Serendipitous Trip to the Range

Last Friday morning I received a short text message from Checkered Flag, "Still light around 7ish? Free to shoot?" I checked my phone and replied "sunset is 8:11, last light 8:40" and it was on! Colleen had a previous engagement that evening so my son and I had already planned an evening out for food, so we added shooting to our plans. So this was to be a full guys' night out. It's been a while since my teenage son has been shooting with us, so I was very excited about enjoying range time with him.  Needless to say, the rest of my work day dragged on, and on.

We finally met at the range that evening and had a very fun time. Even though he hasn't been to the range in quite some time, the boy was as accurate as always. He likes to shoot my carry gun, and even with the shorter barrel length he does quite well. He refreshed himself on the sight picture needed, and had no trouble, even with the head shots on the USPSA targets. We mixed it up with shooting on the move, multiple target engagements, and using the timer to challenge each other.

We even made use of some "natural" targets — our version of being "green." The range had lots of Sweet Gum balls lying on the ground, so we hung one from the target rope and took turns trying to hit it. That's an exercise that is both frustrating and rewarding.

Sweet Gum at 7 Yards

After we finished shooting, we went back to the house to clean up. Sneaking past the ladies' group that was meeting there, we quickly changed and headed out to a local pub for some spicy wings and burgers.

I had been to the range by myself the previous evening to try some shooting for the first time since the injury. I was not expecting to return so soon. This serendipitous outing left my hand a little sore but was great fun. Sometimes the most enjoyable times are not planned.