Schutzenfest 2009: Further Details

If you haven't told me you want in, you are a couple of weeks away from being counted out! Holla back!

I went to the super-seekrit location for this year's Schutzenfest and I think it will be a good match for the year.

2009: ammo prices are sky-high
Range: suitable for 2 shooters at a time, max., with a mild concern (for the neighbors) that it not sound like a war zone all day long

The range is immediately behind a house situated on 87 acres, with nothing behind the backstop for a good mile, including 230 undeveloped acres. The backstop is a pretty good size pile of mostly-clay earth. It stops bullets but good. Miss and you're shooting downhill at nothing.

It's all downhill, and drainage is into the bed of a 45-acre lake. The property owner requests, if possible, use of non-lead ammunition; please bear that in mind when you are shopping. Ball is better than hollow point for the day (which is good because it's also cheaper!)

There will be provision for shooting distances from point-blank to a full 100 yards. In case you haven't been outside lately, 100 yards is far even with a telescope sight on your rifle. Since one of the primary goals of the event is fun I'm thinking most shooting will be done at <50 yards. At that sort of range, hitting even with a a fairly poor rifle is doable.

Targets will be mostly paper stapled to cardboard, empty coke/beer and 3lbs coffee cans. If you have something more creative, bring it and we'll run it by the landowner. It seems like as long as you pick up all the pieces he won't mind too much what you bring to shoot at.

It is dry out there. If you smoke, you're dumb and it's a bad idea out there right now. It hasn't rained appreciably in 16 months. The grass and dirt are very dry. The only thing growing is scrub mesquite . . . wear closed shoes!

There will be plenty of time between your turns on the firing line to socialize and tell sea stories, haze shooters for misses, etc. The food and the line will be in very close proximity, so if you want to eat, you won't have far to go.

I've updated the list of guns I'm pretty sure will be there (see the Main Page), go check it out if you haven't in a while.