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Posted By: Bryan Lee Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/23/11 03:58 PM
I was planning to visit the VC tomorrow and shoot the 16 gauge smallbore course.

Has the rain that we're getting here in central MD made it across the bay?? The radar at this time suggest no, but the weather report for tomorrow looks ugly.

Anyone been over to the VC yet??
Posted By: johnr Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/23/11 07:15 PM
I was there this morning hoping to get in a 12 ga event. The rain was so hard at times had a river going thru the tents. It had subsided some by the time I had to leave and head back to Sykesville,never did get to shoot,other shooters were starting to go out when I left.
Still,I enjoyed drooling over the guns and met a few of the members of the forum for the first time. Hopefully next year will be able to go multiple days.
Posted By: Bryan Lee Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/23/11 08:21 PM
Hey john,

Thanks for the report. I guess I'll put on my waders and venture over tomorrow. Even if I don't get to shoot at least they'll be some nice guns to drool over.

Bryan
Posted By: Dave Weber Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/24/11 12:03 AM
Wet...I am at the Vintage Cup. It has rained nearly all day today (Friday). There was a bit of shooting and I did manage to put in my typical middle-of-the-road performance on the stalking rifle range today. (During the only 2 hours it didn't rain.)

I hope to shoot the clays coiurse in the morning.....we shall see. So far show is what I would describe as uneventful. Some foot traffic not as many vendors but still some nice guns and nice people to hang out with for a few days.

A big shout out and kudos to Marty Sands....He brought this stellar 16 bore Sauer double rifle to the show. It's a hammer gun and has full game scene engraving on it...including a traditional German Werewolf! Aside from the way cool factor the gun is deadly (at least in Marty's hands.) Watching him nail the targets in the stalking rifle event made me very envious!

And a big thank you to the Wunrow's with their hospitality RV and the fabulous snow goose sausages that they provided along with the multitude of beverages!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring better skys.
Posted By: mtwoodson Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 02:41 AM
Was by for a while this morning. Hadn't ever attended before, so was tickled to see all the nifty iron. Dragged along a Merkel drilling, but wound up not shooting the J-Mar Event. The turn out seemed dampened by the weather, but spirits were high and folks were friendly. Saturday was damp instead of downpour, so there was a fair bit of shooting today. Four-wheel drive was still darned handy in the parking lots/pasture.
Posted By: Bryan Lee Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 03:55 AM
We caught a major break with the weather today. It was humid as all get out, but no real rain. A few sprinkles while we were out on the smallbore course but that was it. I had a nice time as usual. The number of vendors has definitely dropped off, but there was still plenty of doubles to drool over. I heard that the VC is heading back to it's birth place, Addieville East for next year. I'll make that trip again because Addieville is a premier SC course.
Posted By: Krakow Kid Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 06:17 AM
Where, pray tell, is Addieville East?

I missed every bloody one of these. Back when they started up in NY state we always seemed to be at the ocean that week because of my wife's vacation schedule. But I figured it was just a matter of time beforen the stars would be aligned and I'd get a chance to go.

Then it went on a USA joyride and outta my line of vision. If it's going to be within easy reach of me next year then for sure I'll finally be going.. AT LAST!
Posted By: Ben Thayer Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 08:45 AM
Addieville East is in Mapleville, RI.

It's been years since I've shot clays, but my fondest memories are from Addieville. Geoff Gabe and crew really know how to put on a shoot (friendly, great targets) and make everyone feel welcome.

Jim
Posted By: Silvers Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 12:15 PM
I was at the VC from Thursday thru mid day Saturday. The rain put a damper on the shooting on Thursday and Friday. Saturday morning was decent with no rain. I'd say the gun and goodies vendors were at ~50% of last year, and shooting and casual attendees were down somewhat. But with all that said there were plenty of guns and accouterments, and the vendors seemed more willing to negotiate to lower numbers. I came home with some things, and had a grand time as usual with regulars/friends I see there every year.

One of the highlights for me is when our web host Dave Weber fell, hook line & sinker, for a good joke while at the Fox Collectors tables.

Of course I understand that the economy is severely hurting a lot of people. And that some have to stay near home because of a family situation. But for those who have the option... we all make choices on events like this.... taking vacation days at work, scheduling alternate casual things with the family, deciding to hunt for doves etc. when you have mucho more days of the season to do same, watching the weather forecast and bagging it if it looks like the sun won't shine, rationalizing it's too far to drive, etc etc. All I have to say is it takes a year for another event like the VC to come around, and none of us are getting younger.

Silvers
Posted By: Franc Otte Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 12:15 PM
Hope you're all having fun..if it's back in RI again I will finally get to go next year.
Man the weather makes such a difference , don't it?.....hoping for clear skies over your heads lads
cheers
franc
Posted By: 1cdog Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 12:17 PM
Hope the weather clears out for everyone attending the VC today.

