Channing announced the dates for the 2nd Down South Sling Tournament.  It will be the same time as last year.  The dates are May 2 - 4.  You don't need to be there for all three days.  More details on each day are below.

Location: This is not determined 100%, but that won't change anything else.  We'll either be at the same park as last year (Baldwin Park).  Or we may end up slinging in the areas surrounding the hotel.

Hotel: Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel, 832 Martin Luther King Rd, Charenton, LA 70523.  This is about 7 miles north of the hotel we stayed in last year.
     IMPORTANT: Channing is trying to reserve the rooms together for a better rate.  If you're coming, contact him about a room, channing@practicalparacord.com.

Travel: If you're flying in, don't go to New Orleans (unless you want to for some reason).  It's far away and you'll have to deal with the traffic of New Orleans.  Fly into the Lafayette airport.  It's less than an hour away.

Games: This year the games will be the same but with some small adjustments.
[list bull-blackball]

15 meters (men) / 13 meters (women/children) - Tennis balls

20 meters (men) / 15 meters (women/children) - Baseballs or projectile of your choice

Speed Round (1 minute) - 13 meters (men) / 10 meters (women/children)

Sling golf - Same idea as last year but more holes

Distance Slinging - Channing is trying to get us a spot to use baseballs.  There was also talk about possibly limiting the length of the sling (because of using baseballs).  If a certain length sling is required, there will be slings there for everyone to use.  A max length of 50 inches (full length) / 25 inches (half length) was mentioned, but not 100%.

General Schedule:

Friday - This day is optional.  We'll be slinging and testing out the games like last year.  It's a blast!  Not required, but a fun day to be there and hang out with everyone.

Saturday - All games will be played on Saturday.  We'll start at 10:00.  We'll also be getting a crayfish meal for lunch like last year!

Sunday - Trophies will be handed out in the morning.  We'll try to do this early for anyone who has to head back home.  For anyone hanging around on Sunday, there will be more slinging and whatever else we get into.  There's a golf course nearby.  Channing is going to ask about us doing some legit sling golf on the course.  No idea if they'll allow it or not.

Costs:
Hotel - If you get the hotel through Channing, he said it will be $100 per night.  A little more expensive than last year, but it should be a nicer place.
Registration - $25 for T-shirt and participation in the Down South Sling Tournament.

Other than in the OL163 video, did he announce anywhere else?

Not that I know of.  That's where I saw it.

Oh noooooooooooooo tragedy! The one weekend this year I've already got travel plans :'(

Have a ton of fun for me, I'll see you all at worlds!

That sucks.  Would have been awesome to meet you.  Maybe in Ibiza!

I'm actually not 100% certain yet.  I definitely want to get down there again.  I need to look at the work schedule on Monday.  Then look at flights, finances, etc.

Yeah I was looking forward to meeting you all finally! And I'm not even far off(florida) so I was planning to drive up a little early, maybe help set up and bring some supplies(extra tennis balls and such). Next year I guess!

Wahhhhh Channing posted the full video from last year and my regret is increasing daily!

Looks like it was a blast, I gotta make sure to keep my calendar free next year.

https://youtu.be/XOjZCNt00WE

I just booked my flight.  So I'm officially going.  I got the flight and car rental for about $100 less than last year, which was surprising.

Also, Channing said he'll be dropping a video this week with details.  He mentioned in the OSC video that the tournament would be happening "right here", so I'm guessing in Baldwin again at the same park.  If that's the case, the hotel will be the same as last year, Best Western Forest Inn at 1909 Main St, Franklin, LA 70538.  We should get confirmation this week though.

No video, but I had a call with Channing and we went over things.  The first post has been updated with all the info.  If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them here.

I haven't booked a flight yet but I will be, just FYI.

How'd it go? A blast like last year?

Well, I had a great time. Same folks as last year but 2 couldn't make it. A lot of Channing's friends and family showed up so it was a good time. He had a women and kids division along with men's division. Probably about 20 or more people overall.

