To both my readers – I’m sorry. I haven’t been a very good blogger lately. If you have been following my rants, you both probably know that I haven’t been very good at keeping up with my online presence. You probably also know that I’ve been working – A LOT!!!!! If you haven’t, you can pretty much catch up on the antics here or here. If you haven’t already, GO, READ!

As you can already tell from the preceding, I’ve been worked really hard over the course of the last month’s time. I’ve been on my feet on a shop floor for a good ten hours a day. This is no excuse for my absence in my blogging, but I hope that you will forgive me and understand that there has been some other pressure.

I learned a lot at Appleseed when we went, but it was a real disaster to me in the present state of things. It was a real lifter to Jenni, and you can read about it here. Once again, I learned A LOT. If I skip the part about my failure (or my lack of mastery) can I skip on to the part about bad equipment without guilt? Frankly, I feel like the equipment challenges forced me to learn a whole lot more than the other students of the workshop. This won’t be my last Appleseed, as I WANT THAT PATCH!!!!!!!!

Jenni and I are still in the one-income mindset for some reason. This means that we’ve been living on the cheap (a.k.a. like poor people), and I’ve been working a lot of hours, and dragging the cash home. So, we found ourselves with a household export deficiency.

When Christmas was coming around, we had this grand idea that we were going to have a gunny Christmas. The fat man was going to come down our non-existent chimney with a bag full of shooty goodness, and he was going to leave a precision air rifle for the kiddo, a DAO Beretta PX4 Storm .45 for Jenni, and a Saiga 12 for Your’s Truly. But, that didn’t happen. Life got in the way, and we took care of life instead. We made it right for the kiddo, but we vowed that we’d take care of each other later.

Valentine’s Day came and went. I was unemployed. This weekend, we found ourselves together with a little excess cash. So, we took care of each other. We found a great Nikon camera that Jenni couldn’t go on without, and we made our way to the range to return some loaner gear to my friend, Will.

While we were at the range, I looked over that 12-gauge AK that I’ve been imagining owning. They didn’t have the exact model that I’d like to own, the price was a little higher than I remembered, and I was thinking of all the mods I’d have to do to it before I loved it. So, after much deliberation I didn’t go that route. Instead, I bought a brand new Smith & Wesson M&P45c.

“Why that particular gun?” you might ask. Well, I’ve been a fan of Smith & Wesson since I’ve been even fascinated by guns. They haven’t let me down yet. Jenni has the 9mm equivalent of this gun, and although I was thinking about getting a nine, it made more sense for me to get a different caliber if I was getting the same model – and I don’t believe in .40 or .357 Sig. Bang for the buck, it’s really hard to argue with S&W’s M&P guns. They’re really fantastic firearms for the green they command.

While at the range, I rented a S&W M&P45 full-sized model, just to get the feel for the thing. The rental gun was well-abused, with many thousands of careless rounds put through it. And, its countenance showed it. The sucker was visibly mal-handled as a lifestyle. The polymer frame was warped away from the muzzle, and everything in it that could rattle was. And yet, it returned fuzzy hole after fuzzy hole in the way of groups. The gun felt remarkably solid in the hand and all actions were consistent – safety, slide, trigger, etc.

Smith & Wesson is currently offering a $50 or two-free mags mail-in rebate on this line of guns, so the economics made perfect sense. I went to the young man who had showed me the Saiga and broke the news that I would not be buying that shotgun – but asked him if he would sell me a pistol instead.

Over the weekend, Jenni and I took the little big bore to the range. She performed perfectly over the course of 200-rounds. I resisted the urge to be horribly stingy, and let Jenni shoot her a few times. Although the users weren’t perfect, the equipment itself performed flawlessly. There were fuzzy groups returned when we shot our wellest, and adequate-to-kill-teh-BG for our worstest of shooting.

This evening, when Jenni was out to church choir, I walked down to the range at the corner and picked up some defensive .45. It’s the Bonded PDX – or whatever bullet, as loaded by Winchester. Now, I need to work myself into my holster-making schedule. My real customers come first, but this girl will have a name and be riding in good leather in no time flat!

