gun range

Friday night our Civil War group had a soldier campout at This is the Place Heritage Park and then the next morning a few of them came up to Heber City for a live shoot. It was such a great day. The weather was fabulous and it was pretty fun to watch the guys shoot their period guns, and also the not so period guns.

There were about 578 boy scouts (no kidding) up at the gun range shooting Saturday morning and they were automatically drawn to our soldiers. When they were finished with their shooting requirements, they would drift our way. Our soldiers were great about talking to them about their 1861 Springfield muskets and Henry somethings (sorry, I just know the Cavalry used a Henry something). The kids ate it up!

We have a member of our group who's heart is in the Revolutionary War. We comes dressed up Colonial-like and it is pretty cool. He was shooting a Brown Bess and it was fun to watch him also. He told the kids a little about General Washington's army and some of the requirements to be a part of his army - one of which is 2 opposing teeth so that you could bite off your cartridge top! That part cracked me up for some reason. I guess because I know a few folks that wouldn't pass that requirement! He showed the kids how to load his gun and they were very interested. It was fun to watch.

I even shot a few rounds. I thought about that 1861 Springfield, but went with the VERY modern Berreta. I didn't hit what I was shooting at! My dad used to call me 'little Annie Oakley' when I was little and we would shoot a 22 at pop cans in the mountains. He was apparently making his little Rachel feel special, or I have lost my touch!

The safety officer was very adamant about eye and ear protection. Here is Amanda getting her little ears gobbed up with protection! Notice the girls' ear protection. Kendal's cheeks were so smooshed it was darling!

Matt had to work in Roy on Saturday so the little ones were with me. They did so great. I was happy with how things went with them, although Amanda did have some treats that sure helped. There is this huge berm around the south side of the gun range that the girls spent alot of time playing on. It was a great view too. Emmitt hung out with me and he was so good too. The firing didn't even phase him. He played in the rocks most of the morning.

After the shoot, Amanda and I fed the soldiers a delicious lunch and then listened to funny reenacting stories for a few hours. It was a fun fun day.