out of the NSCA a few weeks ago. They will cancel your account for you if you opt out. They were nice about it. The NSCA doesn't do enough to support smaller local clubs and the people who shoot there. JMHO.

 

When's the last time they raised the price?

I'm a life member but 20 years ago it was $35...

Do you know how much mailing costs on the magazine alone have increased over that time?

 

Do you know how much mailing costs on the magazine alone have increased over that time?

$50 doesn't get you a hardcopy magazine in the mail.

 

Perhaps the lifetime memberships bought years ago are paying huge dividends now for some folks. I pay every year and this might be my last year. I love to shoot and will continue to but between all the registered targets, State Championship and nationals entry fees and travel, I could do a lot more with my money.

 

If $10--the cost of a McDonald's combo meal these days--pushes anyone over the financial cliff when It comes to registered sporting clays or skeet I'd suggest they probably need to look at getting a SNAP card and apply for some welfare.

$10 is a box of shells...lol

Geesh... You can't even buy a cocktail in some bars for $10 any more...

 

If $10--the cost of a McDonald's combo meal these days--pushes anyone over the financial cliff when It comes to registered sporting clays or skeet I'd suggest they probably need to look at getting a SNAP card and apply for some welfare.

$10 is a box of shells...lol

Geesh... You can't even buy a cocktail in some bars for $10 any more...

Yea that’s just to get you into the bar though.. You haven’t even got to order a drink yet.

 

I love sporting clays, and appreciate the the opportunity to shoot NSCA registered events. If they need an extra $10 bucks to keep things going, so be it.

 

Just go and shoot the targets the day(s) after the event for about 30% off. Even less at some clubs if you're a member. Thats where the savings is at. It's a combination of things not just the dues when it comes to expenses. Gas, lodging, cart rental, target fees, ammo and other incidentals. They are pricing themselves out of the entertainment market. Especially if the whole family isn't participating. Look around at the age of most of the participants. They are on fixed income and aging out.

 

At my club I can shoot the same course twice the next day for the same price as registered. We still have to pull and score our own targets so it’s the same either way. Plus it frees up Saturday to do what I want and the club is open Sunday to relax and shoot at our own pace. I can tell by your comments were in the same boat.

 

I'm confused, I'm very senior and membership cost me $100 dollars in April.
My last two events cost me $150.00 and $105.00 per 100 target event.
Now I have no events worth going to less than 140 miles away.
So, yes, now I shoot hunters class in local events, if any.
I believe NSCA is losing their seniors rapidly.
Mike
PS: My last event was a joke, three of us were the last squad to go out, finished the round and no one left at the club to turn in our scores. Parking lot was empty. Two guys were registered, they will never go back there. I don't blame them.

 

people suck. You see this more recently. In days past (maybe 10-15 years ago) it was customary to wait for the last group to come in and then wait to applaud the winners.. now people finish and leave events with competitors still shooting.. it's a sad indictment on the respect for fellow competitors.
FWIW,
It's not just in this sport.

 

Glad I got a lifetime membership years ago. My number is 538431 which exhibits both my age & length of tenure. I also have lifetime license for hunting & fishing. Lifetime memberships & licenses are great values for both yourself and great gifts for those aspiring hunters/fishermen/shooters in your family.

 

I don’t buy lifetime memberships at my age👍

 

Is this thread-starter a joke? People line up at the food truck at registered events and hand over more than $10 for a frozen burger and bag of plain chips. Shooters are wearing $1000 Pillas and buy new lenses at $200+ without blinking an eye. The Pilla frames wrap nicely around your ears, which are sporting $100 plus custom molded ear plugs. A round of clays (for fun) will cost you $100 (+/-) for ammo and targets. If you don't want to pay the $20 cart rental, might as well pay $20K plus for a side-by-side. And don't forget, you'll need to spend a few hundred more for the gun rack. You won't fit in unless you have a $5K plus shotgun. The fuel to get to the club and back home might cost you about $50.

But that extra $10 membership fee...that's gonna drive everyone out of the NSCA and kill the sport. Better start collecting NSCA memorabilia now, as this organization will be a thing of the past in about 3 minutes.

 

Veteran and super veteran(me) are thriving. Not sure why made up stories are passed along. One box of shells is $10. It seems that joking around is the way of a lot of people who just want to whine and cry.

 

I don’t know but it’s kinda like if someone tells you to pay $10 more or asks you to pay $10 more I like to shoot and have fun but I really don’t know what I’m getting out of the membership money that I’m paying now. I’m shooting anywhere between 2-5k registered targets a year due to my work and finances. Not to highjack a thread or anything but I might be more inclined to pay a few dollars more if they would consider moving the Nationals around instead of just keeping it in Texas every year. Yeah it works out great for Texas shooters but driving 11-15 hours for the rest of us kinda sucks. But we all know how much consideration they will give it. Absolutely NONE. It’s not even about the $10 it’s just the principle of the thing.

 

I think I'll let my membership lapse after it expires. Nothing wrong with shooting tournaments, but I live in the upper midwest and there's just too much to do. I fish a lot in the spring and once fall bird hunting opens I'll pick that over shooting clays 100 times out of 100. I've gotten the magazine for the last two years and if I do renew I won't get the magazine option again. At this point all the articles are just repeats or news on skeet events halfway across the country I have zero interest in. I do wish the nsca success and love shooting clays. Often with my schedule I end up shooting alone or with buddies who aren't members anyways. I will shoot a bunch of clays next year, but if it's just for fun or practice it's fine with me.

 

I'm a super veteran and on a fixed income. For me every increase hurts ten here five their fuel around $5 a gallon. Some say to shoot on off days, out of the six clubs near me only one has this option. I don't get a burger and fries, I'll bring a PPJ. Demographics is taking a toll on the older shooters, When I started shooting registered, I would shoot 10-12 events a year and now 6 or 7. That would include two or three state shoots, cost is the biggest driver.
I'm going to opted out for 2024, and my club may do the same with new club fees.

