Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 2014 East Texas Gathering

Tom, I didn't even bring a camera. Took three or four with my i phone and the battery went dead. So we will have to wait on Rio7 or whoever took a few. I didn't see a lot of picture taking. Most were taken on the firing line/bench. I know I used Rios video cam to take a few mins of him shooting, he used it. Don't even know if he is home yet. David took a few but he's going to be out of pocket for about two more weeks, not sure he will get on line.

Lots of folks there I would have liked to meet and old friendships renewed

Patrick, It was a pleasure to have you and your brother here.

I think you two left a few things behind as we seem to have a three-legged stool, a brand-new ceramic frying pan with lid, Coleman fuel and a filter, rope, and a green chair.

Ed

Thanks again Barbara and Ed for being such good hosts.I cant remember the last time we had we had this much fun. Next time I'm going to have to bring a few guns.

these sorts of gatherings are always worth the time and effort to go to....

Doh! well...I'll get them evntually

It's hard to say what my favorite part of this past weekend was. The cold, rainy weather was the worst part.

Now, the highlights;
RIO7 rolled in early and brought a bunch of steel targets including a life-size, anatomically correct silhouette of a 400lb hog, complete with painted highlighted body parts.
Miles helped us set up the course and we got ready for the rest of the activities.
Friday saw most of the crowd show up and brought more food, drinks, and condiments than we could possibly consume.
Kaywoodie set up his shelter in the yard, replete with his own street sign in French, which translated to "Leper Street" Kaywoodie kept us all in stitches with his foreign language skills, sense of humor, and anecdotes.
Friday evening, he was in rare form and I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.
We had several folks show up who are not Campfire members, including a long-time lurker here, Elton, who really should join in the conversations as he has a LOT to add to this group!
A relative of Paladin's, Kristy, (she was at the Quemado Gathering last August) brought her husband, Randy, and their three kids along, too.

Saturday morning saw folks jumping in to feed the crew; Wtxj, Milespatton, tex n cal, and others cooked breakfast, kept three coffee pots going, and fed the crew scrambled eggs, bacon (peppered & regular), Tex n cal's Campfire Hog Hunt pig sausage, muffins, cinnamon rolls, juice, and tortillas.

Folks were so busy meeting & greeting that we didn't start the shooting part until after 11:00AM.
Oldman2003, his bride, and his son Allen (who also needs to join here!) brought crawfish, potatoes, & corn for lunch as well as what has to be the best pecan pie I have ever eaten!
Oldman2003's lovely bride also baked a chocolate cake with chocolate icing that was inscribed "Happy Birthday Blue" as this coming Tuesday (tomorrow!) is RIO7's birthday.
We adjourned to the back pasture via the "hay ride" and Elton set up three shooting benches he had brought, complete with bags/rifle rests.
Curdog4570, Paladin, and Elton (an accomplished firearms instructor) tutored a couple if ladies (curdog4570's lady friend and Texczech's wife) on handgunning, and then folks took turns shooting at the reactive targets with various handguns.
Sponxx brought a brand new .243Win that needed to have a scope mounted and sighted in an proved that he can shoot!
Once the shooting began, we quickly discovered that there were some outstanding shooters in attendance. Kaywoodie, shooting a great example of the 1903A3, was ringing the steel out beyond 200 yards with iron sights.
Paladin brought his Merkel .470NE double rifle and let anyone who wanted to, shoot it at the targets. What a hoot! It really smacks the steel without killing the shooter.
RIO7 was ringing the steel out to 288 yards (the life-size hog) with his .405Win, and proving that old catridges can get it done.
Once again, Paladin showed his handgunning skills by hitting a pig silhouette at 200 yards on the first shot with his 500 Linebaugh, then shooting quarters out of the air with his Model 41 S&W.
Websterparish47 was there, quietly doing his best to deplete the worlds supply of .22lr ammo with his pistol.
Wtxj let me shoot his .30-40 Krag carbine. I DO like those guns!

At about 1:30 PM, the dinner bell rang and we were treated to a MOST scrumptious lunch of crawfish, potatoes, and corn cooked by Oldman2003, his wife, and son. That was my first experience with "mudbugs" and I can assure you, it won't be my last!
Paladin showed us how it was done by eating two massive servings of crawfish.
For those who didn't partake of crawfish, TexCzech cooked hotdogs & hamburgers on the grill.

The Prairie Dog Shoot finally kicked off about mid afternoon. One shot, cold bore, any caliber, any rifle, any sights, any position at a 1/2" orange dot on a printed prairie dog silhouette. CCCC won the shoot with his Low Wall .22-250 by clipping the orange dot, Sponxx was about 1 1/4" out from the orange dot, shooting his 7mm Magnum, and Tex N Cal & Allen (Oldman2003's son) tied for third place at 1 1/2" out from the dot on their targets. I know that Allen shot a borrowed .270Win, but I don't remember what Tex N Cal shot.
The weather moved in before we could shoot any more competition, so the "Elk Hunt", 200 yard .22lr shoot, the "William Tell" archery shoot, and the Daisy Red Ryder shoot all had to be postponed until next time.

