A special side-by-side shooting competition is still being held in South Carolina next weekend, despite extensive flooding all across the state. Shooters will meet in Georgetown for a special time of classic gunning at the Southern Side by Side Championship & Exhibition Fall Classic, held at the Back Woods Quail Club. The club’s property received high water on some areas of the land, but the shooting will not be affected by the fallout from Hurricane Joaquin.
The three-day event will run on the original schedule of Oct. 23-25.
The annual event is in its eighth year. The fall shoot builds on the spring version, which just completed its 16th competition in April. Many famed gun companies have joined the competition as sponsors/exhibitors, with Charles Boswell, Heritage Guns, Ruger, Holland & Holland, and Griffin & Howe among them.
Five events will be held Friday and Saturday:
• Small gauge 50-target, open to 20-, 28-, and 32-gauge, as well as .410 bore
• Big-bore 50-target, open to 10-, 12-, and 16-gauge
• Preliminary 50-target, open to 10-, 12-, and 16-gauge
• Flush & Flurry, open to single shooters for 100 targets or two shooters for 200
• Pump 50-target, open to all gauges
Three events will take place Sunday:
• 100-target Atkin Grant & Lang main event
• 30-target Compak shooting event
• 25-target black powder event
Two Parker-Smith events will be held: a 30-target fall challenge and a 50-target trap challenge. A continental pheasant tower shoot will offer a traditional tower shoot for 300 released pheasants on Oct. 24 at 9 a.m.
The tower shoot has limited space available; reservations can be made at 843-546-1466. The tower shoot is $325 per person.
The shooting doesn’t stop there. Hosted deer and quail hunting excursions on Back Woods’ grounds will be available throughout the weekend, giving side-by-siders a chance at two trophy species. The club has more than 15,000 acres — enough to occupy the before and after of shooting on the line.
Georgetown is a wise choice for the shoot’s location. Situated between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, it offers the best of both tourist destinations in one, with history, scenery, and shopping. Back Woods is less than thirty minutes from downtown, so wives can jump into town for the day while the men gawk at hammered and hammerless works of art.
In the evenings, participants can visit the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge to see a variety of species, then shop and eat on the Harborwalk, where you might see an alligator just below you. Charter boats and lighthouses round out the outdoors weekend.
For more information about the Southern Side by Side Championship & Exhibition’s Fall Classic, visit southernsidebyside.com, or click here to register directly.
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