Jenni has taken some very impressive pictures with her new camera, and the new pistol shoots wonderfully. So, for a VERY late Christmas present, Jenni took some nice shots at my new pistol. I very wisely did not reciprocate. There are pics of the new gun which will come out shortly, but you aren’t missing anything as it looks like a very generic, polymer, striker-fired auto-chucker.

So, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Merry Christmas to both my readers!

To both my faithful readers: I give my sincerest apologies for not writing a blog entry for over two weeks. These are the actions of a n00b, and I hope you can forgive me. Now, please allow me to explain myself. Right now, I’m receiving my 100-proof therapy after my fifteenth consecutive day of work at the new place. I’m not much worried about getting Dooced right now, as I don’t think anybody there has any time to find my blog, much less read it. Week one wound up around fifty-two hours of labor. Last week tallied in at a little over sixty. Fortunately, I will not be working this weekend. I’ve made comment and had coworkers say that they thought ‘we’ would be working. I’ve explained that I have scheduled the time off, and will be taking it, as I have already purchased my tickets to the Appleseed shoot that I’ve been wanting to go to for two years now! I’m friggin’ excited and dead tired all at the same time. The weather looks like it will be great (although I don’t put any faith in a forecast beyond 72-hours).

The wife, child, and I will be well-overdue for some challenging rifle action. I hope to learn some tricks that will make my shooting go from adequate to astounding. From what I’ve heard and read from other Appleseed attendees, this is exactly what I should expect. It was about two years ago that there was an event near my home, and that’s where we are going next weekend. I inquired, and there were no assurances that there would be another event at said location in the foreseeable future. So, we ponied up, paid the admission, called in some favors to complete our gear, and we will be storming our stores for the remainder of what it will take to go to this magnificent event. With our awesome .22lr’s in hand, we will drive to the gun range where the three of us will learn to reliably hit a man-sized target at 500-meters with a rifle equipped with iron sights. Yeah. I’m psyched! The range also has an area reserved for some real-life, 600-yard shooting, so I imagine that we’ll also drag our AR’s along for the ride. We’re going to have a really nice, soopah awsom, rifley weekend!

Besides the obvious complaint about the hours, I REALLY like the new job. I thought that I was working with an outstanding group of people at my last job. But, this company is 10x bigger than the last, and I can’t find anybody that I have had any significant head-butting with. Having crammed three weeks worth of work into two, that’s really saying something! As far as the hours are concerned, my one saving grace is that it is temporary. The factory is:
1 – Moving from one computer system to a distinctly different one.
2 – Changing warehouse and manufacturing locations to streamline production.
3 – Going through a meticulous inventory of like a quarter million distinct part numbers (I may be exaggerating a little there).
and:
4 – Implementing a massive overhaul of the part numbering system.
The bottom line is that they need all the help they can get. My position is the obvious help there. Salaried employees put in free overtime, and they perform accordingly. Hourly employees must legally get paid time-and-a-half for their overtime. Consultants (a. k. a. ‘contract labor’), such as I, may be paid straight, hourly pay for any and all time over the Federally allotted, forty per week. Therefore, they will make their hardest attempt to work the snot out of me for the duration for the ninety-day contract. I must say that I don’t mind the extra pay, even if I do mind the extra hours. I am rapidly wearing thin, but I don’t think that it will be a problem to deliver at least their money’s worth through the end of the week. I have even managed to get a little of my holster work in on the side! Granted, I have not completed a huge amount of that work, but it has been progress… As far as more traditional work is concerned, I like them a lot, and they seem to like me as well. The people at the new company express in many ways that they are really impressed and appreciative of my presence there. Apparently, I have not offered disappointment since my interview. I don’t plan on offering any.

