Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Summer 2017 Campfire gathering at Armijo Springs, NM

I want to thank Ed for saying all the thanks to all the folks I would have thanked,too, but he said it better than I could have. I made some new friends that I greatly enjoyed spending some time with. Thank you, Ed, for your coaching work and running the pin shoot. That was something new for me.

Paul and Maddy, you sure live in a beautiful area that I had never seen before. Thanks for all your work and hospitality. Kent and Cheryl can't be thanked enough for the wonderful food, and Ben's wife for the burritos, and the cake bakers, and on and on.

I am glad everyone seems to be having safe travels. Last night I arrived at my nephew's home in Missoula, Montana, after three long days on the road. We were greeted by smokey air, 95 degrees, and the sight of fire bombers coming and going, due to three fires burning in the region. Stopping in Missoula was mandatory for me so I could meet my newest family member, my nephew's 7-week old baby boy, Rhett, and say Hi again to two-yr-old sister, Laney.

I also delivered to my nephew a couple of hundred rounds of 257 Wby ammo to go with the old Mark-V that I gifted to him when I saw him here a year ago. With a young family, Wby factory ammo doesn't fit easily into his budget.

The next stop on my travels is Caldwell, Idaho to see some cousins. I plan to arrive back home in Redding, CA in another 7 or 8 days.

Thanks again for the great get-together!

Milo

Norm, I have taught a number of kids to shoot bows over the years and have found a couple of youth bows that really work. A light bow is essential to start with, both draw weight and actual weight of the bow.

Here is one (the "Squirt" model) that would be perfect for Mary to begin with;
3-Rivers Pilgrim Longbow LINK

Here are the arrows to go with it (get the 24" length); Wood Youth Arrows LINK

She will have many, many hours of enjoyment out of archery. It's a great way to teach focus and hand-eye coordination, build upper body strength, and not make much noise!

Ed

Safe travels, Milo!

Ed

After giving the USFS folks some time to visit our thoroughly cleaned camp and pick up the neatly bagged leavings from our gathering, I drove out to Armijo Springs. Wow - is the place truly that quiet? Was that really the recent scene of all those tents and trailers, shooting events galore, endless talks and tales, and forest feasting? One would suppose.

It was early AM and about 30 elk were wandering through tasting the grass; a badger was sneaking around one of those big piles of tree limbs (no doubt looking for some squirrel or other rodent), and; the usual soft breeze was whispering through the ponderosas. Rains since Sunday have melted away any foot/wheel tracks left behind. Were all of us really there last weekend? Probably, but it will take about a year to confirm.

The tracks we leave behind that last the longest are those on the hearts and souls of those we walk with and theirs on ours.

Ed

My brother and I left Missoula late this morning and had a pretty smokey drive over Lolo Pass and down to Salmon, Idaho. The lack of visibility was a shame because we were driving through some beautiful country and couldn't see most of it. As I had never been to Salmon, ID before, we took an hour break there.

I knew this had been the long-time home of Elmer Keith, so I stopped at the little county museum on Main Street to see if they had anything on display about Elmer. Unfortunately the museum was closed, so I walked into the town library next door and met a very nice older librarian who knew a great deal about Elmer. We had a nice chat. She told me where the Keith home was in town, just a few blocks away. She also told me that the Keith home (at 130 Lombard St.) was going up for sale, although it hasn't been listed yet.

I drove to the neat little white house with the stone chimney, kitty-corner across from the Methodist Church. I parked in the shade of a large tree in front of the house and just sat for a few minutes, thinking of all the enjoyment I experienced as a young man reading Elmer Keith's writing. I could easily imagine him in that house, sitting in his overstuffed chair, and smoking his pipe. I have several of his books, including a copy of "Hell, I was There" that he autographed for me. Then I drove back to the library and picked up my brother when he finished doing some necessary computer work on the internet.

We continued driving south and finally got clear of most of the smoke when we arrived at Challis, ID to spend the night at the RV park just west of town.

