doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com First time going to the Southern

My son and I have been twice, once when he was 11 or 12 and a second time when he was 14 or 15. He still talks about it, it was a great time. Not a lot of young shooters but everyone was very welcoming. He was lucky enough to win a Parker Trojan. That gun will live forever with him and his memories, life has been busy, hopefully we are able to return in a couple of years.

I see the website talks about an event in April and another in October. Are the events similar in size?

https://www.southernsidebyside.com/

I have been to almost all of the Southern Spring events since the beginning and it is always a grand time. I never sign up in advance because signing up onsite is easy and relatively fast and I am always negotiating with friends on what events to shoot. When I was younger I walked the course, but for a long while now I have rented a golf cart and I enjoy the shooting so much more for not being so tired. If you are attending for the first time you will find the targets just fine on both the large bore and small bore courses. But honestly, after 25 years you think that they would change the targets just once. Be sure to arrive by 8ish AM to be able to park on the grounds so that it is relatively convenient to access your vehicle to get a different gun or more shells. Parking on the blacktop is just further away from the action. Shooting seems to slow down a lot during the Parker/LC Smith shoot off on Saturday afternoon. It is fun to watch some really good shooters hit some impossible targets. Earning a place on either team is possible if you can shoot well enough to make the squad. Otherwise spend time with the vendors or enjoy the shooting show.

The gun show part if fabulous. There are three large tents plus the Galazan semi-trailer and tent full of wonderful, mostly shotguns, but there is other stuff as well. There are vendors onsite that serve lunch and morning coffee plus breakfast food. The weather can be anything from chilly, to blistering hot to perfect. It always seems to rain at least one day. Lots of good enough restaurants in the area. Friends and I usually book one night at Davissons and another at The Flame. Vesuvios for Italian is good although it is in a strip mall and doesn't look like it would have good food.

Many of us shoot before or during the Southern at Drake Landing about 30 miles from the southern https://drakelanding.net/ Drake has two fabulous clays courses plus 5 stand. Both clays courses are beautifully maintained and have lovely shooting stations and great targets. The cost/target is way better than at the Southern. They also rent golf carts very reasonably for the time you will use it. Nice staff.

As previously advise, be sure you have accommodations booked in advance. This is the busiest weekend of the year in Sanford.

Safe travels,

Antonio

Very different events. The Fall Southern is more a shooting event; there are no vendors. Rick Hemingway puts on a great shoot, and because the attendance is smaller, there is no waiting on the course. Great targets.

Awesome Tom. Can't wait to see you there. I will probably need that chair! Looking forward to relaxing

Just a quick add. Ask vendors if you can handle a gun before picking it up. Some can be really picky/finicky about folks handling their guns. In particular some collector groups will have benchmark guns for display that are there only to be seen and not picked up. FWIW and JMO.

Lots of folks will shoot at Drakes Landing the day before the Southern starts. It's a very nice course and laid out well. Also a good bit cheaper then shooting the courses at the Southern itself.

Kidd's Place is not all that far from Deep River Sporting and is a fantastic place to shoot as well. They offer four traps per station.

What you might see at the Southern....pictures from 2021 including one random Doublegunshop poster who was shooting a .410 and because of the lines that year had a hard time getting onto the course. I met 10 or so of us there. Not sure I'll make it this year; if so, it'll be Saturday around 1000 hrs. The best thing about the eye candy is that it was a healthy mix of the unaffordable and the affordable. Gene Williams

12boreman, as a range owner it's always better for attendees to preregister even if it's not for every event you plan to enter. It gives us the ability to plan on what resources are needed. We make the trip every year. We go to shoot, not shop. We'll shoot competition targets for 5 days and over 1000 shells. You'll enjoy the vendor tents if that's your interest. Plenty to see and buy.