This is fun right?

[BozemanMT]

Let me just say, it's a darn good thing I was blowing stuff up, or it would have been a really frustrating day.
Works has been LTO lately (Less Than Optimum), and so I told my boss, I'm going to lunch, I'm not coming back and I went off to the trap range. It's supposed to be evil cold this weekend (like 15 :what: ) and I missed last weekend cuz I had to work :cuss:

So, started slow, getting better. About round 4, a couple came out. We start shooting together. I started on station 4 (cuz station 1 has been kicking my behind lately). Bing bang boom. I'm shooting good. I finish with station 2, I've missed 3. Total. Sweet, my best record is a 23 (Hey, i just started 2 months ago, give me a break) and I usually shoot a 19. I've got maybe a 22, probably a 21, at worst a 20. Nice. I mean, this is station 3, easiest station on the grid.
Pull, hit
Pull miss
Pull Miss :cuss:
Pull MISS :cuss: :cuss:
Pull MISS!!!! :banghead:

Unbelievable. After that, I decided it just wasn't going to happen today. (no kidding) and just tried different things and basically farted around. The last round I did by myself and just spent all 25 at station 1. (I am going to figure that out, maybe)

but for all this, it was still better than work. :D

[sm]

I see you have the "consistency " part down pat . :D

Skeet wouldn't be that mean to you. :neener:

I'm kidding. FWIW the first rd of skeet I shot I think I broke 3/25 way back when the earth was flat...before folks wore onions on belts...

After I was doing well in Skeet I tried Trap. TTOMM I shot a 24 the first time - and hell no I didn't shoot a second round - I ain't that stupid. :)

Hey - beats the heck out of work anyday - right?

Fred Misseldine wrote Score Better at Trap as well as Score Better at Skeet . Station by station on how to hit ...then he explains why you miss.

I figure you have already read Brister's Book.

[BozemanMT]

There's books????????????????
I did take a lesson, that helped a ton personally, although I probably need another, stuck at that 19 (well, normally, not today :banghead: )
Unfortunately, the place I go doesn't have a skeet range (although they claim it's coming, www.coloradoclays.com ), so I work on trap or sporting clays when I go with someone.

first time I did Skeet (which was also the first time I shot a shotgun). I got 2 of the 4. I thought what is so hard about this? :neener: I then proceeded to miss a bunch after that, ended up with a 7 I think. I was still pretty happy.

and yeah, better than work.

[gunslinger308]

I got into clay sports 2 years ago, not that serious but for fun and hobby. Bought my first shotgun at 25, a Beretta al391 URIKA. Loved all the games since. My club has trap, skeet, five stand( my favorite), and a 12 station sporting clays course. They push the sporting clays( it is the biggest investment at the club and only getting better, all electric with a new tower going up).

I haven't shot a full round of trap yet but I do shoot two charity sporting clay shoots a year( won a Browning Gold Hunter 12 at the first one this year)!

I got a buddy that says " this is the cheapest fun you can have with your clothes on" and I tend to agree.

I shot a 79/100 to place 13th at the last Sporting clays shoot out of 200 shooters

[sm]

Yep - they got books. Granted the ones I suggest are older publications , being as I are the age I is. :p Seriously - these are great books, try www.abebooks.com

You folks have Dove Season ? Well whatever - about the time you think you have the shotgun figured out...try dove hunting? Make Larry go out with you...tell him I volunteered him...Maybe Sandy will send me Salsa as a thank you gift....:D


gunslinger308 Shotguns are addictive, besides being fun. Good shooting and congrats - 13th , darn right I'd be proud too.

[Dave McCracken]

Boze, destroying things loudly is great stress management, and clay games are exactly that.When I miss targets that I ought to be crushing, I go down a checklist.

Am I stopping my swing?

Am I lifting my head?

Am I focussed on the leading molecule of the target and trying to put the very center of my pattern through it?

And so on. By that time I'm usually back on them.

308, kudos!! You outshot 187 other shotgunners.

[wardog]

Right there with you.

I've shot about 5 rounds of Sporting Clays, and about 7 times from my Do All thrower. The first time I went on the Sporting Clays course was the first time I had ever shot moving targets. I got a 23 which I thought was really bad. Turns out it wasn't that bad. Another guy that was with us who had never shot sporting clays but hunts about every year got a 25 so I didn't feel too bad.

I really enjoyed it, so I took a lesson and did ok. Then the last time I went I think I got an 17 or something. I couldn't hit anything.

My problem is that I keep wanting to focus on the bead and start to think about it too much. When I can remember to simply focus on the target and squeeze the trigger (don't think, just do) I smoke em.

There is something very satisfying when you hit one just right, like close in with a tight choke, and the bird just turns to a puff of dust. I wish I had more time to get better at it.

[theCZ]

I've found that shooting relaxes me, but I can't go to the range with pent up aggression and expect to shoot well.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Hey Brian,

sm is right, come on down and we'll shoot some "gray missiles" next September. I've only shot one round of sporting clays in my life (50/100) and skeet maybe 5 or 6 times (best was 21 I think), but I've been hunting doves since I was 11. And that was a LONG time ago. There's a nice sporting clays range here also.

