Shoot Bidding Information For Interested Clubs

Below is the letter that our Secretary sends to those clubs in the zone we are next taking the shoot to.  He usually sends this letter by January.  Odd numbered year shoots are held east of the Appalachian Mountains and even numbered year shoots are held west of the Appalachian Mountains. Since several clubs seem to have perceived the bid letter as complicated, We want to acknowledge their perception and try to clarify what is really used in the decision process.

Your club should want to host the Armed Services Skeet Shoot for a minimum of three reasons.

1.  It provides a forum for you to conduct your own shoot immediately before ours with a probable 100 + shooters based on our advertising for you, and your profit from that shoot.

2.  Our shoot is the easiest major shoot you can possibly hold at your club.  Why?  All you provide are fields, targets in houses, machine repair, water, registration/squadding area, and bathrooms.  We do virtually all of the rest.  You don't have to worry about collecting money, people to conduct registration, referees, proofs, scoreboards, shoot-offs, awards, shoot reports, etc. You also have a captive audience for a week with revenue from practice, food, and ammo sales, etc.

3. You will have the choice to provide the targets for the shoot, or bid a lower amount with AFSA providing the targets and you purchasing the left over targets at our cost. Our cost will always be lower than what you are now paying due to our purchase agreement with White Flyer.

4.  This is a unique opportunity for you to honor the serving and retired members of our armed forces.

(SAMPLE LETTER SENT TO CLUB MANAGERS TO BID FOR THE SHOOT)

Dear Club Manager,

The Armed Forces Skeet Association is the NSSA-chartered Zone 9 Association. The membership consists of military shooters on Active Duty, Reserve/guard members, and Retired military. We are an association similar and equal to your state association. We apply for our shoot dates directly to the NSSA and are fully responsible directly to NSSA for all reports and fees associated with our shoot.

The AFSA conducts one major shoot each year (the Armed Services Skeet Championships) in various parts of the country. We conduct the shoot during a five day Monday to Friday 600 target competition. The shoot rotates between the West and East regions of the country. Each year clubs that have a minimum of seven fields are contacted to give them the opportunity to bid on the shoot for the following year. The shoot normally has 120-140 entries. Traditionally, 70-100 of our shooters compete in a club shoot that you host and conduct the weekend prior to our Monday thru Friday shoot week that is usually called the Pletcher Open in recognition of our founder, LtGen Ken Pletcher.             

This letter provides you with all the information you will need to submit a bid for the shoot.

The Armed Services Skeet Championships (ASSC) are the easiest to run shoot you will ever hold.  What follows may seem to be very detailed, but we have found over the years that club managers appreciate knowing what they are responsible for doing and what the Armed Forces Skeet Association (AFSA) members are responsible for doing.  When you work on your bid, please remember that you make your profits from both shoots, plus practice fees, and ammo and food/beverage sales.

The ASSC Shoot (600 targets) is somewhat unique in that it is held Monday through Friday.  The following information should help you prepare your bid.

The AFSA will do the following.

1. Conduct all pre-registration (on line) and registration activities for the AFSA Championships.  No club assistance is required other than a place on site to do registration the weekend prior to the shoot.

2. Fill all machines with targets as required.

3. Host a Thursday night dinner off site, normally at a military club.  All coordination is done by a local club/AFSA member.

4. Provide all awards and distribute them.  Your only club involvement is the use of an FFL to receive, store, and transfer the firearms given as awards. Often a club member takes on this responsibility.

5. Conduct all scoreboard operations for the shoot.

6. Provide all referees for the shoot.

7. Submit all required reports to NSSA for the shoot.

8. Provide all targets at your option. If we provide the targets you will have to pay us for left over targets. If we provide the targets we will also provide shoot-off, shooter "look at" targets, and an allowance for breakage.

The host club is responsible for the following.                                                          

Please note that most of these things are either completed prior to the shoot, or if accomplished during the shoot, require minimum manpower from your club staff.

1. Provide at least seven skeet fields for the shoot (Monday through Friday).

2. Stock the houses as needed with targets to insure that no restocking is required during any normal shoot day. (As noted previously, our AFSA members fill the skeet machines as the shoot progresses.)

3. Secure written approval from your state association to exempt our association (AFSA) from paying daily target fees or any other state fees for the Armed Services Skeet Championships.  It should be noted that while the state association will not receive any target fees from our shoot, they will receive the target fees from a usually well attended Pletcher Open preliminary shoot.

4. Provide and maintain drinking water/cups and trash containers for all fields each day.

5. Provide sufficient restroom or porta-potty facilities for the shooters/guests.

6. Conduct a four gun (plus doubles) open shoot on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday immediately prior to the week of our shoot with "targets only" offered in each event for new shooters. Many clubs choose to host a follow-on shoot as well.     