On the holster end of things, I’m just about to unveil my first exotic-skinned holster as well as the much-requested, much awaited, pocket/IWB convertible. And, I’ve got a few tricks in store there! I’ve also freshened up my belt-optional IWB holsters and added a matching magazine carrier for the weak side. True to my previous promises, I’m about to show off some beautiful new products! For a teaser, please look at what Caleb has to say about his new Red Racer! I’m trying my hardest to make the best holster you can get, regardless of price – and a .2-second drop in draw speed over kydex for a Bianchi Cup competing IDPA shooter is nothing to scoff at!

Yes, friends. I’m very tired. But, the ride has been a good one. I’m looking forward to some much earned R&R, but for now, I believe I’ve got enough fuel left to get through the demanding part. Once again, I’ll try my hardest to not let it get to two weeks before my next post. Thanks for reading. Regards,

ERM

Make that SELF-employment!  I’m feeling pretty good, actually.  Apparently, I need to put together a real workspace.  My back has been hurting, and I’m getting sick of seeing work laying around.  Getting laid off sucks, but being in the first wave is a blessing in disguise.  It seems noble, but going down with the ship could not be a good thing.  I know that now I could get lulled in by the “I don’t want to work” bug, but if I make myself make a habit of doing what needs to be done, it will work out.  Last night, I did work on a holster for a little while, even though I said I wouldn’t.  Explanation:  I’ve seen way too many of the self-employed work at all hours.  I decided that I would work within hours and not otherwise.  Last night, I had to trim and wet-mold a holster so I could dye it today.  It wasn’t dry until this evening, so I was going to dye it and face another holster this evening.  Then, we got a storm.  I can’t dye when it’s raining, and the adhesive won’t set right when it’s raining.  So, I blew it off.  This is the first time I’ve felt relaxed since Thursday, and it feels WONDERFUL!!!  Two days in, two orders well underway.  I even finished a holster for Jenni.  (I have a friend that makes jewelry.  His wife gets diamonds as random presents.  Jenni got the short end of the stick, apparently.)  If that is any sign, it is going to work.  I still need holster orders, people!  Get off your duffs and buy! 

Here we are, at the beginning of the final year of the first decade of the millennium. This was the iciest New Year that I can remember. I have several thoughts about the change this year.

Two years ago, on January 1, I became a gunny. Never having owned a gun before, I felt highly compelled to buy a Smith & Wesson Model 29, and learn to shoot it effectively. So, Jenni and I went to H&H Gun Range and rented a couple guns and a lane. She rented a S&W M&P9, and I rented a 6-inch M629. Really, I just wanted to make sure I could shoot the thing before making the investment. We were hooked!

At this point, my M29 is my range queen baby, and Jenni carries a M&P9c every day, in combination with her M640. As a side note, we would have gotten her this one instead, had it been available. As it is, we’ll eventually have hers cut for moon clips, and it will essentially be a Pro Series clone. We are both CCW permitted, daily carrying, NRA certified Range Safety Officers, proficient with various action types, avid shotgunners, and accomplished rifle marksmen (in the general sense, not the gender-specific sense).

Our son has gotten in on the action as well. He loves to shoot rifles and handguns chambered in .22lr and .22 short, as well as 9mm, .38Spl, and .410 shotgun. He has tried the 20-gauge on a couple of occasions, and has become a spectacular shot with a sporter-style air rifle with competition sights. He does want to continue to work with the 20-gauge and become proficient with it. My brother and sister-in-law have both gotten their CCW permits, and she actually works at H&H full-time now! I have been making custom, made-to-order, leather holsters, and Jenni has been involved with classes, assisting with teaching women the basics of self-defense and the use of defensive firearms. We’ve done a little basic gunsmithing and have enjoyed every step of the process to get where we are today.

This year, I want to start hand loading. That’s no resolution, per se, so much as it is a loose goal. If I am to resolve to do anything, it is to start hunting. The three of us will take our hunter safety education class together, and we will go shoot some tasty animals this year. My grandpa used to keep his freezer completely filled with game of various sorts. I’ve never been hunting. It’s not as though there weren’t guns in the house as I was growing up, so much as my parents didn’t enjoy shooting nearly as much as I do. Jenni’s upbringing was a different story, as her mother was frightened of firearms, and would not permit them in the house – even though http://injennifershead.com/’s maternal grandfather was an avid rifleman, and sharp-shooter for the U. S. Army. It is tragically unfortunate that the two of us never had the benefit of the rich gun heritage that could have come from each of our families, but it has been a wonderful journey that we have enjoyed together, and teach our son along the way, giving him the benefit that we never had.

