A Merritt Island Shoot in 2011??

[bobhoge]

Is anyone looking at an organized Merritt Island Shoot for 2011? Nan & I missed not having one last year. We may try to do a few days on our own if nothing develops.

Bob & Nan

 

[Randy]

count me in

 

[HarryB]

I cancelled the yearly shoot starting with last year because of the changes at the Viera Wetlands. The county cut their $ for road maintenance by a third ($20K). Now if it rains they close the wetlands to vehicle traffic for at least two days to allow the roads to dry off. Last year the wetlands would have been closed for the entire week I would have held the shoot.

I don't feel right about holding a shoot where folks use up their vacation time and travel hundreds and in some case thousands of miles and not being sure that the main shooting location will be available.

 

[Mike Delgado]

I cancelled the yearly shoot starting with last year because of the changes at the Viera Wetlands. The county cut their $ for road maintenance by a third ($20K). Now if it rains they close the wetlands to vehicle traffic for at least two days to allow the roads to dry off. Last year the wetlands would have been closed for the entire week I would have held the shoot.

I don't feel right about holding a shoot where folks use up their vacation time and travel hundreds and in some case thousands of miles and not being sure that the main shooting location will be available.

Great point! It is only closed to vehicle traffic if I remember, we can still hike around!

Have you tried Circle B Ranch in Lakeland, FL? (hike or bike only)
Emerald Marsh in Leesburg, FL (Vehicle, hike, bike)
Mayaka State Park in port Charlotte, FL (vehicle, hike, bike)

You can look any of these places up for futher information.

 

[Randy]

there are so many other places to shoot if Viera is closed for a day or 2 who cares...
Florida is the BIF capital of the world

 

[Mike Delgado]

So many places to go in FL.

 

[HarryB]

Great point! It is only closed to vehicle traffic if I remember, we can still hike around!

Have you tried Circle B Ranch in Lakeland, FL? (hike or bike only)
Emerald Marsh in Leesburg, FL (Vehicle, hike, bike)
Mayaka State Park in port Charlotte, FL (vehicle, hike, bike)

You can look any of these places up for futher information.

I'm cognizant of the other locations to shoot in FL. The MI shoot was centered on Viera and MINWR as they were so close together along with the Orlando Wetlands and Gatorland. The other locations you cite are not as close.

Flew and I started the shoot and I hosted it mostly due to me living in the area.

If anyone wants to step in organize a Florida shoot the field is wide open, step on up. I did it for 5 years and it was a lot of work to do it right.

 

[Sailing Bum]

I just moved to the area and I would be interested in joining.

 

[Pa]

I did it for 5 years and it was a lot of work to do it right.

I agree that Harry did it right, and deserves a lot of credit for hosting it as long as he did. The barbecue at his home was always the highlight of the week.

It's time for someone else to step up.

 

[HarryB]

I agree that Harry did it right, and deserves a lot of credit for hosting it as long as he did. The barbecue at his home was always the highlight of the week.

It's time for someone else to step up.

Thanks Jim. Putting together a real shoot as opposed to a few folks meeting to shoot for a few days takes a fair amount of effort. Since the past MI shoots were semi-"official" events of the Cafe and Dgrin web sites I felt obligated to make them as good as possible.

First one has to make the official announcements of the shoot at least 6 months in advance. You need to do this so folks can schedule their vacation time. Now the scheduling has to be during prime time down here which runs from mid-December through late Feb. December is out because of the holidays. The weather is not the best in early January so you're looking at late January and Feb. Then you have to avoid the period of the Daytona 500 (every motel room from St. Augustine to Melbourne is taken) and scheduled shuttle launches ( MINWR is closed and the motels are filled). You also want to avoid conflicting with Valentine's Day.

Once we included a West Coast shoot with the Space Coast shoot you had to find someone to run the west coast shoot. Now we usually scheduled the West Coast shoot to run from the first weekend through early Tuesday. The West Coast folks would drive over to the Space Coast and join the rest of us.

At our peak we had a little over 50 participants for the shoot. Some came for the full time and some came for a few days. You needed to get their cell phone #s so you could communicate with them during the shoot. You neeeded to arrange a group rate at one of the local motels and help folks who needed info on RV parks and other accomodations. I usually put up 3-4 folks at my house.

Now you had to schedule the shooting locations (you don't want 50 shooters at the Viera Wetlands at the same time). I usually scheduled shoots at local raptor centers and coordinated folks going out on boats into the Indian River Lagoon. Then you needed to put togther driving directions to the Viera Wetlands, the Orlando Wetlands, MINWR, Gatorland, and the raptor centers.

In between helping out the folks coming into the shoot (letting them know where to meet and where we would be on which days) I also tried to arrange a few meals where we could meet at the end of the day and get together. I usually made reservations for one or two nights at local restaurants (not easy because you never really knew how many folks would be interested in going).

On Tuesday night I hosted the "kick-off' BBQ at my house when the west coast goup and the space coast group met up for the first time. At our peak I had a little over 50 folks at my house for the BBQ. I had to get the house set up, figure out a menu, buy the food and drink, and cook the food for 50+ folks in-between getting up at sunrise to met the shooters and getting the day's shoot started. After the BBQ I had to clean up the house, beg forgiveness from my wife and then get up at sunrise for the next day's shoot.

The shoot took up 9 days of my time of shooting from sunrise to sundown plus the prep time prior to the shoot. I always had a great time and it was something I looked forward to. It was always a great satisfaction that folks enjoyed the shoots so much.

The key location for the shoot was the Viera Wetlands. As long as they were available the whole thing worked. Sadly that is not the case at the present time.

I can not and will not ask folks to lose their valuable vacation time and the expense of traveling here (some travelled over a thousand miles) unless I have some assurance that they will have a fantastic time.

As an alternative we might want to schedule a rookery shoot. Gatorland in Orlando and the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine offer incredible photo ops from Feb through late May.

 

[Nancy Elwood]

Gatorland has changed its photographers pass to having NONE. Mike Godwin is gone and when he left they discontinued the photographer friendly rules. They have even planned a zip line close to the rookery.

Best
Nancy

 

[HarryB]

I have always preferred St. Augustine over Gatorland In Orlando but I felt that Gatorland had been getting better since Mike came in. Its a shame that he left.

 

[jryoung1947]

Heck of a job

Harry you did one heck of a job on the three MI shoots. I'll never forget them! Birding and shooting in Florida really changed my life.

Cheers,

John