Both The Queen Of The World and I have had a continuous set of medical ailments, and that looks to continue. Unfortunately, these include surgeries for both of us and we just can't organize the spring blogshoot.
Hopefully this is just a temporary phase and we will look for a fall blogshoot in October or early November.
Apologies to everyone about this, but it's just been too much.
I think most people saw my post from earlier in the week but if not we have postponed the blogshoot. I'll update with the new date when we have it.
The Queen Of The World and I both are sick, and not getting better faster. We don't think it's Covid (probably something less lethal, like yersinia pestis) but it's just not feasible to have the blogshoot this weekend. We will pick a date in the next few weeks, so watch this space.
Sorry to everyone about the change.
We are on for the blogshoot a week from tomorrow. This is an update to the last post that I am reposting because we only have partial info for some of you who are planning on attending.
1. The Gun Club has an online waiver that everyone will need to fill out. If you don't fill this out online you'll have to fill out a paper form when you get there which will be a pain for everyone. If you haven't already, please send me confirmation that you've filled this out.
2, Please forward an email to me (at borepatch at gmail dot com) listing your actual name, your blog name (if applicable), your email address, and how many are in your party (we collected some of this info previously but the royal scribes seem to have misplaced it). This needs to be done, even if you've left a comment that you will be attending because we have to verify everyone's forms have or will be completed. If you haven't already, please send this.
3. IMPORTANT: We need to have some NRA certified Range Safety Officers. If any of y'all are certified RSOs and would volunteer, please send me an email and attach your credentials so we can clear it with the club that we have the required RSOs. Right now we have one but need more. There are a couple of you who were figuring out if you could make it, so please let me know if you will and can RSO. Otherwise I probably need to line extra help up.
And note to self: since this will be a regular event here I need to get myself certified.
We are confirmed for Saturday, January 15 at Manatee Gun Club in Myakka City, FL. The club is now under new management so there will be a few changes from previous shoots. Please do not arrive prior to 10:30am. Do not stop in the office, just follow the signs to the end of the road where our range is. Prior to January 15, please review and follow the 6 easy steps below.
Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
1. The Gun Club has an online waiver that everyone will need to fill out. If you don't fill this out online you'll have to fill out a paper form when you get there which will be a bit of a pain for everyone.
2, Please forward an email to me (at borepatch at gmail dot com) listing your actual name, your blog name (if applicable), your email address, and how many are in your party (we collected some of this info previously but the royal scribes seem to have misplaced it). This needs to be done, even if you've left a comment that you will be attending because we have to verify everyone's forms have or will be completed.
3. IMPORTANT: We need to have some NRA certified Range Safety Officers. If any of y'all are certified RSOs and would volunteer, please send me an email and attach your credentials so we can clear it with the club that we have the required RSOs.
4. When you get to the range, follow the signs that say "Borepatch Blogshoot" to the private range at the end of the road. We have that reserved just for us. Shooting stands are covered, and there are 180 yard rifle and 25 yard pistol ranges.
5. We're asking everyone for $20 to cover range costs. As usual, TQOTW will cater lunch which is included in the cost.
6. Lastly, bring whichever guns you want to. Last time we had enough firepower to invade Canada. We will have targets and stands, but the more targets, the merrier. Of course, bring eye and ear protection. Also, bring clips to attach the targets to the stands since no staples are allowed at the range.
Many of you may be interested to know, we have some different out of town visitors this time:
Co-blogger and my brother-from-another mother ASM826, down from North Carolina
Long time commenter Libertyman, down from New Hampshire
(tentatively) B from In The Middle Of The Right, from Indiana (I am looking into airports and will email you shortly)
I've had some scheduling hiccups but have secured the private range at the Gun Club. 180 yard rifle range and 25 yard pistol range. Private (only us!) and covered shooting.
Here's the venue info - please RSVP in the comments if you will come.
The Venue:
When: Saturday, January 15 at 12:00 noon until 4:00 PM.
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
Facilities: Some of our readers are bringing their betters halves (as am I) and the fairer sex will be relieved to know that there are proper, civilized facilities in the club house.
Cost: $20 per person to cover range rental and sundries.
Lunch: Will be catered by The Queen Of The World and is included in the price.
The weather is cooling off here in Southwest Florida, which means it's time to start thinking about the next blogshoot. One idea that got tossed out today at the shooting range is the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The advantage is that some folks take that time off work; the disadvantage is that some do not.
The double disadvantage is that both Christmas Day and New Year's Day are on Saturday. That don't work at all. December 26 (Boxing Day) is a Sunday, and so is probably the only time that week likely to plausibly work.
