Rendevous shoots

[travisc406]

can someone clue me in on what participating shoots they may have at renfevous and details on it> Iam getting excited for next year and have only walked around a rendevous and next year wanna play too. thanx Travis

 

[redwing]

It depends on the Rondy. Some of them may shoot rifle at 25 50 and 100 yd on paper. They can have 25 and 50 smooth bore paper. Pistol at 25 and 50 yards. Small bore rifle at 25 and 50 yards.
The primitive matches are big at Rondys. They are often set up like hunting walking thru and shooting targets in a field setting. You may have to start fires with a flint and set traps in a creek.
Quail walks with a smooth bore shooting clay targets. You may shoot smooth bores at a fort shoot where you shoot from a barricade at targets. The fellows that set these up can come up with some fun shooting. :thumbsup:

 

[Many Klatch]

Subscribe to Smoke and Fire Magazine.
http://www.smoke-fire.com/

They list every event in every time line from Roman to WWII. You will find that there is an event in the F&I to 1812 eras that for every weekend. There should be something in there that is close and is of interest to you.

Many Klatch

 

[CoyoteJoe]

About any shot you can think of and about any target you can imagine may turn up at a rendezvous shoot.
Most of the small rendezvous I attend in Colorado aren't advertised, get into one and you'll hear about others. The "standard shoot", if there were such a thing, is the trail walk. This will normally be 10-20 shots at steel gongs of various sizes at various distances, small gongs at 20 yards and big ones out to 200 yards. One popular shot is to split a ball on an axe blade to break two clay birds. Another is to split a playing card with a rifle ball. In these small shoots there may be only 10-20 shooters and it isn't practical to run separate categories. Men, women, youngsters, flint, percussion and smoothbores all shoot the same course at the same time. They do however, award separate prizes for women and youngsters. There is a growing interest in smoothbore and some are now running a separate smoothbore shoot.
Another event at some rendezvous is the "mountainman run" where one may start by throwing knife and hawk, run to another station where you load and fire at a target, several such shots, run again and set a trap, run again and end by starting a fire. Score is by time with penalties for missed targets. These are best set up so that spectators can watch and so that us slow and short winded old farts can still compete. :haha:

 

[Many Klatch]

The basic skills and equipment you will need are as follows:

1) Gun and bag - be able to load out of the bag. Assume that you can't bring a range rod. Learn to use the rod in the gun. Be able to pull a dryball with the equipment you carry in your pouch and be able to change a flint. It's a lot easier if you figure out how to shoot with just a spit patch and avoid having to wipe between every shot. Simplify your gear and learn where everything is. Learn to load standing up in the middle of a field without a table near by. Make sure that you have a separate powder measure and horn - rock and roll horns are usually not allowed.

2) Hawk and Knife - a lot of matches have tomahawk and knife targets. Be able to cut a playing card with some regularity. Maximum size of a regulation hawk blade is 4". Don't show up with a Viking axe. The knife needs to be a standard looking knife, not a special designed throwing knife. If it looks like Bowie and has wood or leather handles you should be OK. Ninja throwing knives and suriken are not allowed. Figure out a belt for both and learn to shoot with the belt on. Also practice throwing while holding your gun in one hand.

3) Flint and steel - starting a fire for time with flint and steel is a standard item at most shoots anymore. You need to be able to get flame in less than 10 seconds if you want to be competitive. Top times are 4 seconds.

4) All components of your kit, ramrod, gun, knife, sights, pouch, belt should be able to fit within the following - no aluminum, no plastic, no fiberglass.

5) Peep sights and buckhorn sights are usually not allowed, local club rules will vary. To be legal sights can be brass, silver, gold or steel. They can be painted white or black. Red or blaze orange is not allowed. Whiteout is good for the white paint and soot or blackpowder mixed with spit can blacken a sight.

6) Learn to set a trap. Know how to set small ones and big double spring ones. Usually the trap setting at a match is done with one that has weakened springs, but every once in a while someone uses a real thumb buster. Know how to handle the big ones.

7) Remember the range officer is the complete authority. What ever the range officer says is law. However whatever the range officer doesn't say is also law. For example: If the instructions for a target are "stick the hawk" in a block. You can probably just walk up and stick it in and not throw it. If they tell you that you have to have one foot on a stake when you shoot, that doesn't necessarily mean that your toe has to touch it. You may find that standing in front of the post with your heel touching the post may give you a better shot. Never let someone else hold your gun on a woodswalk. In many matches, giving up your gun is minus points.

8) Remember to have fun. It is best if you go through with people that laugh and joke. I am a serious competitor, but I am going to be joking all day while standing on the line. I like to crack a joke just as my buddies are zeroing in on the target and they do the same to me. Grizz and I have shot for score at Friendship and had the Range officer tell us that he really likes to score us because we joke and have fun while we shoot. On other ranges it is as quiet as an office and as serious as a tomb.

Many Klatch

 

[paulvallandigham]

Don't expect to know what you are doing, or to win any prizes at your first rendezvous shoot, and you will go along way. If you know a club that hosts a rendezvous shoot you are planning to attend, JOIN THE CLUB! Then talk to the officers about the shoot requirements. Once you shoot in one or two rendezvous shoots, you get a feel for what the others are likely to be.

Every club and every rendezvous is different. They should be. 60 miles away from me, at Sullivan Illinois, The Prairieland Frontiersmen host a Rendezvous with a " Seneca Run" which has added events every year I have been there. I can run, on a bad knee, so I have had to spectate when I Have been to the event- the last weekend in April each year.

