Once again, we arose to another fun-filled day at SBR. After a breakfast of French toast sticks, eggs and sausage patties we raised the flags and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, Scout Oath and Scout Law.
Today, our agenda included Barrels with its shooting sports focus and Bows, which features archery.
The hike to Barrels took quite awhile due to both distance and elevation changes along the route.
During our orientation, we went over the NRA’s three rules of firearms safety. Next, the instructor went over the principles of marksmanship, eye dominance and general range admin.
First up was shooting clays. The shotguns we used were MX5 12 ga Automatics by Turkish manufacturer Emperor Firearms.
Next, we transitioned to rifles. We fired .22 Savage Mk II rifles equipped with Weaver 4-9x or Bushnell 4-9x scopes at bullseye paper and various steel targets to gain confidence. Next we moved to a 100 yd Steel target range where we fired Savage Axis rifles in .223 and .308.
We ate lunch of cold cuts at Barrels due to its distance from the dining hall and then hiked to Bows.
After a brief introduction by the Bows team which included archery fundamentals and safety, we were issued 20 lbs Matthews Genesis compound bows and split into two groups. One group went to the 40/60 Range, engaging static targets at 40 and 60 meters respectively. The other group went to shoot at 3D animal targets in the woods from close although unknown, distances and angles. Can you see the 3D targets in this photo?
This photo depicts the types of targets the archers engaged. The dinosaurs were only in the 40/60 Range.
At the static range they engaged targets at 10m while playing ‘bake the cake’ which is a competition where an archer has five arrows and must hit white (flours), blue (water), red (heat) and yellow (eggs), but not black which burns the cake. In the event an archer burns his cake, he can burn others by shooting into an opponent’s black ring.
Action archery consisted of thrown targets similar to sporting clays, with all of the archers attempting to hit the target. Can you see the target and arrows in this photo?
Whether first timers or old hands, skills were learned or improved and fun was had by all.
We wrapped up the day with a hike back to base camp for a dinner of Slaw Dogs, Chicken and Dumplings with cornbread and green beans.
Tomorrow is Mountain Biking and the Big Zip!
Where else could you go, get all this training, experience, camaraderie and food without the four year commitment? 🙂
Great stuff.
Those archery games look both fun and challenging!
How many people were actually able to hit the target out of the air with an arrow?
4 accomplished that feat.
I learned the basics of shooting before the BSA, but that’s sure where I caught the bug for good.
These posts have been a blast from the past to the simpler days. Thanks SSD.
Scouting should be paying you. This is becoming a bucket list item for me now, and I’m a 47 year old Cubmaster…. The Scouts, I’m sure are having the time of their lives.
Bonus: what other organization, anywhere, instills selflessness, patriotism, contemplation of GOD, and personal development like this program does. Thank you for sharing the true nature of the Scouting program without the media spin. As a Scout leader, I will pass this tag to all of my parents as I continue to chant, “If you think THIS is fun, just wait, it gets BETTER!!!”
Thanks again SSD….
Echo the above comments. I am enjoying these posts and look to take my two sons on this trip someday.