A Challenge for 2012 - World FITASC Championships

My wife (Wendy) and I have been looking for an opportunity to shoot abroad for a little while now, thinking that we would do the World Skeet in Texas. It turns out that Wendy has a cousin that lives about 45 mins from the club that wil be hosting the 2012 World Fitasc Championship near Chicago. How could we look the other way at such an opportunity, a week shooting and a week's holiday all rolled up. So we've decided to go for it, and today sent off our application for an import permit for the guns to the US authorities. We do have a number of challenges though, Wendy has never shot gun down, and has shot very little sporting. I've not done a lot of sporting, but have shot Fitasc, once! We've decided to get as much sporting in as possible, shooting in a Fitasc style, and in the new year start doing a few Fitasc shoots. May get a few coaching sessions on the way for the both of us. We're going for the experience of taking part, so whatever our classification, I'm sure we'll have a good time. Could be the ultimate meet up if we could get a shootclay group together, any takers? Looking for any advice that those more experienced travellers can offer. Starting to look at airlines, probably Virgin, and the local hotels for the week of the shoot. Also looking at a flightcase that can take two guns, to keep the handling fees down. Also, I have no idea what the entry fees might be, anyone got any idea? Bob

Probably the most important is check the airline,s carry fire arms,i flew to texas back in April with continental airlines no problems either way, normally got to be there 3 hours before take off.

Yep check with airlines but I've used virgin before. Allow plenty of time as you will be held up by cretins at our end. In the states your gun will often come round on the conveyor belt!! For entry fees I'd guess well over 1£ per bird, no prizemoney and no classes.Enjoy your break!

Oh,yes you just reminded me about the cretins our end Edd,when we got back to Gatwick had to wait nearly 2 hours for my gun as they couldn't find a customs officer to sign it over to me,i could see the gun ,was only couple of feet from me in the possesion of a lady /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-frown.gif/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-frown.gif

Around a £1.00 a bird - ouch/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-surprised.gifThere seems to be an English sporting comp running at the same time, such that you shoot 50 birds a day for the Fitasc, and maybe another 50 for the standard sporting. Still trying to sort out what the overall budget is likely to be, but that sounds horribly expensive. I work for one of the Virgin brands, so hope to get a modest discount on the flights. Apparently they do take firearms, but I'm sure there will be some hoops of fire to jump through on the way. May have to sell a "spare" gun to fund it all methinks, but it is an opportunity not to be missed.

Does seem very expensive,but FITASC always is,compared to other disiplins!

Hi Bob, Have a look at Jerry Park Youngs site, he does a few different ones, also Maskells had a catalogue with loads of different ones the last time I was in. It will be fantastic for sure   I was really tempted but thinking of going to Daytona Speed Week and a bit of shooting in Florida as there is no way i'll be ready in time, maybe for the 2020 one   But will be heading to the English Skeet Club home international in Ireland in 2012  Jon.

Sounds Fantastic but also sounds very expensive /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-frown.gifHope you manage it though sounds like an experiance you & your wife will never forget /wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-smile.gifGood Luck.

Check the World FITASC page below for info on the shoot, ground, hotels etc. http://englishsportingclays.co.....ampionship

I've also been thinking about going over for this - not necessarily to shoot it, but to liveblog and cover the event for ShootClay - travel is not an issue for me, and I'd only really need to pay hotel in the area. We'll talk more Bob - I need to evaluate if the site would get real value from this - or I'd be better off trying to build my presence in the UK before going to cover events like this.

Hi Bob I'm already making plans to go to the World FITASC next year.  If you want any pointers PM me.

Hi Skichel Would be great to swap notes, we've applied for our ATF forms, but haven't got as far as hotels and flights. Can't pm on here, but drop me a mail on [email protected] and maybe we can have a chat one evening.

Wooohoooo - booked our hotel. Just got to hope our entries are accepted now. Still haven't found any real details on entry costs yet, fingers crossed/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-cool.gif

Entries are at http://www.fitasc.com most probably between Xmas and New Year. last year I was the numero uno to book. They like to do a test run before the Monday of official registering! I will let you all know when I catch them! Being the first ones, usualy gives you better shooting times and none of the 7.30AM nonsense! If I remember, it 230E for a World or GP! The Lone Canadian,Henry/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif

Henry - thank you for the info. How dificult is it to get an entry? Assuming that we put our request in early, are we pretty mush assured of a place?Reason for asking is that I am guessing that the airfares will only go up, so would quite like to book early, but don't want to run the risk of not getting an entry. Do you book your travel on the assumption you will get in? Bob

Hi BobCheck out the Northbrook clubs website, everything you ned to know is on there,It will give you a link to "winscore" where you can book any additional events if you wish. You said that you have applied for the ATF permit,did you include a shoot invite in with the paperwork you sent?Be prepared for some confusion at Chicago airport,immigration is a pain and can take acouple of hours,the customs guys are great, they were impressed with my gun so much that one of them puy it together and started mounting it in full view of all the other people, its a different world.  I shot at Northbrook some years ago a great place and great people to boot. Both BA and Virgin will carry the gun though you MUST inform them when booking and a couple of weeks prior to travel a reminder will be handy.send an e-mail if you want to find out more. wynn 

Thanks for the response Wynn, yes we did include the invitation.I've tried looking at Winscore, but despite them saying the shoots will up for registration in mid November, they don't seem to have opened for registration yet. I'll keep checking the site though. Cheers

It is much better to buy an Alaska non-resident small game hunting license. It will allow you up to a year of shooting int the US. Here is a good link with info:http://www.losttarget.com/form6.htmlBTW, I love the ability to easily insert links, WELL DONE! Now if Passion Ball Trap can be anywhere as user friendly! You can shoot in Canada by just arriving and buying at customs, a Canadian permit. We should have a shoot the week before in Montreal. There is a Big Blast shoot in Rhode Island the week before, The Great Eastern Lobster. It is a very good shoot with 100 FITASC, 200 Sporting plus small gauges and other side events. Besides the lobsters are good! The Lone Canadian,Henry/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-wink.gif

A quick update - flights are booked, and have just booked into loads of preliminary events running through the week. So for me, that's two one hundred bird warm ups, one 200 bird sporting championship, and a fifty bird Fitasc warm up. Think I might be quite warm when the main event starts, another 200 bird Fitasc. In Fitasc I'm currently D class, only shot it once, what other sport can you enter and compete against the best in the world - can't wait/wp-content/forum-smileys/sf-cool.gif