doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Good Times at Orvis Cup & Game Fair

To offset all the unhappy reports about this year's EPIC and Vintage Cup events, I am offering an unreservedly glowing endorsement of the previous week's event, the Orvis Cup Shoot & Game Fair, held at Orvis Sandanona in Millbrook, NY.

The weather was ideal. Sunny with a hint of cool fall breeze.

Upon arrival, instead of extracting a nasty gate fee and patting you down for contraband lead shot, there were friendly people offering a chance to register to win a $250 Orvis gift certificate and a choice of apples from a large basket.

Once inside, there were almost 30 vendor tents including gun dealers like Gary Herman, Galazans (Tony & Lou F. were both there), Roger Bain, Chris Batha, British Sporting Arms, Safari Outfitters, Holland & Holland, Beretta, and many others; along with other vendors offering clothing, books, hunting trips, dog stuff, etc. A nice selection all around.

In the middle of the tent village was my favorite spot, a covered outdoor lounge shared by Davidoff Cigars and the Single Malt Society, who offered free cigars and Scotch tasings throughout the entire weekend.

Cigars, Scotch, and firearms - a true ATF event.

There were plenty of free activities including a Land Rover Riding Course, fly casting instruction, dog training, birds of prey demonstrations, etc.

Perhaps the best free activitiy was the twice daily game cooking class offered by a Scotish chef who teaches at the nearby Culinary Institute of America, the Harvard of cooking schools. In addition to some fun Scottish humor, he and his students prepared and served up free samples of cooked venison, duck, shrimp gumbo, chukar partridge - almost a meal's worth at each session.

If that didn't fill you up, there was an excellent food tent on site which featured huge pastries that would have invited testing for steriods if they had been entered in a baking contest.

There were lots of good shooting opportunities - sporting clays, five stand, and an especially fun high bird flurry. And there was free instruction given to new shooters, young and old alike.

It is true they allowed in shooters whose gun barrel alignment represent an alternative orientation compared to my side by side (I think that's a new law in NY), but I'm open minded enough to mingle with that type from time to time. I figure some of them were just born into that lifestyle or were never presented the true gospel, so its sort of an evangelical mission to reach out to them. Still, the shooting was great fun.

As always, the Orvis Sandanona staff offered warm hospitality and a great time. They made you feel like they were there to insure you were having a nice time, not pick your pocket. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even those grumpy vendors!

This event seems to be growing each year. I've enjoyed myself the past two years and look forward to going again next year.

I hope next year you can find time to come along as well.

DGM, Thanks for the report.
Had to miss it, even though its fairly close to home.
Was off to Montana.
Hope that they continue it next year.

Hello DGM,

Sounds like a great event. Are you sure it wasn't sponsored by the ATF?
And even the CIA was there!

I would have greatly profited with the free shooting instructions and the
cooking classes sound smashing. Not to mention the Davidoffs -the first I
tried were still being made in Cuba back in 1980- and the Single Malts.

Thanks for sharing.

JC

It is kind of funny to think that the New York event (Orvis) had a cigar lounge and allowed lead shot, while the Georgia event (EPIC) banned lead and had security out enforcing a smoking ban.

The Orvis Game Fair & Shoot is coming up again Sept 15 & 16, 2012. As noted last year, this is one of the most fun shooting events of the entire calendar. Tony Galazan, Steve Barnett and other top vendors are signed up.

See Game Fair details & photos at: http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=8953

See Orvis Cup Shoot details at: http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=8754


_____

The 6th Annual Orvis Cup will be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 15 & 16, 2012. This is a wonderful, exciting weekend�a combination game fair and competitive shotgun shooting event. Enjoy two full days of sporting clays shooting, in addition to demonstrations of birds of prey, dog training, fly casting, and fly tying. There will also be artists and craftsmen at work, and more than 50 of the finest upscale exhibitors and vendors displaying their wares. Plus, you can enter to win one of three Caesar Guerini shotguns!

The main event�a 100-target, Orvis Modified Lewis Class shoot�commences on Sunday morning at 9:30am. Shooting and competition fees vary (see sign-up sheet for more information). Spectators are welcome to attend for FREE!



