By that time no one had shown up so I went down range with the hoe, rake and a jug of Gatorade and started working on the chicken berm. Got it done and went to the pigs. Mr. Tom B, Matt, Gary, Don and Wayne came down in a couple trucks and the work commenced. Don is getting pretty good with a weed eater. Rumor has it that he’s gonna hire out for yard work. Tom broke out the machete and ax and was working on the small ouisatche. I decided to go over and help him. That’s where I made my first mistake.

He was swinging the ax and I was trying to latch on to the branches with the hoe and drag them out of the way. All was going along just fine til he stuck his head where my hoe was and gave himself a big ol' knot over his right eye. He tried to blame me for the incident but after due consideration I came to the conclusion that if his head wasn’t in the way, he wouldn’t have gotten hit. Makes a lot of sense to me. I guess I didn’t hit him hard enough cause I didn’t draw blood. I tried to tell him that Matt paid me a lot of money to disable him but I don’t think he paid much attention to me. I’m just glad that I got his shooting eye back in focus. He’s been falling down on the job for the last couple of months. I understand that prolonged inhalation of the fertilizer used on golf courses will do that to a shooter.

When we got back to the hill Nolan and Karen were there. Nolan was working his magic on the truck and was successful in getting it running. I’m glad he knows the internal combustion engine cause I sure don’t and his expertise is greatly appreciated. We were standing around watching him do whatever he was doing when Wayne’s cell phone rang. He got his much anticipated call saying that his daughter was fixing to drop three youngins. He was heading back home and then up to Plano to be there. We all hope that everything is ok with mom and the babies. We missed his smiling face on Saturday and Sunday. I had a car Dr. appointment and had to leave not long after Wayne left so I don’t know if anyone showed up after I left. If I missed anyone, I’m sorry.

It was with great fear and trepidation that I left the house on Saturday morning. The rain was coming down hard and the sky was lit up with ragged bolts of lightning and the sound of thunder (sounds like the beginning of a pulp mystery story). I don’t think that I got over 60 mph on the drive to the hill. Jack was waiting at the gate when I got there. The last thing I put in the van was a jacket and I would almost kiss myself for doing it if I weren’t so hairy. It wasn’t real cold but it sure felt good. We opened the door to the barn and got out of the elements. Others began to show up and it soon was elbow to elbow. Nick must shop at the same clothing store as Mr. Tom B cause he was walking around in Hefty trash bags to keep dry. It’s the time of the year when a jacket in the car should be a requirement. Never can tell about the weather down here in Texas.

We managed to get started about 11:30. We couldn’t drive down range in the usual fashion and had to get out on the pavement and drive through the town and park at the turkeys and then spread out to the various banks. The road to the rams was passable so that saved a little time. All in all, it made for a long day. I got to shoot with a new partner. Randall brought his son Tyler to the match and let him shoot in his place. He has never shot a match before and is still a little unfamiliar with the sights and trigger pull but we managed to get him on or close to the swingers on Saturday and he managed to hit a few targets on Sunday, even with my lousy spotting. He had to shoot the chickens off the sticks cause the roller he was using weighs in right at 12 lbs. It’s a heavy, short barreled rifle in 40/65. I think after a few more sessions, he’ll be hitting them on a regular basis. He did manage to take 2^nd in the B class. Will be looking forward to more matches with both Randall and Tyler.

Donny learned not to leave his cookies on the tailgate of the truck. It seems that the little brown dog likes cookies also and managed to finish off the package that Donny had just opened. I’ve seen that dog with elbow pads, wind flags and just about anything else he can carry off. If you’re missing anything, track him down and you just might find it. Donny also managed to shoot a 30 on Saturday suffering all the while from cookie withdrawal. That was his second master and he shot another on Sunday so we in AAA finally got rid of him.

Sunday came around and it was a beautiful day. It was cool in the morning and warm afternoon. The sky had a few clouds but that was about as close to rain as we could get. We still had to go through the cowboy town to get to the berms but it had at least dried out somewhat. OJ and Liz showed up for the second day. OJ says retirement ain’t what it’s cracked up to be cause with all the hunting, etc., that he’s been doing, he doesn’t have time to take care of the yard work and other things that need doing.

I want to thank everyone who donated prizes to the club. I don’t know who most of you were but everyone got something for their money and that’s the way it should be. Special thanks to Gary Krutilek for making the animal clocks for the high animal counts. One of these days I’m gonna win one. Don Claxton donated one of his tables as a door prize. Nolan was the lucky one drawn. They had to take it apart to get it in the jeep but that’s a minor problem for a fine table. We had a shoot-off for the overall match winner between Tom and Matt. I knew how much Tom wanted that yellow Henry rifle and he prevailed and won it. Tom lost the ram shoot off to Donny? Trenton Tait and Roger Clark went head-to-head on the pigs and Trent edged him out.

We all had a good time and appreciate Mr. Tom B for running an excellent match. See ya in a few weeks.

IT’S A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE!!!
Butch Balcomb

A funny, to some, thing happened on the way to the Club Championship match. There I was, minding my own business chopping down ouisatche, and my "helper" clobbers me in the forehead with the business end of a hoe. The, to add insult to real injury, I went to hook up the electric fence down in the damp weeds at the ram line and discovered that the fence really does work. Thought I was going to jump out of my boots before I could let go of thing.

I was a little worried that some might think the "Osama" target would be too politically incorrect but what the hell, when did we start thinking PC? Although the target was approximately life size, it was placed at the chicken line. During sight-in, a shot at the "Osama" was allowed, nay, encouraged. While surprisingly difficult to hit, Lee Johnson managed the "winning" hit.

Hold Center
Tom Berwick