I shoot in at least one USPSA match and one steel challenge match a month. Most times, I am shooting in 2-3 USPSA matches per month. We have a great local club and each of the members are good friends. There are also 4 other clubs within 2hrs drive. We coordinate with a few of them so that our matches fall on different Saturdays. And, there's about 15 of us that usually rotate around to all of the matches and support each other's clubs. These are all level 1 matches and I usually RO 2-3 level 2 matches a year and shoot in them as well.
I do it because I a) love spending the time with my sons doing something fun together and being competitive with them, b) enjoy the camaraderie with the friends I've made in the clubs, and c) like the trigger time. It's a lot of fun.
Participation has been down by about half over the past 6 months, mainly from newer shooters. They just can't find enough ammo to participate (or afford enough of it). Or, they are trying to hold on to what ammo they have. We used to average around 65 people at our local USPSA match each month and about 50 at steel challenge.
Have already shot two USPSA matches this month and have a steel challenge match this coming Saturday.