Additional details:

Saturday, September 16, 2012
Shooting hours are 9 AM - 4:30 PM �Sporting clays course is open all day for fun; no reservation or score-keeping necessary
�Side-event areas open, including flurry, 5 stand, modern skeet, and long target
�For every round you shoot in the long target event, you earn a raffle ticket in the drawing for a Caesar Guerini shotgun
�The Orvis Cup Demonstration Arena will run seminars and demonstrations all day
�Grand cocktail party with spirits and hors d'oeuvres
Sunday, September 17, 2012
Shooting hours are 9 AM - 4:30 PM
The Orvis Cup Main Event shooting competition commences at 9:30 AM sharp. �The is a 100-target, Orvis Modified Lewis Class shoot
�Trophies are awarded for H.O.A., Classes A, B, C, D, LADIES, and JUNIOR 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and High Team
�1st in each class plus H.O.A. shoot off for The Orvis Cup Champion Title
�1st in each class plus H.O.A. are all entered into drawing for Caesar Guerini Gun
�All other shooters are entered into drawing for a second Caesar Guerini Gun
�Side-event areas open: including flurry, 5- stand, modern skeet, and long target


The Orvis Game Fair and Country Sporting Weekend�a fun and exciting weekend outing for the whole family�will be held at Sandanona Shooting Grounds in Millbrook, New York, on September 15 & 16, 2012. Located just a short drive north of New York City, just off the Taconic Parkway, Sandanona in autumn is the perfect place in the perfect time of year to enjoy the beautiful and historic Hudson Valley region and all it has to offer.

If you�ve never been to the Orvis Sandanona Grounds in Millbrook, NY, Sandanona is a step back in time, to a place where the traditions of the field and the hunt are held in the highest regard, and where wingshooting is a passion that links the past with the present. This venerable sporting institution is the oldest permitted shooting preserve in the country, so old in fact, that the main lodge was built during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson.

All around the picturesque Sandanona property, you�ll find artists and craftsmen at work, more than 50 of the finest upscale exhibitors and vendors, and loads of events and exhibits for kids and adults. Everything will be focused on the distinctive country lifestyle�featuring fly-fishing demonstrations, dog-training seminars, birds of prey exhibitions, a variety of hands-on youth programs, and a Land Rover driving course. Visitors are encouraged to participate and this is an excellent opportunity to fulfill that desire to try your hand at shooting or fly fishing. This is the perfect time and place to introduce the entire family to these lifetime pursuits.

Experts instructors will be on hand to offer free fly-casting lessons, and will offer novices the opportunity to learn to shoot under their watchful eye in a fun and safe environment. Plus, you can enter to win Orvis clothing, dog beds, and more!

See a list of participating vendors.

Come join us for a weekend of fun for the entire family at the Orvis Game Fair and Country Sporting Weekend! For more information, call Orvis Sandanona at 845-677-9701 or email: sandanona@orvis.com.

Daryl, Judy and I will be up for the Vintager's but won't make Sandanona. They have set it for two weeks before the Vintagers so it just won't work - if it had been set for the weekend before the Vintagers I think that we could have made it. Judy and I really enjoyed our visit to the Orvis Cup about three years ago.

We hope to see you at Addieville - stop by the Carolina Vintagers tent for a Scotch and Cigar one evening.

There's two things that go on in the Deep South in September called College Football and Dove Season, that have True Adherents who do not stray far from their appointed loci.
JR

Too bad it takes place on opening day of huns and sharpies in SK.

Amen, Rev.

Clay birds will always take second place to feathered ones around heah'.

SRH

Sounds like a great event. Wish it were closer.

Too bad you can't make it. Maybe we'll see you at the Fall Southern at Backwoods Quail in SC this fall.

Daryl, we plan to be at the Fall Southern. See you there.

The Orvis Game Fair & Orvis Cup shoot this past weekend was really a fantastic event in every way and it really grew this year. Both Saturday & Sunday, the parking lot was completely full even with people constantly coming and going. There were more cars and people than I recall in the last years of the Vintage Cup there.

The vendor tents were buzzing with people from 9 AM Saturday until they closed at 5pm Sunday. It was especially good to see lots of families and young people there. The "novice" shooting instruction stations next to the entrance were continiously busy the whole weekend with families and new shooters, and we ran into lots of new shooters using Orvis rental guns on the sporting clays course Saturday. I talked to some people who said they were buying their first gun that weekend or getting their first shooting lessons.

Targets were really good on the course, five stand and flurry stations. - and on many stations they were really challenging. They offered a shooting package that included 100 targets (but you could shoot extra's at the stations on Saturday if you wanted to try figure it out) and your choice of 3 rounds of flurry, skeet or five stand for $135, or you could shoot 100 rounds of clays for $75. No admission charge.

The event still offered lots of freebies: Davidoff Cigars, Single Malt Tastings, shooting & fly fishing lessons, game cooking lessons with a Culinary Institute chef, Land Rover driving course and several wine and food vendors offered samples as well. Lots of good food options for breakfast & lunch - with the ice cream stand being extremely popular even for breakfast!