We had a cajun crawfish boil again... oh my gosh. I love it so much. I think it would be reason enough to go just for that. This time we stayed at a casino, the rooms were much nicer, but a bit more expensive. He pretty much had lunch and dinner planned out each day, and the hotel had a continental breakfast.

Event wise, we did a bunch of mini-games on Friday, did sling golf and some target shooting. Very fun.

Saturday was the competition again, same events as last year. But for golf, this year Channing wanted to try out using 'waypoints', so just objects that you had to hit before moving on to the 'hole', and we all went as one group for the first hole which ended up taking a lot longer than expected. We split up for the next hole and thing went faster, but because of this, we only got to do the 2 holes. Then we did distance with baseballs and limited to a 24" sling to try and keep us within the baseball field. Kalun won with a massive crush of a throw that probably landed at 130m (well outside the fence). Channing and I had almost exactly the same length of throw, but the range finder had mine at like 0.2m farther than his.  Next we did speed round.  And then 15 and 20m.

Sunday we went to a golf course and played sling golf with golf balls. That was super fun. We had golf carts and everything. did 5 or 6 holes. One was a par 5 that was 515 yards...that one was my favorite. Just a long corridor of trees to stay between.

Oh, and I took home the W again. Joe said I had to post a picture of my loot.  The trophies from this year (plaques) were better in my opinion. The first year trophies were cool looking, but a pain to transport home.

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Congrats, Goober. I look forward to seeing the comp when Channing posts the video

Hey very cool, congrats on the wins!

I like the idea of real sling golf, so much more fun that way since golf ball ballistics are so much better than tennis balls. Looking forward to that for next year!

I think I'd struggle with distance on a baseball...going to have to practice with more weight!

Hell yeah goober!! 

I love that shot IG!  You are certainly destroying all comers at the Down South so far.

Goober posted a really good recap of things.  I'd add one more thought.  This year seemed a little bit more open to how things were done.  As IG mentioned, Sling Golf (in the tournament) was cut short because it was taking a long time.  Another example is that we decided the target distance for the speed round right before doing it.  We did it at 13m instead of 15.  I know I was in favor of 13m because the speed round is more about reloading and rate of fire as opposed to accuracy at distance, so a closer target makes more sense to me.  I don't bring up these examples in a bad way.  It's nice to have some options for adjustment and decision making when needed.  And Channing is very receptive to feedback on how things could be better.

And finally, the pic is my take for this year.  I finally got a placement in a sling tournament.  There's a bunch of projectiles that Channing was giving out as mini-prizes for the games we played on Friday.  I got some slings in the raffle that was done on Saturday with the trophies.  But the biggest excitement is the bottle of honey, which is just one of six.  As usual, I took a couple bottles of mead to the tournament.  I got talking to a lady (whose name I don't recall at the moment) about it and she asked if I'd like to get some local honey from the area because she knew a bee keeper.  I jumped at that and brought 12 pounds back home.  So next year (2026) the Down South Sling Tournament will have an official mead made with Louisiana honey.  I actually just made the batch tonight!

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Here's the baby mead, just getting started.  3 gallon batch.  It'll be ready for next year!

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Whoa now that's a prize! Definitely looking forward to that for next year!

joe_meadmaker wrote on May 10^th, 2025 at 12:46am:

Here's the baby mead, just getting started.  3 gallon batch.  It'll be ready for next year!

Congrats Joe.

I just gave my friend some kveik; gonna test how well it does to make waina kō (sugarcane wine) and what kind of sorcery kit can do with some mjöð cooking in the hot Hawaiian sun. I need to get back on the wagon so I have some for you if you visit.

Q wrote on May 10^th, 2025 at 10:54am:

I have some for you if you visit.

Awesome!  Nothing scheduled at the moment.  But I'd love to get out to one of the slinging tournaments in Guam one of these years.  If I can ever make that happen, my trip would go through Hawaii. :)