Upper Peninsula Field Possability?

[tpot]

There is some property that could be used for a field off the south coast pretty close to the middle of the peninsula Here


Now my question is if there is enough activity up there to support a fields overhead. I have done a bit of excessive research and found that there is only one legitimate established paintball field up there right now and I don't believe they dabble in any sort of plastic slinging. Seeing how this is the MIA I figured it would be my best interest to get some sort of response on my query from the community. Overhead would of course be referring to electric costs of lighting and power usage, running water on site, insurance, ect ect. This is directed towards the players that would of course be interested in attending a field in this location but all input is of course welcome, Thank you in advance!

[Breathe]

I live in Brimley and if this proposed field were to host events my friends and I would LOVE to join in. You also have large campus outfits to get players from such as the MI tech and Marquette Crew. There is also the LSSU group but they have pretty much disbanded and the leftovers play here in bay mills. I've also run into guys from Ontanagaan and have heard of groups from the Iron mountain region.

Aside from locals any monthly game you host should bring a nice amount of players from all across the UP.

I would suggest checking with the groups I've mentioned on facebook such as STFU Marquette, the Airsoft association of MTU, and the Bay Mills airsoft group.

[tpot]

Fantastic to get such a response so fast. I will immediately check into these groups and most likely contact them within the week. Good information very much appreciated Breathe

[luke213]

Well I think I'm probably the longest playing yooper up here as a whole. And I hate to say it but I don't think there is honestly enough player base to support this type of business especially that far East. If you were going to start something I'd be looking at the iron mountain area or around Marquette or maybe Houghton. You need a college town I think to have enough core players to keep it afloat. I was up playing with STFU today at their game and we had 13 guys. That has been average lately at the last few games. And they have a better turn out than allot of groups up here from what I've heard lately.

Unless you built something completely amazing and I mean something beyond anything in the entire state I can't see allot of guys making the trip that far. From here its a good solid 2+ hour drive each way and almost as far from Marquette and further from Houghton. That's too far for me to justify more than a time or two a year. The guys from Marquette don't really like to drive to play down here 60 miles away. And depending on what your building keep in mind the game played today was free open to anyone held on private land at a saw mill which is actually allot of fun almost cqb. Down here at my place I've got over 200 acres of private land wooded that we use. Allot of people have land or can use land usually allot of it. So that's where what you build will make a difference between paying to play and free games.

Don't want to sound like a buzz kill but this is from someone who looked into starting a field and almost did it 10 years ago. I wouldn't recommend it unless you've got another source of income and can just do it as a fun sideline. Also consider winter sucks bad. We were playing in crotch deep snow 4+ft deep. That takes allot of players out of the games and we've got snow almost 6 months a year.

Just my 2 cents. If it were near to any of the three towns I mentioned I can see some guys like myself showing up maybe once a month if the place is setup with a awesome location and well as field. Otherwise guys will likely stick with private land.

Take care!

Luke

Oh and forgot most of the UP based groups are organized on Facebook rather than forums including my up airsoft group for Dickinson County. And misterwhite and info on iron mountain players I'd be very interested.

[tpot]

This is exactly what I was looking to hear in response. Thank you Luke for all the helpful info and non of it is bad news. This just means I will have to start scouting for property in between/around the areas you mentioned. This would be a side project for a couple years so nothing would be built over night. Living and camping up there has made me adept to how harsh the weather can be, especially during the winter, so I intended on running Late spring through early fall for the outdoor course. The ringer is I intend on raising a heated building for indoor games year round. Nothing too large, aiming for 2k-3k sq feet. That is if I don't end up scoring some land that already has a healthy building erected.

I will look into the FB groups as well, again amazing information and thank you for being so helpful Luke!

[luke213]

One thing to note on the building keep in mind the cost to heat. I've got just shy of 2,000 Sq ft in my barn and it's difficult during winter to keep it warm especially when we see temps down sometimes to - 35f at night and days in the well below zero range. It's not all winter so you might be able to avoid some of those times but it's something to include in your cost analysis. Out of all the places I mentioned I'd recommend Marquette only because it's more centrally located compared to Houghton. You'd be able to draw players likely from the surrounding area as well as Escanaba etc. And while I'm thinking about it look into places on the old ki sawyer airbase. There are a ton of buildings cheap there whether you could make them work insurance wise is a big if but I always wanted to play around there. The price is cheap but quite honestly allot of the base is a ghetto of sorts. But the price and buildings are incredible. There are several multi story dorms that would be downright perfect good parking areas and they aren't right near any of the normal housing. They are also too far for most of the trouble makers to walk to give you any crap. Downside is its 30 miles roughly from Marquette but I believe the location would be a large draw. Maybe enough so to do a large scale lion claws type of event.

I'll keep thinking as well and update if I think of anything else.

Take care!

Luke

[Breathe]

Luke; I'm currently looking into contacts for the Iron mountain crew. also, thanks for being more clear for tpot from business perspective. I sometimes get carried away with the prospect of being able to join a decent UP game.

Tpot, I agree with the central location idea that Luke has posted. Being closer to Marquette is a huge selling point and would provide some decent business. That airbase sounds pretty sweet too. I'll shutup now since I'm not really being helpful.

[luke213]

I know the feeling of being excited about a UP based field;) But if one starts I'd like to see it stay if possible and succeed

That said any suggestions I think are good ones so don't refrain from posting since there are so few of us as it is;)

Luke