So leave a comment about the desirability of Boxing Day, or a different day in December, or next month (November) as dates you would find attractive to come turn money into noise.
Man, that was fun! Thanks to everyone who came - final turnout was over twenty which is pretty awesome. Big Country has a good AAR posted already but here are the highlights from my point of view:
We are confirmed for the SW Florida blogshoot. The Queen Of The World is flying with one broken wing but will be there.
The Venue:
When: Saturday, February 27 at 12:00 noon until 4:00 PM.
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
Last night The Queen Of The World fell and broke her wrist. The break is bad enough that she'll have to have surgery next week. So far the Blogshoot is still on but I'm pushing the start time to 12:00 noon. This will cut the day a little short but I'll have to set up by myself and so it will take longer than planned.
Please check this space on Friday evening for any changes - I don't think we'll change anything but life sometimes speaks in its Outdoors Voice.
On the plus side, the local Doc-In-A-Box was actually a 24 hour ER, with X-Ray and all that sort of thing. They got her right in and splinted up. The splint is very cool - it is a big gauze pad that they put on her arm and bandaged over. in 15 minutes it was hard as concrete. The doc said that the moisture in the air is what causes the chemical reaction to stiffen it up.
Our very own Miguel has graciously offered to run the El Presidente drill at Saturday's blogshoot. For those of you not familiar with El Presidente, Pew Pew Tactical has a good overview:
“El Presidente” is a shooting drill originally developed by Jeff Cooper (remember the 4 firearm safety rules) when he was training security for a South American president. The name came about when it was incorporated into USPSA/IPSC as a standardized stage.
Click through for more detail, but this looks like it will be a lot of fun. Miguel says to bring your sidearm (and holster if you have one) and at least two magazines (as if any of all y'all would bring only two ...)
Here's the venue info - if you haven't RSVP'ed , please leave a comment.
The Venue:
When: Saturday, February 27 at 12:00 noon until 4:00 PM.
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
Facilities: Some of our readers are bringing their betters halves (as am I) and the fairer sex will be relieved to know that there are proper, civilized facilities in the club house.
Cost: $20 per person to cover range rental and sundries.
We are a go for the February Southwest Florida Blogshoot a week from today. The weather looks like it will continue "National Hate Florida Week" for another 7 days:
Please leave a comment to confirm that you are planning to come on the 27th so we will have a final headcount. Also, check back tomorrow for the form you will need to download and fill out (ah, where would we be without paperwork?).
The Venue:
When: Saturday, February 27 at 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM.
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
Facilities: Some of our readers are bringing their betters halves (as am I) and the fairer sex will be relieved to know that there are proper, civilized facilities in the club house.
Cost: $20 per person to cover range rental and sundries.
Some of the attendees at the last blogshoot are or were medic/EMTs. Is anyone interested in giving a short (15 - 30 minute) talk on gun range first aid? The RSOs will keep this range safe but having an overview of what to do if something goes wrong somewhere else might be pretty useful knowledge.
Shoot me an email if you have the background and are interested.
The private range is not available on February 20, but it is available on Saturday, February 27. I have a verbal commitment to reserve it - there was a mix up last time but the range will be available this time around. It will give us not only a 25 yard pistol range but a 200 yard rifle range as well.
Please leave a comment to confirm that you are planning to come on the 27th.
Also, if you are an NRA certified RSO can you please email me with your RSO cert which the gun club wants.
The Venue:
When: Saturday, February 27 at 10:00 AM (until 4:00 PM)
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
Facilities: Some of our readers are bringing their betters halves (as am I) and the fairer sex will be relieved to know that there are proper, civilized facilities in the club house.
Apologies for the lack of posting - The Queen Of The World and I had a houseguest from the Camp Borepatch days, and while it was great fun it pretty much filled the days.
But folks are asking about the February blogshoot so let me poll the readership. Leave a comment if you can be in the area for a blogshoot on February 20. Also say whether you know of a range that could handle the crowd (we had over 20 for the first).
I'm pretty sure I can get the private range at the gun club this far out (and will make sure that the wires won't get crossed again - we will have both a 25 yard pistol range and a 200 yard rifle range). If we do it here again The Queen Of The World says she'll cater it again but some people couldn't make the trip and I'm happy to travel if there's another range.
Man, that was fun and a HUGE thank you to everyone who came. It was actually JayG's first New England Gunblogger shoot that got me into blogging,way back in the day and there is a real sense of camaraderie in these events. Both Miguel and Big Country have their own AARs posted, and you should go check them out.