 

In spite of all my criticism for NSCA i have zero issue with bumping the dues.

 

Many on here have mentioned how their cost of ammo, gas, etc have gone up. Did you ever stop to think that NSCA costs have gone up just like ours? They also pay taxes, electric, computers, employees, etc, etc

 

When you talk about funds, expenses, insurance, computers, please remember all those seniors that started all this in 1985. And all those seniors are now on an income budget not keeping up with the rising cost of everything. Every time we get a tiny raise someone takes it away.
And remember all those seniors who try to live and have some fun on fixed income with what's left of their 401s, IRAs, investments, etc., that have gone down the drain since Obama are not keeping up.
Please consider property taxes, home maintenance, water sewer, license plates, home insurance, car insurance, automobile costs, restaurant's, home appliance's, groceries, have all skyrocketed in price.
I don't know about you privileged few, but I'm not giving up my home, car, or eating to support clay busters. And I'll bet I'm not alone on this issue.
Mike
PS: Did you know I'm giving up golf now because fertilizer cost a golf course $15,000 to $20,000 bucks a year? Road Apples.

 

Don't forget the Marketing Budget.

BTW - That came from the sporties.

 

Man I can spend $1000/month shooting sporting clays - EASY. What's another $10?!

(and that's cheap compared to some of the guys I shoot with)

This is a rich man's sport.

 

They have to cover the increased cost of punches!

 

Nice 😁

 

Nobody is going to quit the NSCA because of a $10.00 annual increase in dues. If by chance they do they can not afford to shoot in the first place and should start playing checkers or fishing, unless the fishing license went up. Everything that you need to exist has gone up dramatically but you don't think that the NSCA has a right to cover their increased expenses, please, give me your address and I will send you the $10, not everybody, just the original poster.

 

Nobody is going to quit the NSCA because of a $10.00 annual increase in dues.

There will be some. The $10 is just the last straw. I have a friend that was an NSSA member for 50 years. He stopped renewing. He asked, "Why renew now? I get no mag, no membership card, not even a classification and shoot record card. I'll just wait until my first shoot and sign-up when I enter." He said that approach is now common at his club (mostly retirees). That worked for a few. Then it got to where he only shot one or two shoots a year. When he was considering his first shoot of the year, he realized it was going to cost an extra $40 (now $50). Total cost considering the dues made in an expensive day. He paid anyway.....that year. But a year or two later he didn't.

 

If formal SC competition is important to you, then $10 more per year is inconsequential. If you've decided that you don't care all that much about formal competition, then ten more dollars may be the last straw. All depends on your priorities.

FWIW, with the increase, NSCA annual dues are about half the cost of annual CPSA membership. But then CPSA is a dues supported organization (no target tax), NSCA not so much.

 

If you don't care about competition then there is no reason to be a member of the NSCA to begin with. If $10.00 is a lot you are probably on welfare and your money would be better spent elsewhere. The last time I was at Carl's Jr. a meal deal was over $10 and that was a lunch.

 

I remember when a round of skeet was $3.25 and a 100 target round of sporting was $20.00 and AA's were $2.49 a box and $200.00 worth of $20 dollar bills was enough to go to Vegas. Those days are long gone, never to return.

 

J Fred, I think you were bored and wanted to make a post because being a life member you do not have a dog in this fight. Have a good weekend.

 

The people that spend thousands to tens of thousands on this game a year are often oblivious to the fact that an overwhelming majority don't.

In the grand scheme, no, $10 is not that much. However, it may be enough for someone who goes to one shoot a year to say "screw it, I'm not spending 50 bucks for a membership so I can shoot 100 targets". People will also perceive incremental numbers as a mental barrier, IE $10 for a box of ammo, $50 for a membership (this is why nothing in a retail store ends in a .00 price), one $50 bill seems like its a lot more $ than two $20s...

NSSA also doubled the cost of gun club dues from $50 to $100 per year. I see NSCA is also $100 a year, dunno if that's what it was or if that was increased as well. For a lot of clubs that throw one shoot a year for a half dozen club members that means the difference b/w breaking even and losing $. I have a feeling that, while the overall revenue may not go down, but number of NSSA member clubs is going to collapse, which means those clubs are less likely to ever throw targets again, if they ever did to begin with.

My state has 21 NSSA member clubs, only 9 of them threw targets in 2023. They have 19 NSCA member clubs, only 9 of them threw targets in 2023. I'll bet NSSA/NSCA has less than 40 combined member clubs in 2024, going from $50 to $100 is enough to convince some of those making what amounts to a donation to not.

 

The people that spend thousands to tens of thousands on this game a year are often oblivious to the fact that an overwhelming majority don't.

In the grand scheme, no, $10 is not that much. However, it may be enough for someone who goes to one shoot a year to say "screw it, I'm not spending 50 bucks for a membership so I can shoot 100 targets".

Good points!

 

I went to my first national as a spectator one day. Thursday it was muddy as could be intermittent rain. My daughter signed for ladies only class and loved it. We had fun walking around where we could. Lots of stuck truck and carts. Not me. Shot some guns I couldn’t afford. Shot some that I really liked. The Fabarms Elos N2 sporting fit me well. Like their semi auto sporting also. Rainning couldn’t tryout many. Anyway I joined last year for 3 years. I read the digital literature they send out. I live 90 miles away from NSCA Headquarters and can shot there on Fridays sometimes. I think it would havebe fun if the weather hadn’t been so bad. In two years will more than likely renew just for the discount on Fridays. I can see the aggravation for those that live so far away from San Antonio.