On New Year’s Eve, we ate lamb, and drank Bogle Zinfandel and Coppola Sophia with an intimate group of friends and family, who promptly went home shortly after toasting in the new year, as we do when we get a little older. We partied like it was 1999, two-thousand zero zero, party’s over (whoops) out of time. It seems strange that I can remember ten years ago so clearly. Everyone was all freaked out about the nonexistant “Y2K” scenario, much like everyone is currently all freaked out about the nonexistant “global warming” scare. I was working a crappy job and had a headfull of hair. Now, I’ve got a real job and thinned hair (hence the hats). Ten years ago, millions of people were ignorantly celebrating the new millenium, which incidentally wasn’t going to happen for another year, because they apparently never learned to start counting from the number one. It was a time of excitement. Now, people are freaked out not only by global warming, but also by the state of the economy. If you ask around, people will nearly universally tell you that 2009 was a terrible year in all aspects. I will be one that will claim 2009 as a great year. It wasn’t easy, but it was good. Jenni and I have both faced issues that have subconsciously been clawing away at our confidence and ability to live our fullest. That is the best thing that happened all year. What we share in common with all those that claimed 2009 as a terrible year, is that we are optimistic – and yes – excited to see what 2010 holds for us! This very well may be the best year that we’ve ever had. To that end, I resolve to no longer let the past define me, but to make my own future (I really hope I can keep that). In many ways, the two of us have grown closer and closer in the time we’ve been together, but in other ways it feels like we’ve been wandering in the desert. I refuse to believe that’s the best we can hope for. I believe that we are finally equipped to attempt to grab life by the horns and make it work for us. Whether or not we accomplish anything in the process is another story altogether, but the very attempt sound worth the effort.

I’ve got a good kid, whom I’ve become a lot closer to in the last year. I come from a line of men that have a difficult time getting close to their children. This in turn, produces men who have a hard time getting close to their children. My son has started interacting with us in a far more mature way than ever before. I’ve said and written on multiple occasions that he is quickly ceasing to be a little boy and is turning into a great man. He is making more responsible decisions, he sees the value in intangible concepts that boys have no concept of, and he’s a fun person to be around. I resolve to continue to get closer to my son, and break the cycle that has plagued generations of men in my family. I think I’m on the right track to make that happen. We enjoy doing things together, and he and I have appropriate, mutual respect. How can I expect him to have respect for me if I have none for him?

So, there you have it. Three resolutions for 2010 based on the happenings of this last year, the last several years, and the last ten plus:

1. Get legal and shoot animals.
2. Move forward with Jenni into what can only be an amazing chapter in life.
3. Continue to become closer to my son.

I hope I’ve illustrated above how closely these three things really are, in the context of my life. That’s all for now.

Last week I wrote about the horrid, pizza-pocket-ish things that I have in the freezer at work. There is but one of these things left, and I can’t bring myself to eat it today. If I weren’t so cheap, I would have pitched the whole box a long time ago. I don’t know exactly how many came in the box, but it feels like a zillion. I did eat one yesterday, and here’s the funny part: We had pizza for dinner last night. These microwavable lunches are so un-pizza-like that they don’t even make me not want pizza. I’m sorry, but that’s just weird. So here I am, not eating lunch yet again. Meh.

It’s been far too long since I last went shooting. I really wish that I had the time and money to have a good range session at least once a week, but unfortunately that’s not really an option right now. I really want to get in some good, outdoor target practice. It’s been since Halloween that we last got to do that! If this year’s seasonal patterns work the way I think they will, we should have some pretty mild weather in January, and that’s exactly what I’ll do. There’s nothing quite like shooting at plastic bottles across a ~200-yard hollow. Just for fun, here’s a satellite view of the place in question (thanks to Google Maps):

Sometimes we set up at the North end of the field and shoot South. Other times, we’ll reverse that. There’s plenty of room to set up multiple targets for different drills, we’ve shot clays there, and there’s a decent enough stretch for rifle target shooting. Now, I’m making myself want to go right now! Next year, I fully expect to shoot a deer or two in that very place. But, I digress.