7. Offer an “active military” and a “retired military” concurrent event for “honors only” for your shoot and report the associated All American points to NSSA.  (Note:  The preliminary club shoot has statistically been the fourth largest military shoot each year, only behind the AFSA Championships, The World, and the Mini World.)

8. Designate a “point of contact” individual with an email address that can make decisions for the club.

 9. Provide an onsite “point of contact” that will be on grounds and available throughout both shoots.

10. Provide a minimum of 75 square feet of scoreboard posting area. The area may be separate from the clubhouse or may include some club window space that is easily accessible from the exterior of the building.

11. Provide staple gun, tape, clipboards, and writing instruments.

12. Provide proof ammo if requested.  (AFSA pays for it if it is not donated.)

13. Provide all machine maintenance and spare skeet machines as needed.

14. Provide and operate practice field(s) throughout both shoots. We recommend that you have the practice fields available from 7:30 AM until 6:00 PM. every day.  They will be used.  If you have enough fields you are encouraged to keep some active for your normal shooters during our shoot.

15. Provide a shoot registration and management area with electrical supply for AFSA use during both shoots.  (We need hookups for two computers and one printer).

16. Provide a public address system.

17. Accept, store, and transfer firearm (shotguns) awards with your FFL.  (Or make arrangements to do so.)

18. Set aside a minimum of 80 four gun shooter slots at your preliminary shoot for AFSA

19. Usually the host club has hosted a beer party/potluck dinner on the Wednesday night of our shoot. In Phoenix and San Antonio it was Tamales/beer.  At Fort Bragg it was a bar-b-que buffet. Whitetail Ridge provided food Monday thru Wednesday.  This is not a requirement to host our shoot.

20. Provide a completed club bid (see attached) no later than 1 April of the year prior to the shoot. (e.g. April 1, 2010 for the 2011 shoot)

21. Make a choice to provide targets or bid a lower amount with AFSA providing the targets and you buying the left over targets after the shoot. If you do the latter: you are free to use AFSA targets for your preliminary shoot, AND MUST provide our treasurer with a check for targets not used for the ASSC. This is a new item which began in 2010. White Flyer provides our targets at distributor cost plus shipping. Your bid amount will then be solely for the use of your facility. If targets are provided by AFSA left over targets are sold to you at our cost. If your club is unwilling to pay AFSA for all leftover targets prior to our treasurer departing your club after our shoot concludes you should bid to provide the targets. Your club is expected to accept delivery, unload, and store one full truck of White Flyer targets (approximately 22 pallets). AFSA will provide shootoff targets for our shoot if we provide the targets, an allowance of 16 targets per squad for targets allowed to be seen by shooters prior to shooting, and a 2% allowance for breakage for our events. The amount you will be expected to pay is determined by the following: Total cases received-targets thrown for the ASSC as determined by the shoot reporting software-2% breakage allowance for targets thrown at the ASSC-2,000 for shootoff targets-16 targets per squad of shooters at the ASSC. This is a good deal for both of us.

  We have found that providing the above information makes it much easier for club managers to formulate their bids for our shoot, and hope that it has served that purpose for you as well. Most shoots of this size are labor-intensive and therefore costly for any club.  However, since AFSA conducts all pre-registration and registration including cashiering, refereeing, filling all skeet machines without interruption every day of the shoot, posting scoreboards, conducting shootoffs, and providing awards to all winners, the Armed Services Skeet Championships can be another positive money maker for your club. Several clubs have hosted our shoot on numerous occasions.  Ben Avery in Phoenix and the San Antonio Gun Club have each been our host three or more times. No club has ever turned down the opportunity to host this shoot.

Please send your shoot bid on the attached form, with any attachments you may desire, to Clint Kreuser, #3 Susan Court, Beaufort, SC 29907.

At the upcoming AFSA Board of Directors Meeting we will discuss all bids for next year's shoot. We recommend that you contact a local AFSA member or an AFSA Board Member and ask them to be available at the meeting to answer questions about your bid. As an alternative, you may feel free to attend the meeting yourself - most successful bids are presented by club managers or club officers.

I look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 843-521-1822 in the evenings or reach me by e-mail at cashdude@embarqmail.com. You will find all club bidding information on our web site at www.afsashoot.com.

Clint Kreuser
Secretary, AFSA

BID MATRIX USED BY OUR DIRECTORS TO SELECT WINNING BID

Immediately below is the bid matrix used by the director's to make their decision for the 2009 shoot. What you see is exactly what the director's had in front of them to make their decision.  The format is pretty standard and reflects the key information needed.   If you do not feel comfortable filling out the entire form, feel free to provide the information shown immediately below. The information may also be provided by email if you prefer that method of communication.

Ammo and clay target prices may have changed, but this gives you the format of what is shown to the directors. The bids were higher than normal.

.