Pull!

This past weekend we made our annual trek north to Raton for the 4-H State Shooting Sports Competition. Seems we were just there, but apparently an entire year has passed. Don't know when that happened!



This year we upgraded and stayed in the competitor's housing... with heat! Usually we rough it and stay in the little unchinked log cabins and cook everything outside. That was always lots of fun, but it was nice to change things up a bit this year. We went from this (little 400 sq ft cabins that sleep 12 in bunk beds):





to this:


I will admit that the little cabins have more character but, my old bones appreciated the addition of heat and inside facilities. We had a nice little kitchen that made it convenient to feed everyone. That refrigerator is packed and there are still 4 coolers!




I made my breakfast pockets and buckaroo bundles, like I do every year, and with everyone bringing food, no one ever goes hungry on a 4-H trip!




This is the fifth year the kids have participated in shooting sports here. Now that DS is in college, he wasn't able to attend, but DD is keeping the tradition alive. Here she is getting some pointers from DH:

A friend of DD's and her Mama drove over to meet us and we enjoyed getting to know new friends. We all met via the Internet and it was fun getting to meet each other. The joined us when we went to eat at K-Bobs. They are brave souls as the rest of the team is comprised of rascally teenage boys,whom we love, but who need to learn a bit about decorum.


We left the ranch early on Friday morning in order to get in some practice time before the competition on Saturday.


DH and DD ended up shooting 11 rounds on Friday! This is just plain fun for them,



but come Saturday, it was time to get serious.


DD shot really well and she ended up as the girl with the highest score (there were about 30 girls competing), However, she wasn't happy with that. She wanted to beat all the boys too and she has made it her mission to make them all cry next year. LOL! She certainly gave them a run for their money though. She was in the top 10 scores against the boys. It was fun to watch coaches and competitors from other counties watch her and comment on her ability to dust those birds. We had a couple coaches ask us what the chances were of us moving to their county. LOL!



Since she was competing as an individual (no one else in our country shoots shotgun), she shot with other counties. One of the coaches told her not to embarrass his boys and when she finished shooting he approached her again and said, "I told you not to embarrass my boys". It was funny.
Got birds?


The girl is in her element in the shotgun range.




After the competition, we kicked back and DH and DD shot some 5 stand.


They had never shot it before, but I'm thinking it won't be the last time.



I sat up in my litle perch and punched the various numbers to call for the targets which were thrown from different directions.


We had amazing weather for the weekend. About 50° and sunny skies...until a little winter storm blew through and brought in cold wind with snow flurries for about 20 minutes. DH and DS shot their last few rounds really quickly and made a beeline for the truck.


Later everyone gathered in the common room and DH taught the kids how to play Spades.


Another table had a poker game going. Poker for bullets:
Then there was the annual dance where I only took one photo because I only took my big camera with the outside lens so here is DS with Charlie.

Since we're working cattle this week, we had to leave out early, before all the awards were given, but she was in the top 10 for scores. She shot 84 out of 100. Well done girl and yes, next year you can make all the boys cry!