We now have less than two weeks until Christmas. Back in September or October, we pretty well decided what we were going to do for Christmas presents. We decided that we were going to have a gunny Christmas. We planned on getting an AirForce Edge for The Kiddo, as he’s really gotten into his air rifles. Jenni has been lusting after a Beretta Px4 Storm DAO in .45ACP. I was planning on getting a Saiga 12 in the whole deal. (And no, I would not name it Abomination.) We set up a budget, and started cramming our savings to make this happen. It would have been really fun, and we would have had a trip out to the farm immediately – possibly even Christmas afternoon – to try out the new goodies, but alas…

It was apparently not meant to be. There was the $360.00 incident with the cat’s tail, and several other (albeit smaller), unexpected expenses that I won’t bore you with that simply busted our budget. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a bad thing, but still a disappointment. Kiddo will get an air rifle, but it will probably have to wait until his birthday. I think we’re going to get him a new bike for Christmas instead. They’re quite a bit cheaper. As for the two of us, we’ll get each other smaller, simpler presents for now, and maybe we can get each other the romantic gifts of firearms for Valentine’s Day or something.

I’ve been able to cite this disappointment as a valuable lesson to Kiddo concerning appropriate expression of disappointment, i. e. as upset as I was over the deal, I didn’t throw a fit. That’s been really good for his developing mind, and that in and of itself is worth more than a couple of new guns. Plus, it’s wonderful to be in a place in life were we aren’t living so beyond our means that we can’t deal with life’s little emergencies. There have been plenty of times that such financial demands would have put me straight into a panic. “How will we be able to buy groceries if the cat has to get stitches?” – and that sort of thing. Thank God, we aren’t there now!

My employment status is kind of on a knife edge right now, but I’m only slightly worried about that. I know that I could quickly go back to work, and we have survived on far less than Jenni’s current income in the past. Honestly, if I were really worried, I’d already have a different job by now. The fact of the matter is, although it wouldn’t be fun, the worst-case scenario is really not all that daunting. And, there are a lot of people that don’t have it nearly as good. As weird as it may sound, I’m actually thankful for the disappointment and the bumps in the road, as I’m glad that I got my lot in life as opposed to someone else’s.

So, I guess that’s about it for now. Maybe I’ll take that last frozen pizza pocket thingy to the farm and shoot it. Kind of two birds with one stone, you know?

This year, we had an intimate Thanksgiving. I dreaded it. But, it turned out to be one of the the most special Thanksgivings in my memory. As it was a small gathering (just the three of us, and Beej), we had a small spread. I started preparing food on Wednesday evening and worked on the feast all day on Thursday. It’s amazing that after all those hours of preparation, we were finished eating after about ten minutes. It was still worth it. I’m glad that I’m not constantly cooking like that, but on occasion, I’ll gladly rise to the challenge. And, I’m not going to take all the credit, either.

On Wednesday, I started thawing the duckling, simmering the giblets and neck in Chianti and water with eel meat and juice, and boiling a collection of turkey skin and bones to make a load of turkey stock. I made sure to turn off the fire before we went to bed so I wouldn’t reduce these to ash, like the last time I attempted to make turkey stock. (That was a bad, bad thing…) I cleaned and cut the potatoes as well. Thursday morning, I was skinning and sectioning the duckling to go into the marinade, and perfecting sauces.

Of course, I’m a sucker for raw vegetables, so we had our selection with ranch dressing. The raw veggies weren’t quite as fresh as I would have liked, but they were still a good addition to the culinary pieces.

