The men of our church hosted a retreat this past weekend. Everything on the agenda was “guy stuff” – fishing, survival training, cowboy cooking, etc. And a very popular activity was shooting which we somehow (I still don’t quite understand it) agreed to host here at AAR. Certainly not anything I would have thought of as fun to do – especially in our back pasture – but apparently it is a guy thing.
Our son Alex has been here with us for the past few days, enjoying the cooler summer weather up north – and playing with the dogs.
It was 108 degrees in Bakersfield today, and 76 degrees here. I sure don’t miss that heat. Anyway, back to the shooting. With his Marine training, Alex was very helpful preparing for and hosting the shooters. They set up targets at different distances, tables, gun props and little sand bags. Those may not be the correct technical terms, but that is what they looked like to me.
There were quite a few people who wanted to shoot, so they came over in groups.
When the shooters arrived, Rick gave the talk about rules and safety.
Then the shooters took turns.
Some of the younger ones had never shot a gun before and needed lots of instruction.
Rick, Alex and our friend John helped the new shooters.
It was a beautiful, warm summer weekend. Perfect for being outdoors.
Some of the guys were very experienced and brought their own guns. They just needed spotters.
Of course, before the crowds arrived Rick and our friend John had to try out the set up.
I even shot some rounds with the .22 and here is my target. Bob, I shot this at 100 yards – aren’t you impressed?
I probably should have included a lot of detailed technical information about the guns, ammunition, scopes, etc. Unfortunately, like trucks, they all look pretty much the same to me. I am not a gun person; I bring lunch and take pictures. So, if you have specific questions about any of that you will have to talk to Rick or Alex.
All in all, it was a good weekend. Most people enjoyed themselves, no one got hurt and we didn’t get any complaints from the neighbors.
Not bad. But how big is that target. ha ha
looks like a blast!! (no pun intended) -Rick Did John get his special scope? If so, could you tell if it was worth the cash?
This post reminds me of the men’s retreat he hosted. It sounded like a war zone here and many neighbor’s called to see what was up. We still get teased about our ’spiritual’ retreat. !!!
Bob – You can see the targets in the picture! About a foot square.
Tj – Sounds like very similar “retreats.” I still don’t get the spiritual significance of guns and shooting.
Nick – Rick says “John’s scope has not arrived yet, but they did shoot the 450 AR and it makes a very big hole. Alex had the tightest pattern at 150 yards which makes sense since he is the most familiar with that type of gun”. He doesn’t type much, he just dictates