Horse & Gun

Horses goofing about

Very enjoyable morning at the stables, light rain, cool(ish) and the horses were well behaved, which roughly translated means that they did approximately what I asked them to. Be-Bop's beginning to understand that 'Canter!' doesn't mean, 'become evil possessed facsimile of Pull Devil Pull Baker,' and I'm probably better at balance, seat, influence et al. So that's all good and a serious step forward in The Plan of moving recklessly fast 'cross country with weapons.

Speaking of which, had a Higgins/Marlin .22 shoot off after charging about the pasture, and the synth stock Marlin seemed to beat its elder, despite better foresight and longer, heavier barrel... confused by that, but maybe it was just my poor marksmanship.

Ancient Higgins Foresight - nice

Modern Marlin group at 50 yards

Ancient Higgins group at 50 yards

Well, all in a Thursday morning's installment of 'Horse & Gun'; remember to pray for the soul of Teddy "Lion of the Senate" Kennedy and for the miraculous cure of our national debt.

Deo Vindice.

LSP

Only Mad dogs and , er, Englishmen...

Union Jack

...go out in the noonday sun after two Sung Masses. Except, of course, that the "mad dogs" didn't; they were sensibly keeping their heads down while I went out to hunt them in 104* heat. You see, there's this cruel new trend here of people dropping off their unwanted attack dogs in the countryside. They go feral, pack up and attack livestock and, if they get the chance, humans. My Treasurer saw some yesterday and invited me out to "git 'em" after church. Damn good chap, the Treasurer. Evidently the dogs are black, betwixt the size of a coyote and a wolf, and six in number. Their tails are short, interestingly.

I was there, gun in hand, stealthy.

They were doubtless sleeping. I kept going, to the Valley of the Dry Bones...

Still no dogs, so I went untactical, had a smoke and shot a rabbit. They've become a menace.

Spent the rest of the afternoon shooting empty shotgun cartridges off of haybales with the venerable JC Higgins .22. Childish, but fun. Altogether a good way to unwind after the the Sunday morning biznai.

Back in the A/C now, contemplating next move against wild dog pack. Perhaps scoped AR in .308 would be sensible?

God bless,

LSP

PS. Stay tuned for linguistic philosopher GWB's Hog poem.

Jack Rabbit

Feeling a bit of a sad loser after failing to slay pigs, I figured some remedial shooting practice was in order, so I went down to my Treasurer's ranch for some target shooting and the off chance that I could get some crows that sometimes roost along the treelines.

A dirt road or so later I arrived and talked church for a bit before moving off with the instruction, "If you see any rabbits, kill 'em. Take as long as you like." They'd been devouring vegetables and generally being a pest; I moved off in pursuit.

Sure enough, there were plenty of Jack Rabbits and after a few missed long shots I took down seven with an old JC Higgins bolt action .22. A scope might have helped with the long distance runners, but I was content with the shots and felt somewhat redeemed after yesterday's hesitation & miss against the pigs.

LSP melting with cheap as you like Mossberg

Rabbits done, I shot at some flying things with a 12 guage and practiced on the Lee - nothing spectacular but reasonable groups. I was pleased to see the rounds coming in a little high, as they should, with the battle sight calibrated at 300 yards and the peep sight at a minimum of 150 - I was shooting at around 50-60 yards.

Heat was a challenge (98* in the shade) but all in all, a great day's shoot.

LSP