As for cooked veggies, we selected two yellow squash and two zucchinis that I cut into <1/8-inch slices and two bell peppers, one yellow, one red, that I cut into about 1/4-inch slices. The thought was that I wanted the squash to cook quickly, and I wanted the peppers to remain crisp. We melted 2-tablespoons of bacon grease and half a stick of butter into a pan, and Jenni sauteed them until the squash was just barely translucent.

We boiled 5-lbs of red potatoes with the skins on. I don’t believe in removing perfectly good skin from potatoes unless they have so much dirt and grit on them that it can’t be avoided. The Kiddo smashed the potatoes with 1-tablespoon bacon grease, a stick of butter, and a splash of heavy whipping cream.

I had never actually made gravy before yesterday, but Jenni helped me – a lot. The gravy we made for the potatoes consisted of 1-tablespoon of bacon grease (detecting a pattern?), 1-quart of our turkey stock (there was another gallon and a half that we bagged and froze), duck neck meat, about 1-cup heavy whipping cream, and organic flour. It took about 1.5-teaspoons kosher salt and a generous helping of fresh-ground pepper to finish it up.

The duckling itself was my crowning achievement for the meal. I brined the bird for about 16-hours prior to any other preparation. As I wrote above, I skinned and sectioned it, saving the fat for rendering at a later date. I put the sections into a vacuum bag and marinated them in Konig Hoven Quadrupel ale for about six hours. The pieces were smoked with fruitless mulberry wood. For the sauce, I continued simmering the above-mentioned concoction of chianti, water, neck and giblets, and eel. I removed the solids (fed the entrails to the dog and cats, and saved the neck meat for the gravy), and continued simmering the juice with the addition of 1-tablespoon of raw sugar, 1-teaspoon kosher salt, and 1-cup of Konig Hoven Quadrupel. Once the flavors had blended nicely, I thickened the sauce with corn starch. Once the meat came off the grill, I drizzled this exquisite sauce over the top.

It was quite lean, and very flavorful!

To wash it down, we had Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel (except The Kiddo who had milk), which we had regulated to the perfect serving temperature in holes drilled in a +60-lb chunk of sandstone. We served in Riedel ‘O’ Syrah tumblers after briefly decanting. (Beej tends to have bad luck with glasses, and we thought using stems would tempt disaster.)

Beej brought some excellent cheesecake brownies for dessert, which we drizzled with dark chocolate syrup. Kiddo and I decided to make chocolates earlier in the day. We started with Ghirardelli 100% cacao bar. We sweetened it with raw sugar that Kiddo powderized by mortar and pestle. On his suggestion, we flavored the chocolates with Spanish saffron.

It really was an outstanding meal, and well worth the work involved. Everything was perfect. We shall see what happens for Christmas, but I’ve really raised the bar for New Year’s Eve…

I’m thankful for…

God’s Grace
My beautiful wife
My wonderful son
Great friends
Wonderful blog readers
Struggles to keep me limber and…
Closure to bad situations (even if not all of them)
Life’s promise of brighter times
The snoring dog in my Heywood Wakefield lounge chair (she’s loud)
Kitty antics
Great food (pics to follow)
Intimacy
My talents
America, Freedom and Liberty
Living in Oklahoma
Shooting sports and my guns
My crappy house with its plumbing and wiring problems
Being employed
My Nissan

I am so very, very blessed. Thank you, God!

There’s mixed news today.

On the up-side, my Kevlar thread and Vectran yarn came in. I’m really looking forward to putting it in some sturdy leather! Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to parade out some holsters like you’ve never seen before in the not-so-distant future. My ultimate goal is to offer the best looking, toughest holster that you can get. I’m confident the little improvements will eventually get me there.

On the down-side, we still aren’t out of the woods on our whole situation. I’m feeling a lot better about it today, but still freaked out. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support! The biggest thing Jenni, The Kiddo and I have going for us currently is our support system – which has ironically taken a hit recently. But, that’s the way life rolls, and if you don’t roll with the punches, you get run over.

That’s about all I’ve got for now.

