Getting ready for hunting season

I haven't had the kids out target shooting in a while. It's been hot and we've all had a lot of things to do. I've got to get them out and in the groove so to speak. Some .22 LRs to start with so I don't break the bank, then check zero on the big guns.

This was the oldest practicing last year. You can just see the target below the cloud of dust from the impact. That is 100 yards.

That will do.

I asked the two oldest boys if they were going hunting this year and both said "I don't know" which usually means yes at the last minute.

#3 boy may get to go for the first time this year. He recently turned 6 and I think he needs the opportunity to get his hands dirty. Due to the way the birthdays fall the oldest took his first deer about a week before he turned 7 and #2 took his first a few months after he turned 7.

Anyone who can consistently hit a 6" circle at 50 yards and sit still and quiet in a blind in freezing weather for 3+ hours is mature enough to go hunting.

When the oldest was 8 I dropped him off at a blind at O'dark-thirty in the morning, parked the truck 1/2 mile away and walked back. I was probably gone 30 minutes and he thought it was fine. I did the same thing with #2 when he was 7. My kids are not the kind to freak out at the sound of a coyote or the sight of a snake. Last year #2 sat out with me in 14F weather for 3 hours without complaining. There are lots of "grownups" that couldn't or wouldn't do that.

I've got to get to the farm with my dad soon and cut limbs to open up some more shooting lanes, clean up or rebuild blinds as needed and check for sign. It's supposed to cool off out there in the next week or two so I'll see what happens.