Rock Mountain 2023

[Jeff S]

I’m currently heading home from a truly great weekend at Mike Koneski’s Rock Mountain.

I’ve attended over a dozen Fox Events and this was definitely one of the best. The camaraderie is always paramount, but in addition, this club was made for the shooter. He had 3 courses and there was never a line.

Thursday morning I did a little visiting and purchased enough “non toxic” ammo to last a couple of duck seasons. Picked up same vintage .410 ammo for my brother, and 8 lbs. of powder for myself. Gosh you meet the nicest people at thees events.

Thursday I shot 3 rounds of clays, relaxed a little, and had a nice dinner at “Twiggs” in downtown Tunkhannock. Friday I shot four more rounds of clays, enjoyed the “feast” and then nursed a cigar until sundown. Saturday I squeezed in 2 more rounds of clays and then had the honor of participating in the Fox Parker Challenge with some of the finest gents you’ll ever meet.

Events like this are well worth the drive, no matter where you’re coming from. If you’ve never participated, you’re missing out on a great time. See you at the next one….

[Jeff S]

More fun…

[Maggiemollie]

It was a great shoot with lots of shooting. Course/station/shots were diverse and challenging, not easy, but certainly fair. Personally I enjoyed this shoot more than the Hausmanns. The Cliff station where the targets are coming over the tree line 150' feet away and what looks like 150' high certainly was interesting. Along with the trampoline station.

[jolly bill]

Steggie says it all. Mike hosted a great event.

I left home at 6:00 AM Friday norming for the 3 1/2-hour, 150 mile drive south to Mike's.

I didn't do any shooting on Friday, way too hot for me, but I sure enjoyed the camaraderie that Jeff speaks of, and the food put out by Dave, Steve, Craig, Stan and the others. Fabulous, sincere thanks you guys and any gals that made that happen.

I knew Saturday was going to be better and hoped to shoot on Saturday.

Unfortunately, I got a call from my wife Friday afternoon about our dog that has been having some health issues, so I drove home Saturday morning and missed all the good stuff that went on then.

The good news is that Jasper is doing much better and more good news is that you had nicer shooting weather on Saturday. We got 2 1/2 inches of rain up here on Saturday. Came later at Mike's after much of the shooting was over, thankfully.

I think you can tell by all the smiles on the guys faces in Jeff's pictures that they were pretty happy. They had good reason to be.

Thanks to Mike and everybody that made it happen.

[Jeff S]

It was great seeing both Ron and Bill.

[Silvers]

Let's hear feedback from AHFCA members within say a 100 mile radius of Rock Mountain who didn't make the event - why that was and what could be done by our Board to make shooting events like this more attractive/interesting to our members. What say you? frank

EDIT on August 9
NO replies as of this morning. Four days now and methinks that’s telling the Board and us something. When I was in high school the curriculum included 4 years of Latin and during the 3rd and 4th years we translated works by several Roman authors to include Cicero and Virgil. One phrase from Cicero always stuck with me ..... "Their silence is a shout".

[fox-admin]

Frank What are your suggestion for making events more attractive to AHFCA members? Why do you think interest has fallen off in shooting events? You must have opinions since you keep asking for member input? No need to answer on a public format but I for one would like to hear your ideas. Craig

[Silvers]

Craig, thanks for your reply but I'd just be guessing why Fox member participation in recent shooting venues seems to have dropped off. Certainly Daryl is doing a good job trying to stimulate interest in the events he sets up. But I saw few Foxes on the courses at HH and at the Northern, and that's why I ask for input from those members within a few hours drive of those recent shoots.

[jolly bill]

Just a few words from my perspective.

I really look forward to going to Ernie's in June and Mike's in July. I go primarily for the socialization. I just like joining like minded folks and join in the conversation, a soft drink or a beer or two and watch you guys smoking those nickel cigars. I guess they aren't a nickel anymore tho.

If I shoot, I prefer to leave the scorecard to those that are more competitive. I don't shoot that good but it does feel good to hit some of the tough ones.

And thank God for those Golden BB's. (Wink, wink, Frank.) I wish I could pack more of them in my 1/2 ounce loads.

I think the cost may be a factor for some. It's not like it was a couple years ago when a box of reloads cost you about $3.00.

Our fine hosts, Ernie and Mike, I'm sure would like to see more shooters on their courses too.

Budget minded shooters I'm sure are feeling the cost of things these days: gas, food, lodging, ammo, etc. Amazing that Jeff makes the trip from Michigan twice a year, does a lot of shooting and gladly shares what he has in his cooler. Many thanks Jeff.

