Last year, Art took us to Ben Avery Shooting Facility to shoot some of his guns, and we had a grand old time.
In what has become an annual tradition, we went again this year during spring training. But this year, instead of rifles and revolvers, this year was all about: Shotguns!
Jim and Art used over/under Browning shotguns, and I used a browning single shot. We then each shot ~60 birds of trap shooting. Ben Avery is a huge place, with something like 18 trap fields, so the 3 of us had a trap field to ourselves. This was good since neither Jim or I had shot trap before, and we didn’t want to slow anyone else down.
The range was all automated, with voice activated release. So there are little speakers on stands in front of you, and when you say “pull” (or whatever you say loud), it flings out your target. So once you’re up there, there’s no talking, or it will fling out some more targets that nobody will be ready for! And since the range is all automated, there’s no free targets if you accidentally screw up!
We did all of our shooting from the 16 yard line, which is the closest spot, and for first timers we did really well. It took Jimbo a little while to get warmed up, and once he was warm he was on fire! I started off pretty well and stayed pretty consistent. The only ones I had trouble judging were the ones that fired straight away, with no left or right movement. I think I shot over the top of those more than anything. Of around 60 total birds, I think I missed 7, so I was feeling pretty good! I wanted to try moving back and see if I could still hit anything, but by then, our cards were up!
(If the embedded video is missing, you can see it here)
I think both Jim and I expected a lot more kick from the shotguns, but the trap loads were pretty light, and the shotguns pretty heavy. I had a tiny little strawberry bruise on my shoulder, but that was probably from one round that I didn’t have the shotgun pulled into my shoulder all the way. The next day my shoulder was a little more sore, but that could have been from the shooting or from chasing Easy around the pool all afternoon, or most likely both.
The next day, Jimbo was ready to go again, so we know that he enjoyed it. I had a great time, and can’t wait to see what art has planned for next year!
(If the embedded video is missing, you can see it here)
By some freak coincidence, I think both times I took video, both jim and art missed. You can’t blame the camera, as in both cases, neither of them noticed :).
If we lived closer to Ben Avery, I’d be there all the time; it’s most definitely good for my wallet that we’re a thousand miles away!
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