Vintage Gunners Cup 2024?

[Kevin McCormack]

You also have to take into consideration that the new sponsor simply doesn't want to continue the event at that location. The Delaneys were at least 2-year veterans (as exhibitors) at Ernie's so I am fairly confident they paid close attention to the mechanics of hosting the event there and grilled Ernie as to the prats and pitfalls of putting something like that on. I am not privy to whatever contact and/or depth of conversation they may or may not have had with Mike regarding Rock Mountain hosting the event, so I cannot speak to that.

The choice of a location at Wellsville PA IMHO was a "testing the waters" experiment that failed for two reasons: First, the inherent naivete that everything would come off like clockwork as they had seen at Ernie's (and earlier venues like Sandanona and Pintail Point) per efficient range management and organization, and Second, the "unawareness quotient" of the local range management that when you advertise that shooting will begin at 9AM, YOU NEED TO BE READY TO SHOOT AT 9AM!!

Serious competitors (think Mikey, Daryl, the Defernelmonts & others of their ilk) are in an SUV train with ATVs on trailers or rented golf cars when the gates open at 9AM for an advertised day of cracking clays; there is little tolerance for the trappers for "Well, it was working great yesterday" for a balky trap or "the targets must be still wet from last night's dew" as bird after bird shatters into confetti coming off the plate.

Also, when you advertise a known major competitive event 6 mos. in advance, you plan ahead to NOT RUN OUT OF FOOD AT NOON ON DAY 2 (as occured at Pintail Point on the 2nd day of the event!).

Lastly, the non-shooting-related logistics (e.g., variety and quality of available food vendors, proximity and suitability of lodging (not to mention affordability) and overall attention to detail (clean Port A Johns!!) in providing shooters as well as spectators an enjoyable day afield play a crucial role in making one want to return for another event.

I give the Delaneys a lot of credit for taking on this "Dark Side of the Moon" effort on a first- time basis. They are an established firm offering high-end driven bird shooting in Great Britain and Europe. Having been on a few of these (not with the Delaneys) I can appreciate the bifurcation of logistics required and the exhaustive attention to detail required to bring off both those and the Vintagers within the same year(s).

I would urge all interested parties to read Liz Delaney's eMail to Dr. Bob's Lefever group regarding this change of date and venue for the VGC. Also read Mike Franzen's comment a few posts ago that supporting this event is "good for our community." For those that can't wait to criticize the outcome of their first VGC effort, remember that the empty wagon rattles the loudest.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Brian Dudley

I find it funny that the attitude used to be that the Third weekend in Sept was “vintagers weekend” come hell or high water. Even when it meant scheduling it on the same weekend of another already booked event. But they now have no issue with moving the date around. 2 weeks early last year, 2 weeks later this year.

Brian, thank you for your support.

[High Brass]

Pintail Point made some mistakes. I think Sandanona was the gold standard.

[J.B. Books]

A few of things that I encountered when dealing with staff and volunteers of the Warrington club at the VGC beyond those things already mentioned. When you signed up for the main event they had staggered start times. 9AM. 11AM and 1PM. We wanted to shoot at 9AM so we could finish up and go see the museum at the Army War College in the afternoon. I thought I would be getting a score card for the 9AM round if it was available. Instead I was told there was no guarantee that we could start at 9AM, instead we were told to go stand under a canopy and wait for a trapper to take us out on the course if there was room for the 9AM start. I explained we won't be able to shoot at the later times as we had plans and asked if I could turn our cards back in if we could not shoot at 9AM. We were told NO. So I had to gamble and possibly waste $180.

We got to start at 9AM and had to walk out to the furthest station where targets were in the woods. By the second station I realized with so many broken targets that I would probably need more shells than the extra box I had taken with me because of all the do overs. My truck was a long ways away. At the end of the second station a person from the club came out to reset the targets and apologized saying he had to set up the targets the night before in the dark. This caused long delays at our first three stations as squads backed up on the shotgun start.

We had some amazing squad mates, two teenage boys both shooting Model 21's, 14 and 16 year old and their mentor. Both were shooting fantastic but the 14 year old was shooting lights out. About mid course we were in an elevated shooting stand and there was a low dropping incomer. It was a difficult second shot. The 14 year old was doing the best of all of us and getting solid breaks on that target and the trapper/scorer kept calling them lost with the rest of the squad telling the scorer it was a dead bird. The scorer had taken a seat behind some brush and couldn't see the target being hit below his line of sight. This went on for the entire squad as the scorer didn't change his position when that was suggested. Unfortunately I think it rattle the young man and hurt his composure costing him some targets.

I shrugged it off, sharing what happened with a few friends and went about my way.
All in all I had a great time but mainly because I was enjoying all the tourist activities available in Gettysburg, Carlyle and later Harpers Ferry and Antietam. Bottom line I would love to go back to Gettysburg but not another VGC at Warrington.

[Double Lab]

Let me clarify my last post. Liz and Sean certainly did their part but Liz bit off more than she could handle as she did 90% of it by herself. Warrington SC dropped the ball and was totally unprepared for the event even after having months to prepare for it. It's a shame because he has the potential and the room to put on a good shoot. Plus as Pete said there are many great historic sites in the PA area.

[Allen Peterson]

personally, I love shooting clays, but you can do that any time of the year. Hunting season is a limited time frame and can't be rescheduled. multi day shooting events are fun but not as much as shooting live game over a fine dog. The southern is terrific the guns the people and the shooting. Maybe find a place to hold it after the season. Hunters point, Drakes landing, CVSC, or Rock Mountain could hold a good meet for those folks who like to play dress-up

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Allen Peterson

personally, I love shooting clays, but you can do that any time of the year. Hunting season is a limited time frame and can't be rescheduled. multi day shooting events are fun but not as much as shooting live game over a fine dog. The southern is terrific the guns the people and the shooting. Maybe find a place to hold it after the season. Hunters point, Drakes landing, CVSC, or Rock Mountain could hold a good meet for those folks who like to play dress-up

I’m kinda skeptical of CVSC doing something like the Cup . Brad’s a good guy but I don’t think he wants any part of such an undertaking .

[Pa SxS]

When I first got wind that the Vintage Cup was coming to central Pa. I highly suggested Blue Ridge Sportsman's Association, my home club. They have hosted many state sporting clays championship and SCTP shoots. They are an all volunteer club and located 2 1/2 miles from interstate 81 with motels at almost every exit and tourist attractions around the entire area. Negotiations went round and round with Blue Ridge but in the end Blue Ridge said "No". Why? From what I was told, the Vintagers wanted Blue Ridge (remember Volunteers) to do 90% of the work for little profit. They decided to go to Warrington and I could tell that the preparations for a large shoot just wasn't happening. Too bad, I liked the fact that I could, for once, sleep in my own bed for a shoot!

[Bill Murphy]

The Vintage Cup at Hopkins a couple of years ago may have been good for the shooters, but the show of vendors was less than any in the past. I don't know what can be done about that except to lower the table fees. The PGCA meeting was at the Hopkins Vintage Cup and they don't even have that in 2024. The website has a vendor list that probably includes vendors who have not made their plans yet. The list is probably from previous years.

[Dr Bob]

Bill is right about the Vendor list. The Lefever Arms Collectors Association is listed. We have not yet committed to the new venue. We are waiting to see what the response is and how many plan to show up.