I think maybe I'll send Steve some of that salsa. How much you wanna bet his "southern taste buds" can't stand the heat. :D

[sm]

Larry,
If you send Salsa - Steve will consume it. :D
psst, you sending chips - or I gotta get my own?

BozemanMT,
I knew I could get you an invite- your welcome. :p

Oh yeah this shotgunning is fun all right. Lets see, so far I have invites from /folks to see - MD ( Dave) , PA ( Chris) , TX, ( Smoke) , LennyJoe ( AZ) , Correia ( Utah) New Zealand ( Spinner) kudu I forget where he is, same for HSMITH...etc.

I have to show up at Art's - just because. CRSam said to holler before coming up the drive...

I know I forgot some folks - I'm sorry.

One of these days Dove Season is gonna be real busy for me...How is that bridge coming along from the US to New Zealand I wonder? :D

Is there a way I can get paid to play , just travel around and shoot with folks? I'm available for hire. :)

If some Philanthropist wants send a THR crew to South America to shoot Doves - we are there!

[Larry Ashcraft]

I don't know Steve, can you get proper chips down there? I mean corn chips, white, yellow or blue, you can't eat salsa with Lays, you know. And you sure as heck can't eat salsa with grits.

And the dove hunting. I've got the best dove hunting land available, 35 acres of river bottom with 900 feet of the river. Only problem is, no doves, not very many anyway. I don't know what it is, but you're lucky to get a dozen shots of an evening here. But I could probably lean on a neighbor or friend. I know the hunting is good around here, just not at my place.

[sm]

Yes we have real chips here.

We have real BBQ too. :neener:

I'll have you know my friend , that Salsa is great as a side with Black-eyed Peas, Pinto and Great Northern Beans. As in you put the Salsa on the peas/ beans and eat them that way. Take an open face toasted cheese sandwich and put Salsa on it. Sheesh, no wonder you don't have Doves on your property - you ain't eatin' right. :D

Can you folks do any good planting Sunflower, or Milo? I mean when BozemanMT shows up it would be nice for him go have some birds to shoot at. :neener:

I best not answer the phone from CO for a while - huh?

Well I have managed to drive the Moderator nuts on this forum...lemme see where else I can stir up trouble...

[BozemanMT]

Larry, I'm in.
But september is an awful long time to wait. Isn't there something else? :D

I think i know why there aren't any birds on your property. It's probably that big cannon shooting cement pop cans way out into the field that stresses out the poor birds. :rolleyes:

[Larry Ashcraft]

Ah, salsa on black-eyed-peas, yessiree. See, us northern folks aren't all backwards.

Now, I guess I learned it backwards. I started on doves, then pheasants, quail, ducks, geese. THEN I tried skeet, just as a warm up for dove season one year. One of the old timers told me not to feel bad if I shot a 5 or 6. I pretended the clay birds were doves. I shot a 17. First time (and only) shooting sporting clays, I shot a 50. I thought I did bad, my son shot a 61, his brother in law an 83. I guess we didn't do too bad.

Never took any lessons or read any books, maybe I should, it may still do me some good. I've noticed though that I somehow started shooting with both eyes open many years ago, not consciously though.

Now, on the sunflowers or milo. If I grew wild sunflowers, well, they're weeds. Not good for anything but the doves, two weeks out of the year. But milo, how big is the seed? Can I drill it with a grain drill? How about millet, it's easy to grow but can become a problem.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Larry, I'm in.
But september is an awful long time to wait. Isn't there something else?
I was composing the next great novel (see above) as you posted.

How about ducks? Geese?

[sm]

I forgot about that cannon. I'll bring some shot, would a vegetable can filled with shot , with a wax plug work?

"Here comes the doves"... "Hold my coffee....I gotta an idea". :evil:

I wanna see the look on the Game Warden's face trying to figure out if the cannon has a plug in it or not. :neener:

Umm, Larry, wait a minute, I thought CO was considered "West"....what is this "Northern" stuff. You don't sound like a northener. Heck - you even have a John Deere....you even use "John Deere Green". :)

We all know what I am...just Art's Grammaw won't let us type it.

[gunslinger308]

would that qualify as a"PUNT GUN" ?

Can I try?

[sm]

I don't know if it qualifies as a Punt Gun...
Sure you can join us....we are all gonna meet up at Larry's...Larry won't mind... :D

Hey maybe we can get Preacherman to come, he has a Punt Gun.

Who else can I invite to Larry's. Hey I've not been myself...( after this I may never get invited again).

I think Larry just needs to invite the LEOs from the get- go, M y practice was to invite the neighbors and the landlord to parties - noone to complain, noone to complain to.

Get pics of LEOs touching off the cannon and punt gun...just in case.... :D

[Larry Ashcraft]

Don't forget Crystal, after all she has experience. And Billll, since he owns it.
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=16575
Hey, this has all the earmarks of a Really Good Time. :D

[sm]

Yep Crystal for sure has to be there, and Billll...you have more than one cannon?....I'm not sure Crystal is gonna share. :D

Maybe someone will write a song about these events at Larry & Sandy's ...who knows...might be a classic like Alice's Restaurant .

