Punching holes at 200 yards

When we woke, it was raining lightly and my knee was bothering me — no workout today either.  It looks like we’ll be taking a few days off from our exercise routine.

A campground is not a good venue to clean a firearm and our shotguns hadn’t been cleaned in months.  Finding this out, Ron arranged for a shotgun cleaning jamboree at his house.  It was a good thing.  Not only did mine need a through cleaning but the two that Ron cleaned were also long overdue.  At the end of the session, there were four shotguns that looked brand new.

With the shotguns clean and secure, we headed for the rifle range.  The club Ron belongs to is a great facility with several specialized ranges; the longest is 700 yards.  After setting up the sandbags, we started punching holes in paper targets out to 200 yards.  Four hours later, we were hot, tired and almost out of ammo.  A check of the targets showed good groups at all distances.  The prairie dog target at 200 yards was riddled with holes.  Fortunately for the prairie dogs, these were paper targets.  Satisfied, we headed home.

About a year ago Ron bagged a buffalo, most of which is still quietly resting in his freezer.  For dinner, Ron and Mary prepared a meal around a buffalo steak entrĂ©e.  It was delicious.  We never ate buffalo before and it was a real treat.  The meat was somewhat darker than beef but was tender and flavorful.  We had expected a wild, gamy flavor but the meat was mild.  On this trip, the meat we buy has been hit-n-miss.  At times, our running shoes would have been easier to chew than some of the beef or chicken we grilled.  Without a doubt, the buffalo was one of the best cuts of meat we’ve had in a long time.

After talking late into the night, we returned to the coach and slept well.