My club has a lot of old guys with bad knees, and other maladies, so we set up a Hunter's walk instead of a Seneca run. We try to change targets for the rendezvous, to give members something new to shoot. And the " other skills " events change annually, too. We score based on tasks completed( targets hit) rather than on time, as the Seneca Runs are scored. It has allowed a lot of shooters to participate who could never do a Seneca Run.

Instead of one shooter on the course at a time, groups of shooters go through the course at one time. If the course can be set up safely, more than one group may be on the course at the same time. The fellows from Sullivan, who come to our Rendezvous, enjoy our " Hunter's Walk" as much as our members enjoy their Seneca Run.

Both clubs have expanded their shotgun events over the years, and there seems to be a recent resurgence in interest in pistol shooting, too. So, talk to the officers of the host club, and to other shooters who are experienced at attending Rendezvous. The better prepared you are, the better you are likely to do.

Best Wishes. One way or another, you are going to have fun. That is a given. :hatsoff:

 

[R. Miller]

come shoot with at YRC about 1/2 the bunch are buckskinners.......Stickwalker

 

[J.D.]

In general, what the others have said. Rules vary widely...real widely. Some shoots allow almost anything, some are more restrictive.

The best way to learn the rules of a given shoot is to look closely at their flier. Rules are usually listed, in some detail, on the flier.

The alternative is to contact the club contact person for an explanation of targets and rules.

In this area, rules are usually limited to round ball loaded from the pouch, no shaders or chew straps, and slings cannot be used for support.

Some others shoots limit adjustable sights. Others, on the extreme end of the spectrum, are flintlock only using only historically correct gear to include any and all items carried on the person...and there is someone to inspect each contestant. However, these PC events are the exception, rather than the rule.

The only rule of thumb I can offer is to expect anything for targets. I have shot chain suspended both horizontally and vertically. Coil springs off of a truck, split ball, cutting a ball and breaking clay birds on either side, charcoal briquettes suspended on strings, acorns suspended on string, candles, feathers, soft drink straws, matchsticks, toothpicks, tacks, metal silhouettes, and rarely paper.

Some of those shots were timed with various means. Rarely with a stopwatch. Usually with an hour glass style egg timer placed where you can see it, or a rattle box.

The most psychologically challenging target I have ever shot is a raw egg suspended on a string at 25 yards, shot off hand. The choice to shoot the egg is given to the competitor. Hitting the egg resulted in double points. Missing the egg resulted in a loss of double points...unless the shooter ate a raw egg kept in a cooler next to the scorer. If the competitor kept the egg down long enough to walk away, he did not receive a deduction of points.

The most physically difficult target required sitting in a saddle mounted on a 55 gal drum which in turn, was mounted on four heavy duty springs welded to the four corners of a steel frame. The "horse" was turned so's the shooter is facing away from the target. The shooter started with a loaded, unprimed gun, turned in the saddle to fire. Reloading was done "in the saddle" and a second shot made on the target, to the rear.

The moral of this long ramble is, expect anything and have fun.

 

[brawny man]

Some rendezvous have a "stake" shoot. They have a 4x4 post in the ground. You form shooting teams of 3-5 people. The object is to see which is the first team to cut their post in two. A variation is to hang the post, only if they are feeling cruel. :grin: One piece of advice I would give is to introduce yourself to the range officer and ask the dos and don'ts of the gun range. :hatsoff:

 

[travisc406]

wow yeah there is alot of the different styles. I willhave to see which there is. what is a spit patch referring too?

 

[Many Klatch]

Spit patch is using saliva for your patch lubrication instead of oil or grease. For target shooting it is satisfactory since you will be shooting before it dries out. I find that my spit patched ball shoot a tad bit lower than the oiled patches, the difference between a 10X and a 9 at 25 yards. I mostly shoot spit patching so it is not a problem for me. I just have to remember that when I shoot an oiled patch that I will be shooting a tad bit higher.

I tear a long narrow strip of patching material and hang it from the strap on my pouch.

Loading procedure is as follows:

Put end of patching material in mouth to get it wet.

Pour powder into measure and then pour measured powder into the bore.

Take wet end of patch material and lay across end of barrel.

Put ball in end of barrel and press down until top of ball is flush with muzzle.

Cut off excess patching material and ram ball home.

Shoot, repeat.

The spit patch and patch knife reduce the number of things that you have to fiddle with while loading. People that keep their oiled patches in metal tins have to mess with opening and closing the tin without dropping it. There are enough things to mess with as it is. With my method the only things that can be dropped are the lead ball and the knife. Everything else is attached to the bag or strap.

If the muzzle of your gun has been coned and your patch ball combination is loose enough then you can dispense with the short starter.

A lot of these events are timed. You might have 10 minutes to get off 5 shots. Or you might have a match where you have 1 minute to get off as many shots as possible. I can get off about 10 shots in a leisurely manner in 10 minutes as long as everything is working right. With my smoothbore I can just get off three aimed shots in one minute if I start off loaded and primed. You want to get your loading procedure streamlined so that you aren't messing about with unnecessary items and movements.

A loading block is also a help. A 5 or 10 shot loading block can be a real help in a speed shoot.

Many Klatch

 

[spudnut]

Youre gonna love it,Just go slow ,Watch what others are doing,ask questions(just not on the fireing line)ask all the questions you want here we all like to answer questions.