Dixie Grand Moving

The ATA just announced that they are moving the Dixie to North Carolina.
First one is this Oct.
They should have moved it back to Forest City GC in Sav. GA in April.
This is where and when it had been for years.

 

Now if they will move the Southern Grand to some club that knows how to set and throw targets they might get some shooters to attend. The "New York" domed targets they are throwing at the $$ are a joke at that club. Seems they have no clue who the customer is??????

 

I was able to attend one Dixie Grand while it was in Savannah, Georgia. We had a wonderful time at that club! The City of Savannah was a great place to stay and the food was excellent. I think it is a good idea to spread the satellite Grands around to more areas of the country and try to reach as many shooters as possible. North Carolina will be beautiful in October and temps should be very mild. I do think the October timing could prove tough as a lot of shooters in the northern states have switched into hunting mode by then. Who knows, maybe the shoot will attract a good number of shooters wanting one more good shoot before winter sets in. I wish the new host site the best of luck!

Don

 

October is a poor choice for any ATA shoot. I'll betcha it doesn't draw much.

 

Oleolliedawg,
Could you explain that just a little?

Ron Burdick

 

Sure can. The "Grand" always signified the end of the ATA shooting season. Some of us still remember the flawed idea to end the target year Oct. 1-that didn't last long. Shooters are usually somewhat financially busted after a summer of travel and the "Grand" really picked their pockets. Trust me-it won't work!

 

Will you float me a loan?

 

Anything for you Tony. The devil is in the details!

 

I was under the impression that Mississippi was in the running for both shoots. Hard to believe Merlo missed the scoop on this stuff. Either way there will be a YUGE UPROAR if one of these shoots are not moved to Mississippi.

Maybe Phil Kiner can come on and let us know how the repeated one time 2 yard reductions impacted this.

This must be part of the fantastic direction Gipson was talking about!

 

The "fantastic direction" often talked about just might be "Ultra Mini Grands".

 

Is NC part of Dixie ?
Savannah was a great place to hold the Dixie Grand. I don't know if there are any tournaments held there anymore.

 

Dawg,
In years past I would have agreed 100% with your assessment of the October time slot. However, as each year passes the Grand "picks the pocket" of fewer and fewer shooters. I was certainly one of the guys that viewed the Grand as the end of the shooting season, but not anymore. For me the season ends with the Cardinal Classic and then the Middletown Fall Festival. My wife has already mentioned that a shooting trip to North Carolina in October sure would be nice! That's her way of telling me she wants to go. Not sure how my Brittany's are going to feel about missing a weekend of bird hunting! With this change we now have 10 Satellite Grands with NY being the only club to host 2 each year. There will only be a couple months of the year without a Satellite Grand or the Grand itself. I went to the Missouri Fall shoot for years. It was always late in the season but drew big numbers and had huge payouts. I hope the new Dixie Grand can catch that type of lightning in bottle!

 

Tucson has the Autumn Grand and the Spring Grand.

 

Yep, my bad on not seeing that Tucson has 2 Sat. Grands as well as NY. I still think it's better to spread them around the country as best we can. Do we need 10 satellite Grands? That is an entirely different discussion!

 

Why not?

 

We have a few nice six and seven trap layouts here in PA. Maybe it's time to petition the ATA for holding some Mini Satellite Grands. If you're gonna attempt to hold a decent trapshoot in October it just might be nice to hold it at a facility with adequate facilities.

Now another vacation in FL. in October at the SD just might get the wife interested!

 

The smaller the "Grands" get, the better for the local and average shooters. They may even start wagering their lunch money shooting against each other ..... instead of feeling like they are just supporting the "Pros".

If ..... any "small" Club is willing to staff and host a shoot, good for them.

 

I hope it does well. Everyone will be on their way South so,it may. Maybe a week or two earlier would be better.

 

For me it will now be a choice of heading to Missouri or heading to North Carolina. I have always enjoyed the beauty of the Ozarks in the fall and all of the side trips you can make while shooting at Linn Creek.

I think I may have to fire up the motor coach and head south this fall for a change.

I always enjoy shooting at new venues. I am going to make the trip to Middletown, Ohio with the coach for this months shoot. Just booked a spot in their campgrounds.

 

Instead of being negative, support the Dixie Grand in it's new location. It is still a place to shoot. Think positive. I shot the Dixie at Silver Dollar, did not think much of the campground at all. Still a nice place to shoot. I enjoyed my time there. I am willing to be people who are negative have not shot at NC for a ling time. It is a great place to shot.

 

The North Carolina Homegrounds held their first State Shoot in June 2001. 1 practice and 8 program traps was the original layout with a simple trailer for squadding and cashiering. Tough year that year with electrical issues but all events were shot that June. Not sure of the exact dates for the addition of the four lower fields bringing the number to 13 total traps. Then the big clubhouse was built and that was a great addition to the facility. Two additional traps will be added to the lower tier with 6 program traps on the lower tier 1 practice and 8 program traps on the upper tier.

With the addition of the ERADS the voice call devices virtually eliminate the "cross-call" nightmare that exists with fields close together .

The shoot will have 7 2-trap banks and the crew that will be running the line will be second to none as far as time on the bench and knowledge of rules and regulations. This crew will be working in SC - NC - VA - NC SoZone - NC HOF and last but not least the Dixie Grand.

There are a lot of pictures of the NC Homegrounds and you can go to NCTRAP.com and look for the Fred Redmon shoot pictures.

 

A shot of the lower tier and upper fields.....

 

Don, I take the brittany's for a run down to Grover Hill for you while you are gone. No problem, won't even charge you very much for doing it. I'mm sure we could come to terms somwhere.....