Tuning up for the hunt

  My big hunt this year is going to be elk - getting together some friends, camping out in the very heard of the wilderness, and hopefully filling the freezer with a few hundred pounds of meat.

  In preparation, we've inventoried our gear (need to fix up the stove and the lantern, maybe acquire a ground cloth for the tent), found a place to hunt, and now it's all down to the details.

  Part of those details are getting back into shape with my shooting. I'll be honest, folks, it's been 20 years since I've shot with any regularity and I wasn't exactly a marksman back then. After working out a nice recipe for my inherited Remington 760 .30-06, I took a box of homemade rounds out into the field this past Saturday and proceeded to learn how to aim.

  A buddy of mine that went with us (and who will be on the elk hunt) brought his armor-plated steel targets. We set them up about 250 yards out from our firing line. These things are VERY cool; I haven't shot steel very often, but the feedback you get on a successful hit is nice. He hung the 18", 12" and 6" plates for us to play with and with a few shots, I was semi-consistently hitting the 18" plate. At the end of the day, I was about a 60% hit rate - not good, but much better than it could have been. My buddy did me the favour of taking a few shots with the rifle, hitting the 6" plate and proving that the accuracy problems were all shooter, no gun. 

  I also pulled out the Model 99 Arisaka, put a box or so of rounds through that. I aimed at a stump about 50 yards out and figured out where the gun was shooting - then swung up to the 18" plate and rang it on my first try! I should have stopped there, of course, but I tried to do it a second time... and failed. Ah, well. It's a very fun shooter. I'll be playing with it a lot more.

  Mama Bear got a spherical reactive target for working on her shooting skills, and WOW! That thing is nine kinds of fun. It's made of a self-healing rubber and the card says it'll handle anything from .22LR up to .50 cal... but I rather doubt that last one. We're gonna have fun with this thing for a LONG time.

  All in all, it was a great day out in the woods with friends.