Well, I just returned from a week back in the mountains with some friends in the mountain man association. Very relaxing time for the most part, and lots of shooting with a variety of firearms. We shot lots of Schutzen matches with one of the guys' 14 lb. Martini action .22 Long. Extremely accurate.
We did a bit of fishing on Monday, but it was way too hot, didn't catch anything. Tuesday was a gopher expedition. I found my .358 with the flat nose Bator Lites (237 gr.) will separate a gopher into two major parts, each being 15-20 yards apart.
Tuesday night, or rather just at daybreak, a lion came into camp, and scattered mules and horses all over the mountains. Took a bit of rounding up. one horse had got into a cattle guard with both front legs. JT found it and got it free. He's an old time cowboy and four times world champion cowboy from back in the fifties, and had the knowledge of how to get her out without any broken legs or serious damage.
They got away a couple more times during the week, but would eventually wander back. Last evening, an old cowboy we know from a neighboring valley brought them back into camp again. He's an old timer, 83 years old, and sat and yarned with us in camp for an hour or so. You could tell he had lived in the saddle, as he stayed mounted to open and close a barbed wire gate to bring the stock back to the meadows.
We played quite a few games of cribbage, played music, and ate like kings. We had moose, buffalo, and bighorn sheep meat for camp fare. I took over most of the camp cooking, since I hate doing dishes, and we all share the chores. Anyone who sets on thier ass in any of our camps when there is work to be done, are not invited back again.
I picked up a Winchester Legacy in .44 mag from one of the guys, and shot it out to two hundred yards. Very accurate.
I shot a coyote on Tuesday, and the darn thing got down a badger hole. First shot was in the lungs, secound broke his back. I could see him floundering trying to get into the hole back in the brush. I was across a swamp at the time, and couldn't get another clear shot before he got in there. I was shooting a .22 LR at the time, so didn't have enough poop to finish him clean the first shot.
Probably just as well he got down the hole, as it was pretty mangy looking, and most likely flea infested this time of year.
So, I'm back home, and back to work for awile. I have a shoot next weekend, and then go to Canada for the month of August. Summer sure gets busy around here when you're having fun!