Come on you guys, share your thoughts.

Just another comment. My local Sporting Clays course is on level ground and it's a little over a mile to walk the course start to finish. I don't use a cart and on hot days, those last few targets are definitely tougher. I'm 86 and can keep up with most of the younger guys, most of the time. Different story in the winter tho at our course. Much more pleasant temperature wise unless we're shooting in one of those occasional snow squalls off Lake Ontario. The club is about 3 miles from the lake.

Considering the hills at Ernie's and Mike's, it's gotta be a lot tougher without a cart.

Just my thoughts and thanks Frank for your concern.

Bill

[Jeff S]

Nice comments and it’s always a pleasure to see you Bill.

[Carver]

Frank, I can only speak for mysel living on the other side of the Delaware River from Philadelphia, which is three hours away. I'm familiar with the area the shoot is held having hunted deer just north of Meshoppen for over ten years.

I know other members make a longer drive to attend, but I still work and only have so many vacation days available to ration for my various pursuits. I'd have to travel there for the day (6hrs round trip) as my wife doesn't share my passion for vintage shotguns or the shooting sports, The Meshoppen/Tunkhannock area, while beautiful, doesn't exactly have many offerings, activities or lodging, to make a longer trip more attractive for the both of us

This isn't to say that I won't make the trip someday. While my love of Fox guns hasn't translated into an ability to shoot them well, i'd like to meet the guys I have learned so much from, yourself very much included.

Tom

[44whiskey]

thank you Jeff again for taking the time to photograph the events and post the photos on the website. i always look forward to your post . regards Fred

[Maggiemollie]

I would like to see Fox members shoot together. Block a time to go out and shoot whether for score or fun and whoever makes it great. While it may not accommodate all, at least everyone knows this is the time we are going out. At Hausmanns (my first SxS) I had trouble finding Foxers going out and got stuck with a walking disaster. At Rock, I was fortunate to be invited to several rounds with a few great members. I had a good time shooting those rounds.

Suggestion would be to ask who plans to shoot what events here on the forum and what days members will be there so members can pre-pair up or at least know who wants to shoot when. I get a 3-4 day event isn't going to have everyone there all the time but if the times could be narrowed that would help.

As for Fox mfg challenges, rather than a specific head to head shoot, what about if it was a specific event (12g prelim) and you shoot for mfg score and the top 5 score are the team. Personally, I'd participate. But to shoot to qualify and then the actual head to head event isn't until late Saturday or Sunday, that just adds too much time especially for someone who is traveling. I didn't try out for the Fox teams at either HH or a Rock for that very reason. I didn't want to make the team (assumption) and not follow through. I live 4.5hrs from the PA shoots and still have to work so waiting to shoot in a mfg challenge until 3pmsih on Saturday isn't appealing. I want to get home by 6pm to do my weekend house/yard stuff and still get some R&R before resuming work on Monday.

[DarylC]

There is no single answer to why we can't get more Fox shooters to these events. I think Ron and Tom hit upon the leading cause. Work/family and not being retired. Organizing any group of shooters to shoot together when there are so many different events is like herding cats. That being said if anyone wishing to shoot their Fox gun with other Fox shooters may I suggest checking in at Fox Central, aka the BoWhoop set-up at Ernie's, or the "Grotto" at Mike's shoot. Plenty of Fox members at both locations and with a little coordination you should be able to find someone to shoot with or join a squad of like minded guys. You just have to go and make yourself known to the Fox guys hanging out at these locations and join in on the fun.

As far as the shoot offs being on Saturdays, that's usually the busiest shooting day just because some of you still work and that is your day off. To have it on Friday would eliminate that group of shooters. The shoot-offs/challenges are usually over by 4pm so that should give those with a 3-4 hour drive ample time to drive home in daylight hours.

I appreciate the support of our Fox members who take the time to participate in these events. Ron did well at Ernie's at the BoWhoop as a first timer and I think he had a good time. But I don't, and all the Fox members who attend don't, judge you on your score. My first and foremost objective is to have fun, fondle some nice Foxes and most of all make lifelong friends who just love to pull the trigger. No matter who the manufacturer was.

PS: Stay tuned for a new, exciting, Fox event coming up coming up in Sept. at the Vintage Gun Cup. Details will be posted soon.

[Maggiemollie]

I had a good time at both events although more fun at Mikes place because I kind of knew what it was about. Hausmanns was my first SxS event and I was a bit lost trying to figure things out. At Mikes I shot at 350 targets so I defintely got my shooting in. I do plan on going to the Vintagers shoot in September. Not sure what days, though.