Anyone spotted any sidelock Greeners?

Thanks!
Posted By: Jent P Mitchell lll Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 03:06 PM
Well the weather man got it right. On Friday it rained and rained and rained at Pintail Point. There was a little break in the rain at Pintail Point on Friday afternoon and a little shooting got done. On Saturday morning when we returned to Pintail Point to try to shoot Ray P. and Jack D. had the road blocked and required us to park over 1000 yards away from the tents. The 2 wheel drive cars had all, yes all, gotten stuck in the normal parking spots on the grass near the tents on Friday evening. The normal grass parking spots had been cut up by the 2 wheel drive cars and turned in to mud ruts. Now half of us attending Pintail Point have 4 wheel drive pickup trucks or 4 wheel drive SUVs and we could have parked near the tents with no problem but Ray wanted to treat us all equally so we were all punished equally and forced to park 1000 yards away on Saturday. This was not a good start to the day. It was still raining on Saturday morning but not as hard as it had on Friday. By 10:00 a.m. on Saturday the rain had stopped and no rain fell the rest of the day. The shooters had fairly good shooting conditions on Saturday afternoon. The number of vendors and dealers attending The Vintage Cup at Pintail Point was way way down this year. For the few of us there we did make the best of it. Just about everybody was wet on Friday and the rain was so heavy it was coming through the tent in places. The few gun dealers there were constantly wiping down there guns with oil cloths and paper towels trying their best to keep them dry. This years Vintage Cup will go down as the second worst for weather and rain. There was actually a worse one in New York one year. For those of you that cancelled and stayed home this year, you made a good decision. Jent
Posted By: rabbit Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 03:32 PM
The mudder of all VCs at Sandanona is actually one of my best memories of the VC (twice there and twice at PP so I missed a few. I like Ray; I just can't stand the glorified cornfield at PP.

jack
Posted By: cherry bomb Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 03:52 PM
Previous poster forgot to mention there's a storm ditch on both sides of road in the regular parking area, and 4 wheel drives were getting buried right to the frame trying to cross said ditch. In just a few minutes I saw three, including a land rover and two heavy duty 4wd pickups, being pulled out by a big farm tractor. There were ruts there from others. Say, would you let your front lawn get torn up by amateur baja jocks with their 4wd's, or make everyone park in a more stable area? I didn't have my laser range finder but I have doubts it was 1000 yds. Whatever, the distance was probably closer than where we had to park cars when the Vintagers were at Sandanona. I don't remember hearing complaints back then. CB
Posted By: Krakow Kid Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 04:13 PM
Thanks, Ben, I'll bust out the map (old school - paper) shortly. Franc, my friend I've never met, maybe there's a chance for us to meet at one of these things yet, eh?
Posted By: Bryan Lee Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 04:29 PM
Have to agree with Cherry Bomb.

Also, I didn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes for a shuttle at any point in the day. The normal parking area was a quagmire, so the organisers had to come up with a plan B. I thought they did an excellent job.

Even though Pintail Point is basically in my back yard, i'll welcome the return to Addieville in RI. Geoff has much better terrain to work with and sets up some super targets. Queenstown is flat as a pancake. The target setters have NO elevation changes to work with, so thay do the best they can.

While it's true I think, that the VC has lost some of it's "luster" over the past 15 years, it's still a fun time and I'd hate to see it disappear.
Posted By: Hammergun Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/25/11 11:24 PM
I have been attending for 14 years straight and agree the event has slipped in quality, probably for many reasons. I just don't think Pintail put on as nice an event as Sandanona. Parking was always a problem, food has been spotty in availability, five stand not always available and a host of other details. Stations on the course staffed by one person both trapping and scoring, leading to problems. I've even seen teenage trappers badgered to change a score. Nowhere on the grounds available just to sit and put your gear down, except the porch and that was being used by the food vendor the last two years.

I remember Addieville being very nice and look forward to perhaps TWO five stands being available all day, and close to the tents. Maybe a wobble or ZZ bird setup, plenty of porta-pots set in the shade, food available from start to finish and good parking. A renewal of the Friday evening cocktail party and Saturday evening banquet would be nice too.
Posted By: eightbore Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/26/11 12:30 AM
How soon we forget. How far did participants and any non vendors or VIPs have to walk to the festivities at Millbrook. Quite a distance, is the answer. The "walk" or "shuttle ride" at Pintail Point was all weather related. Normally, parking was wherever you wanted to park except in vendor spaces. Barring emergencies, like ridiculous rain, both venues work just fine. The worst year at Millbrook was easily as bad as this year at Pintail Point. Worse than the weather was the separation of participation caused by the EPIC game fair. Hopefully, that will not happen again and also hopefully, it will not put the silver bullet in either event.
Posted By: DGM Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/26/11 02:17 AM
Results are now posted on the Pintail website. While weather Sunday was humid, it didn't rain. It looks like there were 58 Sunday main event shooters. Last year there were 103, so it was certainly down this year. With the competition from EPIC for vendors, wet weather, and no Parker gathering this year, it clearly got hit hard from a lot of sides.

