Friendship

[cmuchalek]

Hi All
Just got back from Friendship.
Met old friends and made some new ones. Spent Friday and all day Saturday at the grounds. Crowds were way up. The primitive camp was by my observation very close to full. Lots of vendors. The main side was about half occupied with vendors. Parking lots were full.

Nice to see it so busy. Got what I needed, sold quite a few things through Bob Browder at Long Hunter Leather Company in the primitive camp. Weeded out my early mistakes. Thanks again Bob.

Chambers had a very nice Mike Brooks Fowler for sale. 54 cal. Good price. Too bad it was sprayed with black paint for the special old effect. Certainly not my cup of tea. Looking for something a little more HC.

Hope the Friendship Shoot tradition continues for many more years because it is a very special place. Just goes by so fast. Way too much to do in 2 days.

Didn't find the gun I was looking for but will keep searching.

Thanks Bushy

 

I’m a little surprised at your post because - for the most part anyway - I thought it was exactly the opposite.
Maybe it’s just because I can remember back too far.
I can remember when it was very rare to see an unoccupied booth on Commercial Row. Lots of times the booths were filled and they would sell spaces between the buildings. Both Saturday and today there was almost an entire row of booths that were closed up. Sometimes in the past there were so many people checking out Commercial Row that it could be difficult to get from point A to point B. Both days this time the number of shoppers was almost sparse by comparison. I can never recall a time when there was so much empty space between the road and the sheep shed.
For those shopping for a traditional gun it seemed like the choice was limited to either mass-produced imports of varying quality or the high priced high end stuff. There was little or none of the basement shop offerings that, while they may have been lacking in class, offered a gun with quality parts that could be relied on for years of service. Back when, these type of guns made up the majority of the offerings. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic that the likes of Wallace Gusler, Mark Silver, and others are present to offer guns that show how it should be done. But the folks who can afford one of their rifles are few and far between. I really can’t think of an answer to this problem.
I can remember when the primitive area was about twice (or even more) the size of what it is now. One interesting thing that I somehow missed noticing until today was that in the entire primitive area there was not one tipi. ”˜Twas a time when there were many.
Some of the familiar vendors of times past no longer exist. Some, like James Townsend, TOW, and Panther Primitives, simply don’t come anymore. I would guess we can blame the ”˜net. Whatever the reason, I held off ordering some things because I thought I could, as I’d done many times in the past, buy them either on Commercial Row or in the primitive area. I was wrong.
It’s still worth going, but for shopping purposes it may not be all that much longer.

 

[cmuchalek]

Hi Randy
Yep lots of empty spaces in commercial row. Stated about 50%. Felt it was a good crowd of visitors and vendors at primitive side. Steady with crowd breaks now and than. Parking lot is a good indicator of people attending.

I too remember shopping until 11 pm on the first Friday evening. All the vendors stayed. Can blame the casinos for that.

Don't think it ever will be what it once was but it is sure as good as it's been in a long time.

I don't like internet shopping and love to hold a rifle in my hand before buying as with all my purchases.

As they say buyers will come if the vendors do. Maybe the vendor market should be realistically changed to Friday through Tuesday. I believe it was the vendors withdrawing early that catapulted the changes.

It is still the best outdoor gathering for us muzzle loaders that I know existing today.

By the way I bought John Curry's new book and chatted with him for a time. Carries a ton of info inside his mind. A great gentleman to speak with and bond.

Thanks Bushy

 

There are a lot of pro and cons to internet shopping. Like you, I would prefer to see what I’m buying firsthand, but you can’t if it isn’t available from the businesses you can get to. The other venue for me is Feast of the Hunter’s Moon near Lafayette IN in October. I haven’t been there in many years and it may have gone downhill a bit as well. At any rate, it’s doubtful I can make up there this year anyway.
The one thing I did get that I’m happy about is a wood box made and signed by the late Jim Kreimer. Jim and I were friends for years, but since I’d drifted away from the game I didn’t even realize he was sick. I didn’t know he’d passed away until several months after the fact. Now I have something to help remember him by.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Glad to hear things are picking up again on the primative side. About twelve years or so ago (The mind isn't as clear as it used to be. ) I made my pilgramage to Friendship. I had always heard about it and dreamed of actually getting there and finally had the opertunity to go. I found the primative side almost empty! While the modern side and sheep sheds were full. Talking to some people I found out there had been a big feud between primative and modern shooters and the primative side had lost! We need to stop being like political parties and learn to get along or our entire sport will die! :idunno: :idunno:

 

[Big John]

I stayed til Sunday am for awards, approx 1,500 shooters participated at the spring shoot, 20% increase from 2009-2012.. 5,400 targets shot also a 4 year high.

 

[trent/OH]

In regards to tipis, I saw but one. I remember pointing it out to my son. In the Rand House, there's an aerial photo hanging on the wall which shows "the good ole days". I recall that round white dots (tipis) outnumbered square or rectangular white dots (canvas tents) by a modest margin. My son and I agreed that transporting long tipi poles could be a real challenge.

 

In regards to tipis, I saw but one. I remember pointing it out to my son. In the Rand House, there's an aerial photo hanging on the wall which shows "the good ole days". I recall that round white dots (tipis) outnumbered square or rectangular white dots (canvas tents) by a modest margin. My son and I agreed that transporting long tipi poles could be a real challenge.

I remember a guest editorial about authenticity that Doc Baker wrote in the old Buckskin Report. After pointing out that canvas tipis, Baker lean-tos, and Whelen lean-tos were all post-1840, he said that the first marquis set up at Friendship was almost kicked off the primitive range because nobody knew what it was. It was the only period shelter there. Things have indeed come a long way.
Regarding the transporting of lodge poles.
The first time I met Phil “Fuzzy” Andrews was at a shoot in conjunction with Canal Days in Metamora, Indiana. He arrived with lodge poles (albeit for a small tipi) strapped on the top of a VW Beetle. If buckskining is about anything, it’s about being resourceful.