I just got in from the Cloverdale shoot. As always it was a great time with lots of old freinds flinging arrows, telling stories, following the shade and trying to stay dry!
Actually the weather was almost perfect this year, a little warm when I pulled in Tuesday 94 degrees but it cooled down nicely and the rain avoided us with the exception of friday night.
There were already a few camps set up when we rolled in but the campgrouds were still pretty empty.
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Blackie and Danny Swartz had a cozy little camp set up and are just some wonderfull people to spent time with.
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It did not take me and my youngest long to get camp set up and to get into relax mode. This was my 9 year olds first extended camping trip. He is no stranger to the Cloverdale shoot but normaly only camps 1 night. He camped 5 nights and hanged tough, I'm proud of him.
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He talked Jake into hiring him for a few days to help out with jakes arial machine (arrow retiever). Of couse I think he was just into it for the shooting oppurtunitys!
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Thats him in the middle showing some pretty good form on moving targets!
Most of my pictures from the range somehow got deleted but I did get lots of camping shots with alot of the members here.
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Otto's times 3!
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This stranger even made it in for a day!
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Some of the people from Saturday nights meatfest.
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A toast to "Blackies Camp"
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It was another great time, we shot arrows until our arms ached, ate until we couldn't move, told new stories and repeated classics around campfires, and laughed until our sides hurt!
The range was incredible as always The guys at Cloverdale put in some serious thought and work to the course and I can't thank them enough.
The only downside to the week is it will be a full year before we can do it again!
Nice pics looks kike you all had fun.
Looks like a good time was had by all!!
Did I see a pair of Scifres in there??
Building a small camper ...will be ready for deer and shoots beyond that!
Looks like a blast. Kinda bummed I didn't get to make it but I been to a few good shoots already this year.
I'll be there next year for sure.
Stiks
I enjoyed it Saturday. Weather was great.
Looks like u had a blast!! Thanks for sharing!!
Great stuff, it'll keep you busy between the hunting seasons.
i'll be posting some pictures from the shoot as well soon. just got back from cloverdale myself
Looks like you all had a great time. :campfire:
Great to see you again Dennis. You missed the first annual Cloverdale Coon Shoot though on early Sunday morning. Picture a dozen or so guys with bow n arrows running around the practice range for a couple hours in the dark. It was surprising how much foam was hit and that we didn't lose an arrow amongst us :) No pictures - hehehe.
Thanks for posting the pics.
Dang John if I knew there was a coon shoot I might have stuck around till Sunday morning!
Had a great time. Looking forward to seeing some more pictures.
Wow, that gets me excited. It looks like I might get to go to the ETAR in Penn in July and that sure fires me up.
Denny,
From seeing your posts over the years as a fellow Illinois boy, you were one of the folks I hoped to meet at Cloverdale on this trip. I never figured out how to find you, and now, I figure we spent hours together in "Blacky's Camp" gorging ourselves. I bet I even spoke with you, but didn't have a clue!
I was the guy tripping around with a black walking stick (and probably the only guy without a Jagermeister!)
It was SO good to see Mickey again, and Blacky and Danny, Steve and Ron Otto and Big Jake (AMAZING hosts!), John's Scifres and McCreary... and new friends to boot.
I love any event with trad archery folks, but Cloverdale feels the very best!
Awesome time!
okay guys, this was the first ever 3D shoot for me, and i made the drive down from just north of chicago by myself. I pulled up and set up my camp, and within a few hours, i had already met some real nice people. Ended up talking to an engineer about school and whatnot for a while... even though i came there expecting to talk about bowhunting. never know who you're going to find. I came down on Friday, stayed until Sunday today. I was lucky enough to pick up an old bear back quiver to replace my el-cheapo target quiver that i was planning on using for the weekend. that night, there were seven arrows in that quiver... silently unaware of their ultimate fate. Woke up the next morning, and registered for the shoot. Unfortunately, I didn't find the practice range before that time, so i went into the shoot stone cold, and it took a lot of warming up. the shots were all very well thought out, and the targets were all in good shape. shot number 19 of that morning's first 20 targets ended in my arrow missing the lynx, and connecting straight with the tree. Don't you just love the smell of port orford cedar? I sure do. six left. went back to camp, cooked up some lunch, and was ready to go back at it. the second set of 20 targets went swimmingly for me, it mostly followed a creekbed which was beautiful country, and led to very good scenery for the shots that were set up. the last ten targets of the course I shot with a group of three older guys, and one of them was one heck of a talker. Those ten targets were some of the most fun of the weekend. It's a shame that I can't remember their names... anyway, I went and looked around at the vendors some more, ended up finding some new port orford cedar shafting and feathers for them. Tried my hand at some aerial targets, and the extra-long shot at the moose. After missing both of those, I decided to go lick my wounds and shot the practice range. Talked with my tent neighbors for the rest of the night, with six arrows still in my quiver. Sunday morning, I woke up early and shot the practice range starting around seven, didn't run into another soul out there. A poor release on one shot, connecting to a tree and shattering the arrow dropped my count down to five. Another one glanced off a bear awkwardly, shattered it too. Four left. I decided to go for broke and see if I could finish the range again, so i shot a second time. I did much better the second time around; i was hitting roughly one half in the kill areas instead of roughly one quarter of my shots. Still, on the other half my arrows were feeling the heat. One drove its point in a log and broke off behind that. another one lost its life on a shot for a bear through a few saplings; a slightly wrong trajectory and it caught the side of a sapling, shattering the arrow completely. two left. I'm starting to feel the heat. Two more targets left, too. Another poor release, and it connects with a rock. one last arrow. I take the shot at the last elk, and it flies straight and true to where I was looking. The one last arrow; the straightest arrow.