Of course people brought their guns. A popular saying up at the New England blogshoots was "We have enough guns to invade Canada." Kevinn Creighton of Ammoman - a Canadian from Calgary - was quick to point out that it wasn't enough to invade his part of Canada.
The turnout was very good - final count was 20 which is really good for these. There was a mixup at the range where they didn't give us the private range, so we only had 25 yard shooting, rather than a couple hundred. That will get fixed next time for sure. But people had a lot of fun - these are as much about meeting folks in meetspace as about the shooting. There was a lot of support for doing this regularly, and so I will start planning the next one, tentatively scheduled for February.
I will put up a post later about more of the social aspects, but wanted to give you a sense of the shooty goodness that was had.
It was a great success and a great time was had, but life has been busy and I'll get a post up tomorrow.
Mostly sunny and in the low '80s. Lock and load, and we'll see you tomorrow.
We have 16 confirmed attendees, which is a great turnout. Here are some things to keep in mind
The Venue:
When: Saturday, November 14 at 12:30 PM
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
Really Where: Go to their office to sign their safety forms, then follow the signs to the range.
Facilities: Some of our readers are bringing their betters halves (as am I) and the fairer sex will be relieved to know that there are proper, civilized facilities in the club house. Gentlemen, please resist the urge to use "Gentleman's Prerogative" behind the bushes. You savages ...
The public ranges have 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges, plus a 25 yard pistol range. The private range has 25 to 200 yard rifle/pistol lanes. All Ranges are covered, and the weather looks like it should be good. Please check the gun club web site for range rules - footwear, eye and ear protection, (for the ladies) nothing low cut, etc.*
Safety: Please read their range safety info. Bring your eye and ear protection. If you don't have any, you can rent some at the clubhouse. The Queen Of The World is looking forward to bringing her brand new (pink) ones. Accessorize as you see fit.
Miguel and Kevin Creighton, you said that you were NRA certified Range Safety Officers. By the power vested in me by The Queen Of The World, you are delegated as Southwest Florida Blogshoot RSOs. It may be a rowdy crowd, so feel free to bring your brass knuckles/bear spray. There may or may not be a Manatee Gun Club RSO; we'll see.
The Cost: The range will charge $20 for a half day's shooting on the public range, but it will be $15 for the private range if we get 15 people (and thus all the requests for the nose count). If we can get the private range then I will cover the range cost and will hit all y'all up when you get there; otherwise you can each pay the club at the office (this will be sorted out by the time you get there).
Other Things To Bring: Guns. Lots of guns.
Also folding chairs.
Food: Lunch will be catered by The Queen Of The World.
Weather: It's still hurricane season, and so the weather might end up being nasty. Check this blog first thing Saturday morning before you come. I will put up a post saying either "Yes, we're good to go" or "We're rained out".
* Unless you plan on dong the Hot Brass Dance, of course.
The (first) Southwest Florida Blogshoot (catered by The Queen Of The World) is hard up upon us, and it looks like we will have enough people that I might be able to reserve the 200 yard private rifle and pistol range at the gun club. I need to call them to reserve it on Thursday, so I need a final nose count from everyone.
What I need from you: Leave a comment saying that (a) you are coming and (b) the total number coming with you (some of you have said that you were going to bring your better half or a friend).
This is the Venue:
When: Saturday, November 14 at 12:30 PM
Where: Manatee Gun and Archery Club, 1805 Logue Rd, Myakka City, FL 34251
The Cost: The range will charge $20 for a half day's shooting on the public range, but it will be $15 for the private range if we get 15 people (and thus the request for the nose count). The public ranges have 100, 200, and 300 yard ranges, plus a 25 yard pistol range. The private range has 25 to 200 yard rifle/pistol lanes. All Ranges are covered, but it looks like Tropical Storm Eta might (hopefully) be gone by then. Please check the gun club web site for range rules - footwear, eye and ear protection, (for the ladies) nothing low cut, etc.*
The Queen Of The World is planning to bring lunch. Charlie Foxtrot, thanks for the offer of the crock pot of beans, but I don't think that there's electricity. In any case, The Queen Of The World is a Force of Nature when she is planning an event, and she is planning this is full force.
The following people have said they are coming:
Ratus
Dixie Dennis
David L
Kevin Creighton (Ammoman)
Frederick
Divemedic
BigCountryExpat
Charlie Foxtrot
Please confirm with a headcount and I will reserve the range.
* Unless you plan on dong the Hot Brass Dance, of course.
