National Side-by-Side Festival Changes Venues

The Vintagers' second fling at a big Midwestern shoot and exhibition has moved to an impressive new venue and added new fields of competition, including an old-school take on skeet and the English variation of two-barrel trap. Because of the quality of the facility-Northbrook Sports Club, in Hainesville, Illinois-and the convenience of its location (40 minutes from Chicago's O'Hare Airport and 45 minutes from Milwaukee), the latter-day Edwardian Gunners are expecting great things for their National Side-by-Side Festival, scheduled for May 13 to 15.

"I think that it eventually will be bigger than the Vintage Cup," said Ray Poudrier, the Vintagers' leading event promoter and organizer. "There are a lot of shooters in the Midwest, and this is really a superior location."

The Northbrook Sports Club boasts 11 American skeet fields and nine ATA trap fields, allowing for new games that may broaden the event's appeal and offer competition for shooters who favor the older games. And, indeed, if you want to become the next sanctified World Side-by-Side Skeet Champion or World Side-by-Side Down-the-Line Champion, you will have to vie for the honors in Hainesville. (Down-the-Line is trap scored with a points differential rewarding a first-barrel hit, and the skeet competition will be shot from a low mount, with the chance of an old-fashioned random target delay.)

In keeping with the founding premise of the Vintagers, the festival is at least as much about enjoying a side-by-side lifestyle as about keeping score, although the newly dubbed champions surely will be impressive shooters. "If you own a side-by-side, there's no reason not to bring it out and shoot an event," Poudrier said of the variety offered.

Northbrook's sporting clays course lacks a lot of up-and-down but includes open and wooded stations for variation, according to Poudrier. He's confident the club's target setters will design a course that's challenging "but that the recreational shooter can have success with." As is customary with a Vintagers shoot, there will be a bewildering array of competition categories, including those for small gauges, hammerguns, squads and ladies, along with facilities for Helice, 5 Stand and wobble trap. There will be no rifle events this year, as the county the club is located in apparently prohibits their use.

Northbrook's clubhouse will serve as operations base for the event, with food and drink available by day and a cocktail reception for shooters and exhibitors Friday evening. It also will be the site of the Gold Medal Concours (see p. 16). Exhibitors will include many purveyors of fine guns, clothing and accessories, as well as outfitters of the things that make life enjoyable for wingshooters and gun fanciers.

For more information on the National Side-by-Side Festival, contact Ray Poudrier, c/o The Vintagers, PO Box 31, Hawley, MA 01339; 413-339-5347; www.vintagers.org.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to Shooting Sportsman»