While many in attendance were disappointed to see the sharp decline in shooters and vendors at this year's Vintage Cup, we should keep in mind the other sxs shoots have all grown in vendors and shooters this year, which is an encouraging sign that these types of events overall are actually growing.

By comparison, this year's Southern had about 90 main event shooters (not including the Parker/Smith main event shooters.) I recall the Great Northeast at Hausmans had over 80 shooters for the Sunday main event. Last year's Fall Southern SXS had about 50 main event shooters and I suspect it will it continue its upward growth next month.

You can see this year's Vintage Cup results here:

http://www.theriverplantation.com/activities_outdoor_sporting_recreation/results.asp?artid=276
Posted By: Stanton Hillis Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/26/11 11:07 AM
Originally Posted By: DGM
Last year's Fall Southern SXS had about 50 main event shooters and I suspect it will it continue its upward growth next month.


Let's just hope for better weather than what they had at the VC last weekend. Cool crisp mornings,in the low 50's would be nice, with low humidity while I'm wishing. wink

SRH
Posted By: DGM Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/29/11 12:38 PM
I have been to the past two Fall Southern SXS shoots and had a great time. Hospitality was wonderful. Weather was fortunately very pleasant. Targets were really good - including some fun ones like at target shot off a trampoline. All the best vendors were there.

Details are at: http://deepriver.net/SouthernSidebySide/SouthernSidebySideFallClassic/tabid/76/Default.aspx
Posted By: eightbore Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/29/11 01:46 PM
The "co proprietor" of the Fall Southern in Georgetown, and owner of the SC venue, Rick Hemingway, is a nice guy and great host. He is the gentleman who has set and pulled the targets for the Parker versus L.C. Smith competition at Deep River for many years. He has also hosted a few South Carolina NSCA State Championships on his course. This is not Rick's first rodeo. It is a great piece of property in a great part of the country.
Posted By: rifle Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/29/11 02:37 PM
I heard from one of my shooting buddies who attended,that some guy went nuts on one of the trappers?starting shooting his gun into the ground in a rage! It was said, he was to be banned from any future events concerning the Vintagers? Anyone know who it was or any details?
Sounds like somebodys wound up too tight,really bad conduct, if true
Posted By: Hal M Hare Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/29/11 03:17 PM
I heard only that they were verbally abusive to the trapper!
Posted By: DGM Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/30/11 05:58 PM
Originally Posted By: rifle
I heard from one of my shooting buddies who attended,that some guy went nuts on one of the trappers?starting shooting his gun into the ground in a rage! It was said, he was to be banned from any future events concerning the Vintagers? Anyone know who it was or any details?
Sounds like somebodys wound up too tight,really bad conduct, if true


I didn't hear that, and I hope it isn't true.

I am grateful to the staff at Pintail for all their efforts in the face of some pretty bad weather. Everyone was very helpful. I was one of the many who had their car pulled out of the mud by the Pintail staff. I think they improvised well by moving the parking down to the asphalt and running the shuttles. I never really had a wait for ride.

I really appreciate the trappers who spent the long day out in the rain while most of us huddled together in the tents and clubhouse. It would be pretty sad if they received any abuse from shooters given the efforts they made under the circumstances.
Posted By: Clif W. Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/30/11 06:27 PM


Anybody that ever fires a weapon anywhere but down range needs to be summarily trounced and banned from that type of event for life
Posted By: eightbore Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/30/11 07:36 PM
I have not heard of that "problem", was there all four days.
Posted By: Clif W. Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 09/30/11 08:07 PM


I was mightly pissed I could not hit that #4 Teal or #6 "wabbit" worth a damn at the 5 stand......... but sucked it up and retired to the scotch later in the evening and it all subsided
Posted By: Franc Otte Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 10/02/11 03:07 PM
Krakow Kid, I also have missed every bloody one,It hits birthday season @ my house, but RI is within range.
I believe Addieville East is slightly below n to the right of Addieville North smile
Next year , we'll meet in the beer tent!
Franc
Posted By: BIRDSHOOTER Re: Vintage Cup so far?? - 10/03/11 01:25 AM
drove down fri., 5.5" of rain. i live in N.C PA. usually a 4 hr. drive 6.45 because of rain. i went over sat. and had to park in east jabip, it probably was 1000 yrds. but no shortage of shuttles. the humidity was terrible, i went bact to truck after shooting to change my shirt and went to look at the goodies and was sweating on a purdey. traps malfuntioned more than a few times (weather?). i talked to a few people and everybody i talked to was ready for a change. maybe becaue they knew it was the last year they wern't as friendly, service not quite the same IMHO. jeff
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