Home&Harvest July/Aug 2022

-all just competing against ourselves, the range, and the weather to be better than we were before. You can’t control what others do, so concentrate on your job, and your scores will reflect it.

Satisfied with the rounds we had shot at 100 yards, we moved up to where the competition would take place the following day to see if there was anything we could do to lend a hand. Upon arrival, we found Stanley Cutsforth and Terry Fisher feverishly clearing tall grass off the firing line with a line trimmer. The firing line consisted of two wide black rubber belts staked to the ground. These worked to keep the muzzle blast from kicking up too much dust.

Carpets were then rolled out over the belts and staked down for the shooters to lay on as +95% of shooters shoot from the prone position. We all pitched in, and the majority of the prep was done in short order. The only task left was to give the targets a fresh coat of paint. Who wants to get some lunch?

A side note to the current subject that you will thank me for later. If you are ever in Hermiston, OR, and looking for some delicious food, Nookies is the place to go. We ventured there on a local recommendation from John. The food was fabulous. I had a prime rib french dip sandwich, and it was, hands down, the best I’ve ever had in my 54 years. The flavor was out of this world, and portion was perfect in that I wasn’t overly full, yet I was full to the point that I didn’t want anything more. The rest of my tribe had half-pound burgers of various types that looked delicious, and they all seemed very happy and quite full and content.

“What do you guys want to do now?” I asked. “Let’s go find the local gun/sporting goods stores and see if they got anything good,” chimed Mark. So, off we went to stimulate the local economy.

We drove a short distance to Pendleton, OR, to a little mom-and-pop shop called Garner’s Sporting Goods on a recommendation from Terry Fisher. That was where we met Rick and Tammy Hadden, the owners and operators.

Super nice folks that greeted a mob of out-of-towners like they were family, as soon as I told them Terry had sent us. I love these kinds of places. We wandered around that small store for probably an hour or so while each of us formed a pile at the check-stand. Everyone found something they had been looking for but couldn’t seem to get their hands on back home. We got things we needed for ourselves and friends back home, while at the same time, supporting the little guy trying to make a living. After that adventure, I needed a nap.

The rest of that afternoon we spent reviewing data and trying to predict how the weather would affect the event the following day. It became evident quickly that wind of 30+ mph would separate the men from the boys in relatively short order. We were sitting in the lobby area of the hotel, and everyone’s phone went off simultaneously, and we all went directly to the message from Kasey. The firing order-