Today, Ron and I attended an ATA (Amateur Trapshooters Association) shoot. The trap range is on the other side of town so we had to leave early. Jeanne wanted to go, but I couldn’t get her out of bed. No sense in provoking Godzilla; I slowly backed out of the room making as little noise as possible. After stopping by Ron’s house, we were on our way.
The terrain on the west side of Oklahoma City is mostly flat farmland. The trap range is way outside of town in the middle of nowhere; surrounded by huge fields of grain and hay. Although we were two miles away from the interstate, you could easily see the trucks moving in the distance. Ominously, the wind was gusting and there was nothing to break it up.
After signing up for 200 singles and 100 handicap, we shot a practice round. For me it was a warning; I couldn’t hit a damn thing.
Around 9:00, the events started. Lack of practice, swirling wind, three types of ammo and too much one-eyed shooting the previous day all conspired against me. My scores were embarrassingly low. Ron also struggled a little; probably from watching me. Scores aside, the day was a lot of fun. It had been a long time since I shot some trap and it was certainly better than going to work. So much for the clean shotgun.
Returning to the coach, I reported my scores to Jeanne and hung my head in shame. She listened patiently as I went down the list of excuses.
That evening we all went to a Cajun restaurant. We all shared an alligator appetizer that was surprisingly good. There is no doubt this particular gator was farm raised. However, Florida residents can hunt gators with special permits. Why someone would intentionally go looking for these at night (gators are active at night) is a mystery to me. The appetizer is as close as I every want to get. Anyway, Jeanne had blackened prime rib and I had blackened catfish. It was a great meal and there were no leftovers.
We returned to the coach and read a little before falling asleep.