Aaanyway, storytime over, here are some pictures:
Setup my camp on friday:
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dried out my camp on saturday:
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me shooting the course:
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my favorite shot of the day; the arrow arced right through that bent over tree to the target:
(http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd411/JLipinski/DSCN8374.jpg)
and the result:
(http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd411/JLipinski/DSCN8375.jpg)
the other very fun shots were those from the stands on hills. me shooting from a stand:
(http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd411/JLipinski/CopyofDSCN8390.jpg)
the (poor) results of the first run through:
(http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd411/JLipinski/DSCN8379.jpg)
overall it was a very fun shoot, the people were nice, and i broke all but one arrow. It was a great shoot to attend as my first 3D shoot. Cloverdale did a great job setting up the range.
It looks like it was fun!
Great pics! Wish I could have been there.
I am a tired guy, so I will make this short, and sweat--
Thanks to all that attended, you folks are the reason we continue to have this shoot, year after year--
As usual, I did not get to spend enough time with my friends, both old and new--
I will be up at the Compton shoot next week, I will make more of an effort to talk with you all then---Next week is all pleasure and NO work:)
As always P.J. a great shoot! Looking forward to the 25th Anniversary next year.
Email me this week and I give you my cell#. I plan to be at Compton for the day on Saturday....we can talk huntin' trips! Mike
P.J.,
You did a great job with all you had to handle. From an attendee's perspective, everything went amazingly well. The entire club is to be congratulated for putting on a GREAT event!
It was wonderful to see you and Leslie again, and I got a kick out of watching Ian in action (do I owe you for the hat I reminded him you were supposed to buy?!?!)
Thanks for all you did!
Daryl
John Lipinski...Thank you sharing your wonderful time.
The traditional experience is great!!!!!!!!
What a great weekend seeing many old friends and making a bunch of new ones.
Thanks for sharing the Pictures
John, I loved your pictures and narrative. Thanks for sharing both. :thumbsup:
Good photos John of a fantastic camping area.
I have traveled to a few shoots in my day and this course (targets and layout) was the absolute best ever. Great work Cloverdale folks! I'll definitely be back next year.
Any one have any idea of final count on shooters for the weekend
my first time going to cloverdale, and hopefully not the last. great shoot
Dang it! I planned a 35th wedding anniversary trip to Alaska and didn't realize it until a few weeks before Cloverdale that I messed up.
I had to look at the stranger pic for a second or two before I realized it was the Mickey Meister. Looking very distinguished :) Mick, email me at jkmolongbow@yahoo.com if you look at this thread.
Good old times for sure. It's a great time, great course.
Otto, Saw your guns on the other site. Back in the game after many years. Doing the bowling pin shoot thing. Reloading and the whole sheebang!
My son; daughter inlaw and I were there Friday and Saturday. The weather was good and it's always a good time.Nice 3d coarse. Seemed like less people on Saturday this year. Might be the economy and gas prices.
Dennis,
The coon shot was well planned and organized :)
Actually about 30 minutes before dark I asked my brother and he said yes and then asked Ron and he said yess and then 40 minutes later about 12 other said yes. It was a hoot!
John Lipinski, my brother and I were camped a couple doors down with a few kids and a pretty camp decoration and her ugly husband. We hope to see you again next year.
Krause, you were missed. Next time remember about the blackout dates that are generally the second weekend of June.
I love this shoot. Made some wonderful friends and always have a great time. Thanks to Ron and Steve for lending us their camp. It's great to have Blacky and Danny back in the states. The Scifres brothers were in fine form. Wish I could have made the Coon shoot. Mickey it was nice to see you after a few absent summers. The crew from Bear Archery even made it to our camp on Saturday. They will never be the same. Dennis you haver a fine boy there. Tell him I can't wait til next year. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. I was pretty busy all weekend.Thanks to all that make this shoot great. The members at Cloverdale just do a fantastic job.
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Had a blast as always.A big thanks to the Ottos for there hospitality.Dennis thanks for letting me mooch off ya.Met a few other trad-gangers over the weekend.Had a plesant coversation with Shad at the P.B.H booth.Cant wait to come back.
I got some pics Jake. Some good one actually.
???? How do you kill ever squirrel in the woods? LOL
My daughter and I got there Saturday afternoon and stayed till Sunday noon. This was our first time but probably won't be the last. Shot the top 20 and the 10 Saturday saving the second 20 for Sunday. Both of us shot poorly but had a good time. Went really slow due to the slippery up and down of the courses. Not very many in the 5 zone but most all hit the targets. Got a picture of one of the few good hits I made. Mine is the black arrow.
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Looks like a Fine Time was had by All!! :archer: Dang Sorry I Missed it this Year Too!! Had Zero $$$ so I stayed home. :clapper: :goldtooth:
I haven't been for 4 years now. Seems like something has come up each time. This year, it was our best friend's 25th Anniversary, so we thought we'd be nice and go on a 7 day Caribbean cruise with them (sigh). Maybe next year though! My youngest daughter is itching to do some camping again. My wife thinks camping is done in a camper. Ha! Much to learn, this one has...