So, when I posted about our Halloween weekend camp out and shoot out, I promised pics. I was going to do this yesterday, but with the shiny objects and all, it just didn’t happen. So, without further delay…

The weather was beautiful! It’s pretty difficult to argue with a warmer than normal, Oklahoma Fall afternoon!

The moon was out, and the sky was clear and blue.

My parents even got in on the action!

Kiddo had fun spinning his glow stick on a string.

It looked like so much fun that I had to give it a try!

Yes, I am just about that goofy in real life.

The next morning, we shot clays.

And, shot clays.

And then…

I love shooting clays!

Sunday was arguably a prettier day than Saturday. It was the perfect weather for shooting.

My sis-in-law didn’t shoot much, but I know that she hit at least one with her single-shot .410. It is debated whether she hit more than that. I think she did. Either way, I think that’s braggable.

Here’s me, sending clay birdies to hell! Muahahahahahaaaa!

And, that’s about all we’ve got for now, as the other cameras that were there haven’t produced photos yet… Maybe I’ll be able to add some more when I get them.

My brother’s birthday is October 22, and Jenni’s birthday is October 23. They decided that the best way to celebrate this year was to have a camping trip for Halloween. Since my birthday is in August, it’s usually way too hot to have any such celebration, so I decided to postpone it until Halloween weekend. Eventually, my brother announced that it would be a birthday party for anyone whose calendar birthday fell within six months of Halloween.

So, on Saturday afternoon, we trucked it out to the family farm. Much to my surprise, my parents actually showed up! They don’t usually come out with us. My brother had his heart set on a huge group, but I was really relieved that most of the invitees didn’t show. I just didn’t have the patience for a large group and firearms. My brother’s friend Danton came and brought his Winchester 1200 and Model 94 in 30-30. My friend Sean met up with us after dark, and Danton and my parents left later Saturday evening. On one personal trip into the woods, Jenni saw a bobcat climb down a tree beside her, make eye contact with her, and scamper away! I kind of knew we had some wild cats in the area, but I’ve never actually seen one in the wild.

That afternoon, we shot some paint cans and apples with our handguns and rifles, and shot some clays with our shotguns. Danton let me try out his M94. I’ll be putting one of those on my must have list! Kiddo got to blow up a paint can with his 10/22, and show off his rapidly improving rifle skills. He also tried out the 20 gauge. I’m going to have to work with him on his shotgun stance, but I’m confident that he’ll do great once he finally gets it. I put 30-rounds through my AR, and I think that was all the EBR action we had over the weekend. Funny enough, we brought three .22 rifles, and I didn’t shoot a single rim fire round!

After we finished shooting for the evening, we buttoned down the guns and had campfire hot dogs and meatloaf. We drank whiskey and smoked cigars and had a great time. We went to sleep relatively early and the results of our sleep was mixed. At some point in the night, a curious animal of some kind brushed against our tent a few times. We joked that it might have been Jenni’s bobcat!

The next morning, we got up and had bagels with cream cheese, cinnamon rolls (thanks to Jenni’s parents), and RedBull Cola (thanks to Beej, who couldn’t make it on this trip). After breakfast, we went back to shooting. Yesterday, I believe I put more full-house Magnums through my .44 than I had in the combined, previous 12-months. I burned up a whole lot of .357 Magnum as well. And, I shot clays until my shoulder hurt and could have happily shot that much again had I not shot out of bird shot shells. I didn’t feel inclined to shoot any .38 Special or .44 Special. I was looking for the big booms on this trip! Apparently, I needed that. I felt like I needed that.

Danton and Sean each tried my M29. Danton commented that it is a “brutal beast”, and Sean only cared to fire half a cylinder. I have to give it to them, the M29 is a handful, but I love it!

The weather was beautiful, and the shooting was good. I can’t think of a better way to spend 24-hours of a weekend. We enjoyed God’s creation and indulged in some of the better things in life. Jenni and I really needed the down time, and found the weekend to be a great stress-reliever. If I had it to do over again, I would have left two of the .22’s at home along with one of the AR’s. I would have brought half as much handgun ammo and twice as many shot shells. I’m hoping to upload some pics in an update.