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Want to be a snow bird

bench

Do any of you guys pack up your rifles and head down south where the weather is better so you can shoot anytime you want.
I am tired of just looking at my rifles set in the gun cabinet from November till May and would like to pack up the 5th wheeler and find a nice shooting range or two to stay near.
It would be nice to meet new shooters and also help out at the range for something to do and learn from other shooters.
Where would you go if you had the desire to do so.

Bench
 
Phoenix is the place several winter bird. Raton NM is another and Florida shoots all winter.
 
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One of my club's RSOs is a snow bird. He shows up about December and heads back north when the snow melts at home.

P.S. I was asked to say that this is at the Coast Rifle & Pistol Club in Gulfport, MS.

P.P.S. In summer, it's hot as the hinges of Hades and I want to go north to shoot.
 
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bench said:
Do any of you guys pack up your rifles and head down south where the weather is better so you can shoot anytime you want.
I am tired of just looking at my rifles set in the gun cabinet from November till May and would like to pack up the 5th wheeler and find a nice shooting range or two to stay near.
It would be nice to meet new shooters and also help out at the range for something to do and learn from other shooters.
Where would you go if you had the desire to do so.

Bench
Click to expand...

You should look into Manatee range in Florida, nice spot to shoot. They're always looking for extra help and plenty of places in the area to park a 5th. I think they have hook ups there for trailers,
I always see a few RV's parked when I go there.

I stopped hauling my loading equipment and rifles down to Florida in the winter, too much bs . Now I spend my time prepping brass, bullets and have barrels chambered for the following season.

When I get back I'm ready to go and done with much of the time consuming tedious stuff

I've decided to just bring one 22 rimfire rile and a few pistols to keep me occupied until I get back up north

http://manateegunclub.com/
 
The Phoenix area has 3 ranges that compete all year. Then in Houston, Texas, there is Bayou Rifles that competes all year. And while you are there 1.5 hrs away is Golden Triangle Gun Club in Beaumont.
 
It's not all it's cracked up to be down here in south Florida . Only 3-4 good shooting months a year . It's no longer any fun to be out in 90 deg weather with 90 percent humidity . When I was younger , no problem , now it's life or death if I stay too long . No , I'm not trying to rub it in , it's dangerous .
I've been looking at Texas or Tenn . In Tennessee , we are called half backs , we moved from the NE to Florida then half way back . In Texas we are just called non Texans . Yes I know it's hot in Texas , at least they cool off in the winter ! It's been 12 months of constant AC , only 3 days with it turned off , $600 electric bills .
 
bench said:
Do any of you guys pack up your rifles and head down south where the weather is better so you can shoot anytime you want.
I am tired of just looking at my rifles set in the gun cabinet from November till May and would like to pack up the 5th wheeler and find a nice shooting range or two to stay near.
It would be nice to meet new shooters and also help out at the range for something to do and learn from other shooters.
Where would you go if you had the desire to do so.

Bench
Click to expand...

bench said:
Do any of you guys pack up your rifles and head down south where the weather is better so you can shoot anytime you want.
I am tired of just looking at my rifles set in the gun cabinet from November till May and would like to pack up the 5th wheeler and find a nice shooting range or two to stay near.
It would be nice to meet new shooters and also help out at the range for something to do and learn from other shooters.
Where would you go if you had the desire to do so.

Bench
Click to expand...
If You consider the Myrtle Beach South Carolina area be forewarned that there is no rifle shooting there . I lived there two years, hated it and spent most of the time looking for a place to shoot nearby. Two indoor shooting ranges that were prohibitively expensive and a short range shooting complex 40 some miles West that was 99% shotgun, that's it. Closest real shooting was in Columbia SC about 100 miles West. In Pa. we shoot about 9 months out of the year.
 
AZ is nice in the winter. We drag a half dozen or more guns down every fall, usually in November. We generally shoot at least once a week. I load like crazy to have enough ammunition for several months and still run out of one caliber or another. We have company down frequently which generally results in a trip to the range. Wy wife even likes to throw sporting clays for me while commenting on my shotgun skills ("are you kidding me??? I could have hit that one"). Ben Avery and Rio Salado have public ranges but to use the specialty ranges, I think you need to be a member of a group. You can't just show up and shoot on the Berger 1,000 yard range for example.
I've met some real nice folks there. You can even park your wheeler at Ben Avery and awake every morning to the serenade of gunfire.
Don't be fooled by the desert. It can get pretty dang cold in December/January. The nice thing is the cold passes quickly and you can generally get back out in a day or 2.
Maybe I'll bump into you next winter.
 
Ggmac said:
It's not all it's cracked up to be down here in south Florida . Only 3-4 good shooting months a year . It's no longer any fun to be out in 90 deg weather with 90 percent humidity . When I was younger , no problem , now it's life or death if I stay too long . No , I'm not trying to rub it in , it's dangerous .
I've been looking at Texas or Tenn . In Tennessee , we are called half backs , we moved from the NE to Florida then half way back . In Texas we are just called non Texans . Yes I know it's hot in Texas , at least they cool off in the winter ! It's been 12 months of constant AC , only 3 days with it turned off , $600 electric bills .
Click to expand...
If you move from the NE to Tenn. You will be known as a Yankee if you stay you're a dam Yankee .
 
The last few years I've been in Arizona during the summer and love it down near Tucson. I used to travel up from WPB FL.and shoot Manatee every other weekend. Florida humidity sucks..... Arizona it is!

Don Dunlap
 
We're in upstate NY and have our winter benchrest league every Sunday from Nov. the Apr. pretty good matches, keeps your skills sharp, usually get 12-15 guys. Start with 3-4 score matches then go to group.
 
spladi said:
If you move from the NE to Tenn. You will be known as a Yankee if you stay you're a dam Yankee .
Click to expand...
I shot for about 11-12 years at the Chattanooga Rifle Club with a core of the silhouette shooters transplants from New York, New Jersey, etc.... and most reside in the Northcentral Georgia mountains. Most were escaping a series of tax systems that made living in the south a major lifestyle improvement due to an increase in disposable income.
They weren't referred to as "Yankees", but we did view them like oddball relatives.
 
Bought a house in Homosassa FL(west central) a couple of years past, because its quiet and the fishing is good. Just retired and spent the last few months here. There is one range nearby and its like being at Walmart on a sale weekend. Plus the 200 yd range is said to be special order. Im now looking for 10 or 20 acres of off the beaten track land so I can shoot when and how I would like to. Heading back up to the farm in a couple of weeks with a trigger finger sorely needing exercise. 0 to 770 yds no waiting.
Also Ive missed the winter league @ Bridgeville ,DE
 
I'm known as a DAMN YANKEE that is to say a yankee that came south and stayed. Born and raised upstate NY I now live in N Florida and will not be moving back north.
Yes the summers are hot and humid but there is no snow and ice and a/c helps me cope. Also I've been married for over 50 years and the wife likes it here. I do travel to TX twice a year to shoot and commiserate with a good friend so life is good.

perry42
 
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