Ed,
That 3-Rivers Pilgrim Youth Bow sounds like something I might be able to handle. I did manage to barely qualify for the archery merit badge in Boy Scouts, but I haven't touched a bow since. Hearing Kent explain the fine points of arrow shaft weight and strength vs the power of the bow and how an arrow actually flexes during flight was fascinating and informative. I can see where archery is very challenging and fun.

Ed, I also want to thank you for the nice things you said about my performance at the 3-shot group competition, shooting my 221 Fireball, but I need to refresh your memory a bit. All three shots were not in the orange dot. I didn't think there was enough wind to put my shots out of the dot, so I didn't put in any correction, but I was wrong. The first shot was out to the left, close to, but not quite touching the orange. I tried to wait a minute for a lull in the wind before releasing the second shot. I was relieved to see that it hit fully within the orange, but quite close to the first shot. I didn't want to disqualify myself by putting all my shots outside the orange. Now I was afraid that if I put in more correction I would just enlarge the group. So, for my third shot I tried to wait for a lull in the wind, as I had done on the second shot, and duplicate it. It didn't quite work. Instead of hitting in the orange near the second shot, it enlarged the hole of the first shot, again completely out of the orange. So the result was a qualifying target with only one shot in the orange sticker.

The second correction to your report was the size of the group. I think you just made a typo. You measured it at approximately .475" which is about what I usually get from this rifle on a very calm day shooting 40 gr. Berger HP's out of this Rem. M-700. I almost blew my chances in this competition by not allowing enough for the wind. I blew my shot in the one-shot prairie dog shoot, too. I shot a bit high and the wind moved the shot left so my target wasn't in contention at all. I came away reminded to do a better job of doping the wind and making appropriate corrections.

Thank you, again, Ed for your work, and the work of others to make the get-together fun and memorable.

As always, the shooting contest are a lot of fun. This year there were 6 events, 2 for .22 LR, 3 for Center fire rifles, and 1 for pistols. Just getting to shoot against other campfire members is a lot of fun. Win, lose, or draw... it's a hoot! (Especially when someone shoots the wrong target)

Thanks to everyone for making these events possible and so much fun!


I dont have the complete list of winners, but I'll post the ones that were written in the book.


(Need help with this one)

.22 LR turkey shoot (22 LR at 30 yds open sights)

Winner- Paul (CCCC)
2nd -


.22 LR 5 shot ( 150 yd )

Winner- Jeff (Talus_in_Arizona)
2nd -


Prairie Dog Shoot (200 yd cold bore 1 shot)

Winner- Alan
2nd - Randy (Oldman03)
3rd - Joe (Darby)

Centerfire 3 shot

Winner- Milo (Nifty 250)
2nd - Jacelyn (Mudhen's granddaughter)
3rd - Alan

Steel Shoot ( 6 shots at various distances)

Winner - Ed (APDDSN0864)
2nd - Blue (RIO7)
3rd - Alan

Bowling Pin Shoot (pistols at 25 yds)

Winner- Patrick ( Tex_n_Cal)
2nd - Alan

Milo, thank you for the corrections. I have slept since then and I was going on my recollection, which I find to be lacking at times.

Your group WAS considerably smaller than Jocelyn's or Allen's.


Randy, thanks for posting the competition results!

A lot of things were learned during and immediately after the shoots! My biggest lesson was to pay more attention to the label on the box of handloads... Folks, believe it or not, 77gr ,223 loads don't shoot to the same point as 69gr loads do. No matter how hard we wish...

I wish I were still there.

Ed

Randy - thanks for the results.

The winner of the .22LR turkey shoot was Paul. Can't remember who was 2nd or 3rd.

These contests were loads of fun along with seriously good shooting by lots of folks. I was just glad that my hand loads worked as planned - although my shooting technique was iffy at best. Can't wait 'til next time.