You can shoot anything you want , out at Larry's & Sandy's Acreage Plot. :D

[Spinner]

Hey there Steve

The bridge from NZ to the USA is going OK from this end, how's construction at your end?? We are supposed to meet in the middle aren't we? ;)

Not sure about dove hunting here, but there are a few cheeky ringnecks that could do with some education. Just the other day a big fat cock pheasant was strutting across the road in front of me on my way home from work .... only about 1/2 a mile from home. I keep hearing the pheasants around our place calling out to one another .... I'm sure they're conspiring something .... either that or they're just taunting me. :cuss:

Spinner

[sm]

Hey Spinner!

Our end of the bridge...you have to be kidding. See here in AR they send folks out with trucks and equipment each morning...crews find a "spot" and just start building a road...by accident some roads actually run into others.

Other crews just wander around putting down orange barrels for folks to dodge as they drive...

I'm sure you saw pics of the Clinton Library... one end "jutting" over the Arkansas river... Now do you really want a crew from Arkansas to be working on a bridge to NZ after seeing what they build around here. :D :D

I have never shot a Pheasant! I have never been Pheasant hunting - we don't have them critters here local. I betcha I can fell one tho' :)

I gotta ask since your toliets flush backwards "down there" - do your pheasants flush funny too? ;) :D

Spinner- take care my friend...

Steve

[Larry Ashcraft]

Steve said:
"I have never shot a Pheasant! I have never been Pheasant hunting"

You're kidding, right? How 'bout we meet at Sisco's. Ain't nothin' like a gentlemanly pheasant hunt. And they aren't nearly as easy to hit as they look, I'm sure you can do it though. Best eatin' this side of quail too. :)

[Spinner]

SM!!! Never shot a pheasant??? I am surprised. I'm pretty sure you could fell one with a stick .... blindfolded.

My understanding of pheasant is they're about 90% tail when they're in flight .... kinda like "bum, bum, bum, belly, beak, bang" ;) They use scare tatics too ..... launch out of the undergrowth underneath your feet with a heck of a racket. By the time your heartrate has returned from stratospheric levels they've disappeared back into the undergrowth. Sneaky little devils!!

If our pheasants prove too much for you though, I can take you to a park and let you loose on some pigeons :neener: ..... 'course we'd have to be quick on our feet straight afterwards ;)

Maybe we should abandon the bridge idea and see how far a bathtub can be paddled. Maybe a couple of 44 gal drums strapped together?

Offers still open BTW .... that goes for anyone who wants to venture down this way. I'll take lessons from anyone.

Spinner

[sm]

NO I am not kidding, we don't have Pheasants here.

I've shot Chukar tho' that count? Don't ask me where we were, I just jumped in a Private Plane and showed up. Them things run! Them hills were BIG. I figured out right quick "enough of this running crap" I threw a stick at 'em first...then they took off, then I shot. The Pilot looked at me and laughed..." working smarter not harder eh Steve?" :D

I figure a Pheasant is a over grown quail ...about the size of a greenhead....with a tail. I can do this. :cool:

Like I am supposed to know where Sisco's is - I don't even know where you are Larry? CO is a big place... Only been as far west as ...as...someplace I finally ended up in TX to shoot Live Pigeons...or OK for quail. I dunno..." we gonna hunt these" ...I just show up and shoot.

I want to take woodcock,a nd grouse too someday. If it flies - it dies.

Shotgun bum for hire - have gun will travel. :D

[Larry Ashcraft]

Steve, Sisco is in Kansas, we won't allow him into Colorado until he understands that the Arkansas River is the "Arkansaw", not the Ark-Kansas. :D

Hey, he invited me to hunt some pheasants, Jimmy was go go along, now he can't, something about some twins comin' any day (boy's gotta get his priorities straight :D ), I figure, I'll bring Steve, Sisco won't mind.

[sm]

Spinner!!!
Any Blacktail Pheasants still in NZ ? I just read about Pheasant hunting in NZ - wonder how I mangaged that? ;) Pigeons...Pigeons...did you see what that fellow from NZ typed? Oh I can shoot pigeons...toss one and I bet I can fell it before it reaches that circle. Pay attention and learn something Spinner :D :neener:

Yes I can maintain composure when the ground erupts at my feet, and a winged critter takes off...

Larry,
Kansas? I ain't ever been to Kansas. It is only bird-belly -beak- bang - makes no nevermind where. If I can see it - I can fell it. :)

They have BBQ in Kansas?
They have BBQ in NZ?

Just in case I'll bring Jerky with me...dats the secret to good shooting - Jerky! *smirk*

Still have to go to MD...up Dave's way they have Seafood that I don't have access to down here often.

Hey - I enjoy the cusine , the folks, dogs and the good times...the huntin' is a bonus.

[psyopspec]

You really know how to kick off a weekend. I used to do factory work at a place with a trap range 5 minutes away. I'd go shoot with boss, sometimes on lunchbreaks, always on friday afternoon. Good memories...