Sunday shots

I went shot-gunning today, something that I've not done a lot of, and never with anything that could be called conviction. It's just not my thing. I had a great time though, here's a bit about my day.

I went more just to stop couple of mates nagging at me about it, but also was a little curious. You can ready my earlier post here if you like.

Anyway, I went and had a pretty good time. You can see me above with a smile on my mug, so I must have been enjoying it! It was a warm day, 32°C and completely sunny, and the range is right in the middle of nowhere, in the Aussie scrub...A place I feel very comfortable.

Faith came with me today and ended up doing the score sheet for my squad of shooters, mostly all mates of mine. I wanted her to wear a tiny tank-top to distract the fuckers but she told me not to be a dick head - I just grinned. (She knew I was joking by the way.) I was hoping not to embarrass myself but I'll be honest, I didn't shoot very well. It's HARD!

When clay, or trap shooting at my club I usually shoot around 85% of what goes into the air...Ok, but not great. I was well below 50% today though. The difference? Several things really...The size of the clays, speed and trajectory, number of clays in the air at one time, shooting position (varied terrain) and the fact they are flung so randomly into the air...Away from the shooter, at the shooter, down low, lobbed up high etc.

This is a clay-thrower. On each stage there could be 3-5 of them, all controlled by RF signal and a handset. There's a set course of fire designated and the clays would be presented for the shooter in the correct sequence at the pre-determined speed, angle and trajectory. With clays coming at all angles and with multiple targets in the air at times...It get's hectic.

It's great fun though!

There were six stages in total. We'd begin at one then move through each until the end. Each shooting squad would follow around in that order...Much like golf in fact. My squad was forth so we fell into the sequence around 9:30am and completed the six stages around 11:30. From there we headed into the club rooms for a legit lunch of all sorts of home made stuff from sandwiches, spaghetti bolognese, beef and mushroom pies, hot dogs, burgers and even a hot roast beef roll and gravy. It was legit! I may have eaten too much which may account for my smile in the main image. (Ok, it's actually more of a smirk I guess.)

After lunch we headed out to do the course again, but the clay-throwers and shooting positions were altered so they were completely different stages.

Below you can see a clay in flight and one in my hand for size-reference. OK, so it's not really in flight, I'm holding it to make it look that way.

These little things fling out at amazing speeds and can fly a long way...The idea is to hit them before they land or go out of sight or range. They break up when hit - Then biodegrade back into the dirt. They are made from pitch and pulverised limestone so can withstand being thrown at very high speeds - Usually around 85 kilometres per hour, sometimes, as in what I was doing today, much faster.

Below is my mate about to shoot one on stage two. Just a word on this fella...He was supposed to die two years ago with cancer; He decided not to and fought like hell instead. He is an ex-military guy, a great shooter and a nice bloke as well. By the way...He missed that target. Suck it bro! Lol. I've added the arrow to point out the clay...It was at about 80-90m away.

The day finished up around 2:15 for my squad and after a quick clean up Faith and I left. There was no point hanging around to hear where I finished, firstly because I shot poorly and secondly because I am not part of the club, or usually shoot the discipline; I was just a guest although my mates are pushing me to do it more often. I haven't committed to it as I shoot a lot already!

There were 75 targets in the air today, for each shooter some of which I had to fire two shots at to hit (because I suck at it) so I ended up shooting around 110 shells today. My shoulder is bruised and quite sore, although I had fun and will certainly be back for more.

For me it's just fun, a good fun day with some mates out in the countryside. I think it's good to have it in my back pocket for those times I don't want to get too serious about shooting. It was just a decent social day out.

So, that's what's up this Sunday for me. I'm just catching up with steem now, replying and seeing what's up on the blockchain with you knuckleheads (It's a term of endearment I use sometimes).

I hope y'all are having a good weekend and getting stuff done!

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