Looks like Snipers Hide just fell on its sword.

[Starbuck]

Here goes with my first post on here:

I learned quite a bit from the Hide - I have been on there for five years or so - and to see it now as part of Scout Media is useless to me as a shooter, and disappointing. I have no interest in fantasy football, bass fishing, and the other stuff over there at Scout. But Frank didn't make the move because he wants to keep the Hide membership happy, and this is his mistake, IMO.

One of Frank's justifications for moving the Hide to Scout is that it will "grow the sport" of precision shooting and comps, by attracting some of the fantasy football and/or bass boat types to precision shooting. He uses the example somewhere of a hunter who has a Perazzi shotgun getting interested in precision rifles and then buying an AI. I don't see how this is good for shooters. It's good for the firearms industry, but not good for shooters. "Growing the sport" in this way will make ranges and matches more crowded. Look at the wait lists too for clubs like like PWSA and the Boulder Rifle Club. Look at how crowded the Mike K's SRM has gotten to be. Can't get a slot for years at the ASC, etc. Look what's happened to alpine skiing and rock climbing over the past decade or two: Great sports that are now overcrowded due to the relentless push for growth by the industry.

I'm still on the fence about whether I'm going to hang out at new Hide or move on. If a lot of people move on, so will the advertisers. If they bail, then Frank will have bet the wrong way for sure.