Lots of good guns and vendors. You could see everything from a rare pair of Asprey over unders, to lovely old hammer guns to new over-unders from Connecticut Shotgun, Perrazi and others. There was something for everyone.

Definately looking forward to going back again next year. It was really fun -- and it was really encouraging to see so many new people getting involved in the shooting sports.

Only disappointment was hearing that the Vintagers had declined Orvis' offer to sponsor a SXS event at the shoot at no cost to the group and with no work required. It was a great opportunity missed for putting another quality SXS shooting event on the calendar - and to introduce hundreds of a new people to our side of the sport.

Hopefully, one of the other SXS clubs will take up Orvis' offer next year. This would be a great opportunity.

Details of the next Orvis Game Fair and shoot have been posted with video and photos of last year's event. This is really a fun and fast growing event, worth checking out.

http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?dir_id=22592&group_id=22968&cat_id=27380&subject=8953

The Orvis Game Fair and Country Sporting Weekend�a fun and exciting weekend outing for the whole family�will be held at Sandanona Shooting Grounds in Millbrook, New York, on September 21 & 22, 2013. Located just a short drive north of New York City, just off the Taconic Parkway, Sandanona in autumn is the perfect place in the perfect time of year to enjoy the beautiful and historic Hudson Valley region and all it has to offer.

If you�ve never been to the Orvis Sandanona Grounds in Millbrook, NY, Sandanona is a step back in time, to a place where the traditions of the field and the hunt are held in the highest regard, and where wingshooting is a passion that links the past with the present. This venerable sporting institution is the oldest permitted shooting preserve in the country, so old in fact, that the main lodge was built during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson.

All around the picturesque Sandanona property, you�ll find artists and craftsmen at work, more than 50 of the finest upscale exhibitors and vendors, and loads of events and exhibits for kids and adults. Everything will be focused on the distinctive country lifestyle�featuring fly-fishing demonstrations, dog-training seminars, birds of prey exhibitions, a variety of hands-on youth programs, and a Land Rover driving course. Visitors are encouraged to participate and this is an excellent opportunity to fulfill that desire to try your hand at shooting or fly fishing. This is the perfect time and place to introduce the entire family to these lifetime pursuits.

Experts instructors will be on hand to offer free fly-casting lessons, and will offer novices the opportunity to learn to shoot under their watchful eye in a fun and safe environment. Plus, you can enter to win Orvis clothing, dog beds, and more!

Vendors Signed Up:
http://www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/OrvisGameFair_VendorList2013.pdf

Come join us for a weekend of fun for the entire family at the Orvis Game Fair and Country Sporting Weekend! For more information, call Orvis Sandanona at 845-677-9701 or email: sandanona@orvis.com.

I love it at Sandanona. I had perfect attendance at the Vintage Cup there, even during hurricanes. I am waiting for the Land Rover off road driving event to be combined with the single malt tasting. If those two events could be held on the sporting course and somehow integrated into the .410 event, I will promise to attend.

Now, that would be an event worthy of note, Bill.

SRH

The Orvis Game Fair and Orvis Cup shoot will be the weekend of September 21-22 this year.

Orvis Game Fair: http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?dir_id=22592&group_id=22968&cat_id=27380&subject=8953

Orvis Cup: http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=8754

Lou F. of Galazans is one of the most genuinely enjoyable people I know, have been after him for several years now to back off just a wee bit & hunt w/some friends & I in the Texas panhandle while he still has his hair left. Guys like Lou make all the dif and are a very rare breed indeed. Carol (sp?) too.

Can't say enough for good people; lots here as well. Believe it or not, most of us are probably only too well aware of the affronts we face, on all fronts.

Best to all, tw

Two page vendor list for next weekend's shoot at the Orvis Cup & Game Fair. Look's like a good variety.

http://www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/OrvisGameFair_VendorList2013B.pdf

looks great! is there a schedule of events listed anywhere? I'm planning on going saturday or sunday but would love to know what events (cooking demo, dog demo, etc take place on which days.

I believe demos run throughout the day both days. I recall the game cooking is the only demo that really requires you to sign up when you get there as they prepare game dishes to sample. Cigar and scotch tastings run throughout the day as well. The demos are free (as is the scotch & cigar tasting, etc). There is also a beginner's shooting instruction stand for free as well.

Was another very nice event. Very encouraging to see how much this has grown as there were steady crowds all day both days. 70 vendors, and they had to turn some away due to a lack of tents. .... Exciting news is Orvis staff plan to add a Side by Side event to this event next year.