Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Greetings, one and all!

Now that I have settled myself into this far distant land, it is trekking season. I have spent some time hiking my new area, and am rather thrilled.

TODAY, I spoke with my boss about my hosting a Ranger moot on-site.

He said yes.

Moving right along:
I don't want to step on Chris' toes with this. He's been planning a Fall Moot in the Appalacians around New England for 6+ months. Chris, my apologies if this starts to compete with your plans. This isn't set in stone, but I'd like some input, and would like to toss around the merits of this location.

If there is interest, I'm going to propose three weekends in November, and will then set the date on the weekend which would garner the largest participation.

The Location:
- Brown County, Indiana
- Gorgeous Woodland of Primarily Oak, Maple, and Spruce legendary for its Boston-like colors in Fall.
- Thin ground cover, making cross-country off-trail hiking a breeze.
- Not too hilly, and the route we'd be taking would be an easy hike, so those of you who claim to be old or out-of-shape have no excuse (snickersnicker)
- Pre-scouted basecamp location with room enough for over a dozen Rangers and all of their gear.
- NO WEAPONS RULES. Private land location with permission from owner allows for law-free, open or concealed carry of any and all medieval weaponry.
- Off-trail location provides for a public interaction-free weekend. No competition for campsites or fire rings (and no fire rings required.)
- Easy access to site beforehand to set up a temporary Archery Range.

Now that I'm done bragging about my new trekking area:

What I'd like to do is put together a solid event to bring as many Rangers/Middle Earth Reenactors together as possible in a place where there are no modern rules hindering the spirit of our activity. I'd plan on everyone arriving on a Friday afternoon/evening, giving enough of the day for drive time, and enough of the evening for meet-and-greet, hiking in, campfire/sories/songs, etc. and hitting the sack.

All day saturday would be focused on primitive skills, an Archery contest, some sparring and instruction (if you're a knowledgeable WMA practitioner and you want to come, please PM me and we'll work out a way for someone to do a Liechtenauer session or something of the like), and other related skills. There is a small lake nearby if you want to try primitive fishing, and I should have a new hawk in my possession, fully trained and hunting by them.

Sunday, then, would be primarily a break-down and head home day.

This WILL be a family-friendly event. If some young ones show up, I'll be sure to have some activities tailored to their age level so they aren't bored.

It may be a bit cold by that point in the year, so don't be ashamed if you bring a modern sleeping bag with you; I'id like everyone to be comfortable. Heck, don't be ashamed of ANYTHING modern. We aren't going to harrass you for it. Well, unless it's a campstove. That might be pushing it *chuckles*.

If anyone is even remotely interested, please speak up so we can get an idea of the participation my boss should be expecting. He is still debating on asking for a small fee for the overnight use of his land, which I could understand. The fee would be nominal...no more than $10-20 per person for the weekend, but I am fairly confident that he will not.

Alright, I'll stop ranting.

Interested? Chime in!

To googlemaps the location to calculate drive times, direct your maps to Nashville, IN. More specific directions can/will be provided later.

Cheers!

-Greg

If I can get the time off and, dont have any dates for my band on whatever you guys pick I would be completely down for this, texas is freaking hot even in november and would love to hit up the north for once in my life. Im confused on the weapons part of your post..im assuming that means I can bring my bow and sword if I were to come..and can we hunt?

Count me interested!

Bows and swords are perfectly fine, yes. Hunting would be discouraged, save for small game since the deer on the property are hunted annually by the owner. But we'd go hawking for squirrels, for sure.

By the ONE! I would love to attend something like that! I googled Nashville Indiana and it's only about 5 hrs from me. only problem is no vaca time left and on massive O.T. right now. If you do something next spring or summer please let me know, I would make every effort to attend

I'm pretty excited by this prospect, as even though it's not exactly around the corner for me (~8 hour drive), it's still feasible for a weekend trip. What sort of minimum number of persons would you be looking for to go forward with it?

If you intend to make it, I know JBook is already planning to, possibly with his wife, and that'd be plenty enough for me to go ahead with it. Myself and possibly my wife would be there, and I don't see a real reason to require a minimum number. Heck, if no one but JBook and I show, I'll be out there.

Gondian, I'll keep you posted! If something in your work situation changes, let us know!

Alrighty then, let's start working out a date. The weekends I'd like to choose between are the following:

November 4-6, 11-13, or 25-27. The 18-20th is a weekend which has a french and indian war event on it that JBook will be attending, so I'm trying to make sure he's available.

Everyone that's even remotely interested (that includes you, Gondian), just post the weekends in order of preference from most preferred to least, and omit any weetkends that you outright can't make it on. I'll go through them and see what works best for everyone, and we'll move forward from there.

If anyone further out in any direction, particularly east, is interested but is worried about transportation, etc., we might be able to set up a carpool, so don't be shy about speaking up...someone near you may be thinking the same thing!

Some terrain you can look foward to:



Aaaand, just for grins, if we were to (hypothetically) host one of these early next year, it'd look something like this:

Count me in!

If (big if ) i can secure time off i would defenetly love to come, it is time we all started getting together.

The Hobbits of the East Farthing will be there! I am looking forward to it. Ever since I joined this forum I have been hoping that there would be a gathering. Since I go to reenactments all the time I really had hoped that a full fledged Middle-Earth Reenactment was in the near future. I hope this sparks more events across the country hosted by members of the Forum.

I am about 8 1/2 hours away but I already used all my time for this year but ill see what I can do for next year.

Site looks great! I am inclined towards the second weekend (11-13th) as it will be a Full Moon, and as well I won't be so caught off guard when I flip the calendar and realize I haven't found all my gear yet! The 4-6th would be my second choice, and I'd prefer not to consider the end of the month as that time is usually very busy.

I've a friend or two that might join us if that's alright and my wife may be along as well.

JBook has mentioned to me that he, also, would prefer the second weekend in November. I think that's enough for me to go by, so the date is officially set for November 11-13. Arrival times and such will be posted at a later date, but the schedule for friday will involve a late afternoon arrival time to cater to those who have to travel long distances to get here.

Dwayne, it'd be great to have you! Anyone else, feel free to chime in!

What's the word on shelter construction? Will it be permissible to cut brush/saplings and the like or is this to be very low impact?

There is a substantial amount of fallen wood all about the camp, which we have permission to use for aiding in shelter construction or use in our campfire. I promised that the location would look untouched (save to a trained eye, perhaps, but I'll be the first to say that my boss is NO tracker), so all we need to do is clean things up and break down any shelters we make. Jake will have his canvas tent, I'll be setting up my cloak lean-to, possibly with a bit of deadwood as additional support, any comers are welcome to do as they please within reason. Bedding will be easily had; it's fall, and the leaf bed is already about 6"-1' deep, so piling up leaves and such to provide for comfort and insulation from the cold ground is also permissible.