Everyone -- here is the link for my shooting bench plans. Will post some pics of mine whenever I have time to figure out the new image system.

http://www.larrywillis.com/shootingbench.html

I used his measurements, except for a slight difference in bench top size. The dif is not significant.

My bench:

33.5 inches from floor to shooting surface

26.25 wide at the front

14.5 wide at the back

1.5 thick

32.5 inches is actual length of legs, including threads

Construction notes:

Once cut to size, you'll need to glue the plywood together. I used a lot of Titebond III (green label). Then I screwed a mess of decking screws in, using the length that would not stick all the way through the finished top. Then I parked a Nissan Pathfinder on it for the night. This worked fine.

When dry, I used a belt sander to even things up.

A couple spare pieces of laminate flooring finish the top nicely, but these are not required.

Finally, I polyurethaned the bejebbers out of the thing.

Usage notes:

Larry Willis decided to put caps on his legs, but I like mine without caps. The amount they dig in the soil is helpful. The bench works equally well from the right or left side. A folding metal chair works best for shooting, but I do fine with a camp chair. I also drilled holes in the edge of the bench for some tools I like to have when shooting, such as a screwdriver perfectly sized for friction turrets. At one time I greased the leg threads lightly for ease of installation. Within minutes, my shirt, pants, face, and truck seat were indeed adequately greased, with no discernable difference in bench assembly. I no longer grease the threads.

Regarding the size of the top, it is such that I can carry it a couple hundred yards overland (with the legs in a backpack), without undue suffering. There are some places I shoot where you cannot drive to the shooting spot.

Nice to see the results posted as I do not recall the same at the 2015 Tonto trip. That said, Darby did advise... Sounds like a nice weekend.

Been almost week and still no pictures.

Ken! Just imagine all these old guys standing/setting around with two of the best looking fellows in the southwest not in attendance!

You'll get the idea! .

Whaddya mean? I was there and so was Kent!

Ed

HI All,
When I went to print pics, was disappointed to see that I unlearned everything from a lifetime of photography. This is unacceptable.

Saddle up, we're going to have to do it again before next year!!

Thanks to all who made this a great 'fire.

I got home from New Mexico at 11:30 PM after two long days on the road.

No pics from me this year, as I forgot to bring my camera... I can post
previous years pics and say they were taken this year. if it makes anyone feel
better.

Think I am going back out on the road.. Got home to your local sheriff
had an interview this past week.... since the legalization of dope and our
governor now passing laws stating small amounts ( what ever that is)
of heroine, meth, coke and a few other drugs is going to be legal....

that now murders in the county is well over 300 % increased, overdose death is off
the charts, break ins and burglary is up 500+ %....cars being stolen out of people's
driveways even during day time is up dramatically... multiple people were shot will
I was gone in broad day light due to a 'disagreement' in some local store parking
lots.. more than one....

Isn't legalization of dope, drugs etc wonderful!

Wish I could say I wasn't home, but I am... nothing changes, it just seems to be
worse and worse.. I already miss the commeradery from enjoying time with
good friends.

at least we have the "diversity" that the liberal left speak of....

legalization of drugs and dope have brought in Gang Members from all over the country
who spend more and more time making their presence known...

like shootings, robbery, road rage just going to the store besides just making the younger
punk crowd high all the time...

I miss NOT being here....

Ed,you and Kent cover the old guys statement.

Bob,yup it's no wonder no pics have been posted. Without you and I there,all the cameras broke.

Here are 4 pics Darby sent to my e-mail to post.





Thank You Darby for sending me the pictures so I could post them.

I had my camera bag, but just stayed busy with the shooting, visiting and eating. I have not mastered the new photo posting protocols here, and I have quit PhotoBucket, so I was not especially motivated to drag out the cameras. In addition, Seafire and Talus both took a lot of pictures last year, so I guess that I was kinda thinking that this year I really didn't need to preserve any of the goings on for posterity. I promise that I will get back in the groove before Tonto Basin.