Who has hosted a Rendezvous?

[Greebe]

I was curious how many of you have hosted a rendezvous at your own property? I am considering it, but I am not sure if that would be safe or not with unknown people over the net. Also how is the liability for having a bunch of people on your property with sharp pointy things and boomsticks? Seems like it would b e a fun thing to host, assuming people don;t get out of hand.

 

[Greebe]

No one I guess.

 

[pargent]

MOST would be affiliated with a parent shooting organisation and on a host range etc that was approved for competition , , I suppose if you had a big enough property and the blessing of your local authorities one could do a small invite only rondy .

 

[necchi]

I haven't hosted one because I have no property to host one, but I've had my hands on a few as part of the hosting group.
The liability is high, usually a Million Dollar rider for about $3-400 per event and ya better hope you don't need to use it.

Throwing an invite on-line seems an even bigger risk.
It would be a good idea to find an already local Rendezvous and start a conversation with those in charge of that one.
If you do have one, putting word out inside the Rendezvous community is a good place to start with flyers and personal invites. That way you'll end up with folks that have an established reputation of behavior and are more likely to lend a hand with inexperienced land owners with events and/or things to keep folks entertained.

It's no fun when your vous` gets a group with Grandpas old canvas tent, a weber kettle grill, a Boom box, flashlights and three cases of beer.

It can be hard to start one with a decent participation, because most folks already have a established routine with the events they go to, most only have so much vacation and money to spend on these little "mini-vacations".
If it's a good event word get's around pretty quick and in the following years participation increases.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I been part of two major events, and you will need to plan the following:

Sanitation
Water
Fuel
parking and auto rescue
first responders
taffic route in/out
Insurance
ground repair
Local Hotel/Motel??


Sanitation will mean how many porta-johns per person for the weekend or the week. The local provider will give you a good idea as to what ratio of persons to porta-johns will work. Get two or three estimates from the same number of providers

Water is often placed in temporary food grade agriculture tanks, or some sites actually have plumbing, and some use both.

Fuel has to be seasoned wood, and you need to be sure your local wood provider can handle the delivery. Some mean to do a good job, but end up delivering stuff that's still too green, as they are used to deliveriesof wood for wood stoves and that wood then seasons at the buyer's home over time.

The above are the three most important. If any of them are screwed up...., forget doing the event again, unless you change the name....

Where will you park everybody's cars AND do you have a tractor to extract them if it rains hard and the field where they are parked becomes swamp?

Will you have paramedics there, or are they close by and can respond? How about an AED - Automated external defibrillator kept onsite 24 hours a day?

Will the roads in and out accept the heavier traffic due to your participants or will you need a couple of local cops to come out and direct traffic? Don't forget to put up simple signs with large lettering and arrows to let folks know they are going the right way.

Insurance is a must even if you have incorporated as a "group" to host the event. Incorporation alone does not shield the corporate "officers" from liability if the corporation has no assets nor insurance. Many folks run events at already established sites that have insurance, and simply get a rider for the days of the event.

The ground is going to be chewed up by the event. Not a problem for an annual event held in a cow pasture, but at a site, if you want to come back you need to have a plan (which means fund$) set aside for fixing trenches dug by car tires and fire pits, and perhaps some grass planting.

Local hotel or motel are only a concern when your event gets big, as some folks may be too infirmed to camp out overnight, or like me has a spouse that simply doesn't "camp" if it is anything less than an RV and a hookup (which is why it's only me and the kids)....but still might attend if they can get rooms within a 30 minute drive or less. We call them Ramada Rangers.

LD

 

[newtewsmoke]

there was a time when i was real enthused and wanted to put on a fun shoot that would take up maybe at the most a sunday afternoon. i have the land and a nice layout with canyons for what i guess would be called a woods walk. Havent done anything with it tho, might happen some day, might not. dealin w/ insurance and all the other what if scenarios is a pita.
Scott

 

[Woods Dweller]

"Insurance is a must even if you have incorporated as a "group" to host the event. Incorporation alone does not shield the corporate "officers" from liability if the corporation has no assets nor insurance. Many folks run events at already established sites that have insurance, and simply get a rider for the days of the event."

This is what shot my idea of putting on such an affair. $$$$$

 

[fleener]

I have for the past 16 years. It all started when I bought a farm in southern iowa and someone on the old muzzle loading mailing list MLML stated that it sounded like a good place to have a rendezvous.

So, just a couple of weeks ago was our 16th annual one.

It has been a lot of work, and it has been very rewarding.

I have guys come from all over the US. This year we had 25 people come.

In order not to limit people, I don't care how they dress, camp or what they shoot. Bring an inline if you like. I shoot both and what a better way to convert someone to a traditional rifle.

I used to charge enough to cover my cost. My insurance company has always told me if I don't make any money, and just break even that I am covered by my normal insurance umbrella that I already have.

I few years I go I built a outhouse and now I don't charge anything.

I have build loading tables, and target stands at around 15, 30, 50 and 75 yards. I have quite a few swinging steel targets. No hassle, they stay out all year and everyone likes instant gratification. Punching hole in paper is really boring.

I have quite trying to have shooting contest. The guys just ignore me, so I quit trying.

I have 3 hawk blocks set up as well.

I was a little nervous for the first one, you never know who is going to show up. You do get a few strange folks, but those people usually just show up once and not come back.

Even though I only see most of these folks once a year or once every 3 years or so, they have become some of my best friends and we have a lot of contact with each other online. This event has made us a much closer bunch of friends.

I had one of the guys son bring a buddy this year. He is a disabled Marine. He brought an AR. I was asked prior and said that was fine. That is all the guy had. He ran out of ammo quickly, and then we but a ML in his hands. He was hooked and grinning ear to ear. He drove me nuts shooting that dang thing, but I kept my mouth shut and we were all good.

we do a pot luck on Saturday night and sunday morning has turned into a camp wide cooking fest as well.


If you want a lot of work, and a lot of rewards go for it.

The first year after the last person pulled out my wife stated that she could not wait until the next year and I heartily agreed.

If you want more info send me a note

Fleener

 

[nit wit]

The Ancient Ones Of Maine have used my 96+ acres for 20 years. We have a spring and fall rendezvous with a weekend work party the weekend before. check out our website: theancientonesofmaine.com
A club should have insurance and you should be on the policy.
We have a yearly gun show to fund our needs.
Wood, we have a well for water.
You need competant folks to run the walks.
Our club has even hosted the Northeastern twice.
Once you get the bugs worked out it will run smoothly with a bit of work.
Come up with rules ahead of time,and add more as you go.No snapping of caps or firing guns in camp, no loaded guns in camp.
Those are two biggies.
Nit Wit