Scouts

This weekend I took the scouts out on a campout. I am the assistant scoutmaster in charge of the 11 year scouts. The boys wanted to go shoot rifles so I took them to a wildlife management area that has a rifle range. The campout was fun with nice cool weather for camping. I taught the boys how to make tin foil dinners and then made them cook their own breakfast in the morning.

They had a ton of fun shooting rifles but I am exhausted from the experience. We had two rifles and I was continually watching them making sure they kept the guns pointed down range, didn't walk in front of the weapons etc. By the time two hours of shooting were over I was spent and I still feel tired today.

I didn't have a target to shoot at so I shot at the wood post that the boy's targets were hanging on. My old .22 still shoots pretty straight as I was able to walk a line of bullets up the 2 inch post. I don't know if Dad remembers or not but I bought this rifle at a gun show in Idaho Falls with him I must have only been 12 years old. I was always one of the best shots in my scout troop with that rifle. It is so old that it weighs a lot more than other guns but I would never trade it in for a new model.

I now have a newfound respect for my scout leaders that took us out shooting when I was a kid. It can be downright terrifying to hand a firearm to an 11 year old boy. My motto about scouting is "scouts are dumb. I should know, I was one" so I am glad we all made it home alive!