Shooting with the Fam

During our Christmas break in Idaho, we were able to go shooting with my family. Both of my brothers and my brother-in-law got new guns for Christmas and they were dying to try them out. So we made it a family affair and went up to a portion of my Dad's land on the dry farm. It is a few miles up the road from my parents house.

It was so awesome to be out in the fresh country air! 

This is a view of the place that we refer to as "The Cliff." My parents would take our family up here and we would take a hike up the hillside during the summertime. It was a great Sunday activity for our family. We even carved all of our names in a tree at the top of the hill. We didn't make it over there this time, but a few years ago, we went there again and took Brian. We found the tree and our names were still visible. My mom also used to drive us up here sometimes during the summer when the sun was setting. We would drive through the field to the very right of the cliff that is mostly rock. There would always be owls nesting in the rock and we would sit and listen to their calls and sometimes could catch glimpses of them among the rocks. I have very fond memories of this place. 

The day was sunny but chilly. There was a little bit of snow, but not nearly as much as I'm used to in Idaho. It was weird. But any snow for Christmas is better than no snow! Here is a view of the gang unloading and unpacking their guns.

Luke with his new gun and new pickup.

Dad and brother-in-law Scott getting ready to shoot clay pigeons.

Chance is a family friend and started throwing the pigeons.

All lined up with their new guns.

Kiley and I with a .410. Definitely my favorite gun of all.

I finally hit the target after a few "warm up" shots. 

Brian did pretty well with the .410.

Tyler gave me some instructions on how to use his new .12 gauge. It kicked a whole lot more than the .410! I hit one moving clay pigeon, which I am very proud of. I also hit lots of stationary targets.

Brian with .12 gauge.

He hit a moving target as well.

I think my shooting stance has much room for improvement. Hahaha

Kiley with Scott's new Benelli semi-automatic .12 gauge.

I loved Luke's tiny .22. It was so fun to shoot. We all looked a little ridiculous holding it though, and it was almost impossible to aim because it was so short.

We also got to shoot Scott's semi-automatic .22 which was pretty awesome, and my Dad's double barrel .12 gauge shotgun. That gun scared me. The kick was crazy and the noise was SO loud. I wasn't expecting it to be so loud and it startled me. However, I hit a couple targets with that one, so I was happy. It was such a fun day! It was awesome to try all of the guns. After all the shells had been used up, we picked up the casings and loaded up to go home. We didn't want to stop, but it was probably good because we were all freezing. We took a group shot where we had enough guns for all of us to be holding one.

The whole gang.

I now want a .410 and Brian says he wouldn't mind a .12 gauge, so one of these years when we move away from New York we might just invest so that we can join the fun with our own guns.