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In November, Troop 221 went to the Dade Ranch for our annual shooting sports campout. Click the image to see the whole gallery.
We have had some really outstanding campouts over the years. This past November was one for the ages; it might just have been the best campout ever.. The shooting sports campout (aka the Dade Ranch Campout) has been an annual event for our troop for a long time. Year after year, it's the most attended campout on the schedule. After spending a month of troop meetings learning about shooting sports, firearms, maintenance & safety, the boys are anxious to pick up an actual firearm and get started.
There are always a number of boys, and usually a few adults, who have never fired a gun. It's awesome to watch them work thru the rifles, gain confidence and starting putting holes in the targets. It's cool to watch them squeeze the trigger on the .20 guage shotgun for the first time, not knowing what to expect. It's even cooler the first time they hit a clay target.
This year, we raised the bar by adding two additional rifles lanes and one additional shotgun lane. We ran a total of 6 lanes of .22 rifle and 3 lanes of shotgun this year. We had a morning and an afternoon session on Saturday and when the dust settled and the smoke cleared, the boys had blasted their way thru 3,400 rounds.
We can never say thank you enough to the Dade's for sharing their resources with the troop. Along with empty shells and broken clays, we are piling up memories and experiences year after year because of their committment to the troop and the boys in it. An event like this requires a humongous amount of effort and energy and we realize that the effort isn't over when we pull out of the gate on Sunday. I also appreciate the work crew that went out the weekend before the campout to ready the ranges and the camping area. We also couldn't do this event and maintain the level of safety that is required without 20+ adults actively participating on the range. And finally, big thanks to Mr. Green for hauling his smoker out and cooking a truckload of barbeque. After a great day on the range, that is really the icing on the cake.
Thanks everyone, enjoy the pictures and we'll see you again next year. |
