Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Panhandle Prairie Poodle Pursuit Pack

The Five P's had their first general shareholders meeting this past weekend about sixty miles south of Lubbock.
L-R RickyD, Curdog4570, Chris, and AHF.
Presiding over the meeting was President, Chief Operation Officer, HMFIC, and general guru of all things Panhandle Prairie Poodle related, Curdog4570 aka "Gene".
Old guy members included RickyD "Rick", AHF "Allen" , and your humble scribe "Ed". Also joining us was my nephew, Chris, who quickly was re-named "Killer".
As expected, the weather was hot, dry, and clear with the ever-present wind. The wind, for the most part came straight out of the south, which made corrections very simple as it never exceeded 1/4 value, most of the time it was zero value from our six.
Of course, the mirage was something to see! Using my B&L 15-45X spotting scope, I had to keep it below 25X just to pick out the longer range dogs.
The dogs weren't visible in large numbers for reasons none of us could figure out. There were plently of active mounds, but the dogs stayed down for long periods of time. Shots ranged from 85yds at the small town, to 450+ at the town across the road from our campsite.

Here I have to brag on my nephew. He is a city kid, born and raised. He turned 16 last week and has been a guest (slave labor :D) at our ranch for the past five summers. I introduced him to sniping snapping turtles on our ponds and that has been his his sole "hunting" experience, and his visits with us are the primary exposure to firearms. He has shot at paper with another of his uncles but that has been years ago.
Chris stepped up to the challenge and quickly got a handle on spotting, ranging, and killing dogs. He primarily shot my Rem M7 in .223, but discovered its' range limitations with 50gr HPs.
This is where curdog4570 generously stepped in and offered to let Chris use his custom 22-250AI. With a bit of instruction from Gene, Chris was soon popping dogs out at 450yds. His two best shots were both cold-bore shots, one at 290yds with the M7 and the other, 450yds with Gene's 22-250AI.
RickyD got a head start on us as he and Gene got there earlier Friday and already had made kills before we got there.
Allen (AHF) mostly shot his 17Rem, but his .22K-Hornet Contender pistol also saw some action.
Gene finally fired an AR when he was persuaded to shoot my Rock River Varmint Special. He decided it would do OK .

Gene's hospitality was something to experience. He had thought of everything, and generously provided two dinners that will not soon be forgotten as well as lunch, and he and Allen cooked us a great breakfast on Saturday morning.
Gene didn't share his secret coating for the fried crappie we had Friday night, but then I don't think anyone asked. We were too busy wolfing it down!
Saturday night, Gene fed us steak Fajitas cooked over coals.
Simple? Yes. Delicious? Heck Yes! No one went hungry, even the hollow-legged Chris.
As can be expected, there was constant conversation between all, covering just about any subject you could think of.

We had to call it quits Sunday, but all vowed to do it again as soon as we could.

I made three friends this past weekend, and gained even more respect for my nephew.

I cannot thank the other men enough for their treatment of Chris and their acceptance of him as a member of that campfire.
They added a tremendous measure to his knowledge of firearms, shooting, cartridge design and purpose, hunting, ethics, and human nature in general. Gene, Rick, and Allen all took time to offer advice and instruction to Chris and didn't spare the jabs where appropriate!
Chris and I spent most of the eight hour drive back home talking about the weekend, how much he had learned, and how much he enjoyed it.

To those who wanted to, but didn't make it, we will do it again, and I hope you do come.

My most sincere thank you to Gene for arranging this shindig, getting permission to shoot at different places, for his companionship, and his generosity.

Ed

Very cool. These are the kind of posts I wish we would see more of around here.

And me as well. Great post and pictures. A bunch of friends sharing a camping, shooting, big fat hunting or fishing tales lie competition weekend.... not too much better'n that.

Those not in attendance missed a genuine miracle ;

I probably did 95% of the talking and still learned more than all the rest!I took some pictures and will post later.

With kids like Chris around and an uncle like Ed , the country's future is secure.

Thanks for the kind words, Gene.

On side-note, I would keep an eye on that 22-250AI if I were you.
Chris had been in love with my M7 for a while, but you turned his head with your rifle!

"Applying physics over great distances" is his favorite hobby now and the further the distance, the more challenging, and the more fun for him.

I do belive we have created a monster!

He didn't get enough shooting so he took his rifle down to the ponds this morning and sniped snapping turtles for a while. 24 turtles (all head shots) for 40 rounds of CCI Subsonic HP's at distances from 35-75 yds.

Gotta love it!

Ed

Sorry Ed, but in true "Campfire" fashion, I have to "One-Up" ya. I made FOUR friends this weekend.

Thanks again Gene, I look forward to the next outing.

Allen

Very cool Sir, and yes we need more of these and less politics. The jokes are OK though!

Allen, sorry 'bout that, but I like you more, so I win! HA! Take that and stuff it in your K-Hornet!

Ed

Thanks, Terry. I agree wholeheartedly. Do you know any one who knows a good joke?

Ed

Well T LEE and Kamerad Les walked into a bar, Terry used the door and Les was knocked out by the wall.

Just being contrarian....60 miles South of Lubbock isn't the Panhandle. That would be the South Plains.

As do I! Looks like a great time!

That's OK, I'm not offended in any way, I didn't want to give away our secret Prairie Poodle Pastures, so I might have my coordinates a bit off too!

Ed

We were camped in the South Plains- the Pdogs were in the Panhandle.

Ed and Allen had to elevate the muzzles on the K Hornets considerable.[don't want to disappoint the earlier poster who is expecting some lies]

Here is Ed and Chris- there is a PD still airborne at the instant I took the picture.That explains the grins.



Ricky D generously offered to "static test" my shooting bench prior to chris using it :



Allen's setup proved to be most popular [BTW,He's a little wierd- he cased his rifle before he would have a beer]

i drive right though that area on my way up to littlefield.

If you could take a little "delay enroute" we might meet there sometime.

planning on heading up there in nov to hunt muledeer up around muleshoe in the sand hills.

Won't work - I'll be down in the Trans Pecos hunting MD then.

This is "fajitas by commitee" - I started them and Allen finished them :



Actually , I guess you'd say that Chris finished them ;

It was a great time and Gene was an outstanding host! I will be looking forward to any repeat performances and other gettogethers with other members. Gene, Ed, Allen and Chris were all top flight guys.