BrotherBart got sick at the last minute and couldn't make it and stxhunter had to work, so Plan B had to be put into place for Saturday night supper.
RIO7 stepped up and had Barbara go pick up steaks for the crowd along with some great potato salad, and coleslaw. Sponxx supplied baked potatoes, and then treated us to scratch-made Pisco Sours. That was a real treat! His son and daughter helped make the sours by forming a small assembly line to juice the several dozen key limes needed to make this wonderful beverage.
There were bags upon bags of chips, jars of salsa, and milespatton brought several jars of his famous pickled peppers.
Saturday night saw cold rain set in, curtailing the festivities, but not before we awarded the Prairie Dog Shoot prizes. CCCC won a sporterized .30-40Krag, Sponxx won a brick of Eley .22lr, and Tex N Cal & Allen each won 100 rounds of CCI Sub-Sonic .22lr. The Krag and the Eley .22lr ammo were graciously donated by butchlambert1, who was unable to be there but wanted to participate in some way. I'd say it was a heck of a participation!

Sunday morning we were treated to another great breakfast by Wtxj, Milespatton, Tex N Cal, and others.
People started filtering out all day as the cold rain continued, but Allen stayed behind to help clean up.

Paladin & RIO7 stayed here last night and Paladin helped me set up my bullet casting outfit and we cast about 75-100 475gr .458 cal Parker-Hale bullets for my Sharps. I had to lube and load some of them in .458WM cases to see how they shoot until my Sharps gets here next month.
We didn't have much to clean up, but finding a place to put all of the food that was left behind was a challenge!
RIO7 and Paladin finally pulled out about lunchtime today, putting and end to the adventure.

Folks, it was a pleasure and a heck of a lot of fun. I got to meet several new friends, learn more about the ones I had met before, and plan on expanding those friendships.

Barbara and I have spent most of this afternoon going over how things progressed and how we can do it better next time.

I can't wait.

Ed

Made it to Pecos around 9:30 tonight after some fine conversation with Ed and Blue this morning.

We meet a lot of folks in our journey though life, but few of the solid ones that really matter.

If you ever get to meet Ed or Blue, you'll get to meet ones that matter.

A few comments:


If you have never met RIO7, you need to.

First time to meet him, but I hope not the last. An impressive man and made my sides hurt too.

A very good family to meet and know. Pecan pie was different, and awesome.

Needs to be a regular here


I have not met him but he has to be one of the great ones.

Ed, a heart felt thanks to you and a very special thanks to Barbara to putting up with us. I, too, am looking forward to another event. miles

Ed, thanks for the post-meet roundup - very well done and helps with the memory.

Those who know you realize that you are well-organized, but you went the extra mile in thoughfullness with your preparation for various folks and situations, and with your pre-planning for activities.

You willingly shared everything you had where needed to make our gathering a great time for all. It is a pleasure to pitch in and help in any way possible when we experience such gracious generosity.

Thank you for the kind words, Paul.

Barbara evidently sat up last night, thinking of ways to streamline the cooking and organize to lessen any downtime or confusion about food, drink, and cooking.
While shooting is not her thing, or even guns, she loves people and has a servant's heart.

I can safely say that there WILL be another one here at some point. We'll just try to plan it when the next Ice Age isn't creeping up on us.

Ed

Made it home about 2pm today, the 8th, can't tell you how much i enjoyed seeing old friends and making new friends,cant think of a better way to spend a weekend freezing my ass off, thanks to everyone that made this weekend so much fun, a special thanks to Ed and Barbara, for going out of their way, to make this campfire get together so much fun.i hope to see you all again in the future. rio7

Glad you made it home OK, Blue. Thank you again for helping make this a great occasion.

I hope you have a great day and you can rest in your own bed in a warm, dry climate.

Ed

A few pictures;

Left to right, Sponxx's wife and little girl, TexCzech and his wife, Terri. In the foreground is Curdog4570 talking with Oldman2003 & his wife, and immediately to her right is their son, Allen (staring into the fire, wondering how he got tangled up with such a crew!), then Paladin (red vest, sitting down), and Curdog4570's lovely lady, Peggy.


L-R; Kaywoodie greeting Websterparish47 as he boards the "Hay Ride" with Milespatton, Wtxj, and others.


L-R; Milespatton, Kaywoodie, Websterparish47, Wtxj, CCCC, and Maddy (CCCC's lovely bride )


RIO7 and Paladin solving the World's problems while RIO7's lab, Smoke, sorts out the smells of a different ranch.
On the far left you can see the "Disciplinary Barracks" aka "The Brig" where we made Milespatton & Allen sleep for no good reason.


I didn't take many pictures, I was too busy enjoying myself.

Ed

Then, there's the inevitable "Lost & Found" after every Gathering. Please take a look and let me know who owns what!





Ed

Ed, the two shot glasses you should have been able to figure since they have Arkansas on them. Also the coffee water measure and the water can now have a new home with you. miles

You never know with this group. That water bottle is perfect for taking water for the dogs on trips, thanks!

Ed

Never had anything but water in it and has a customized air intake stopper. I have hauled it all over from Padre Island, Quemado (twice), Roosevelt Lake, your place and hardly used a drop of water out of it before this trip. Enjoy. miles

The chairs are indeed mine. But the blue water jug is not mine.

Barbara's welcome to use the red & white ceramic fry pan, if she likes, until I get it. I have another here

Patrick, You must have gotten great mileage going home, 'cause you lightened the load here!

When I grabbed the box that the three-legged stool, frying pan and rope were sitting on, I discovered that it was full of paper plates, fish-fry coating, crackers, napkins, and Raisinets.
They are safe and sound, waiting for your next visit.

Ed