This post is going to be mostly photos without much writing. Many of you are following the range build and we are working as fast as we can. Had some interruptions with hunting season, weather, and solving some target setup issues.
Progressing nicely before the snow comes. But the reality is, we will be forced to do much of this work over the winter. The cold and snow will suck. But the lack of ground vegitaton and canopy will make survey and line of sight easier. First world problems, right?
First you gotta have some targets.
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- First. You gotta have some targets.
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- Main shooting position. AKA The Briar Patch. Guess how it got that name?
Second you need to cut some shooting lanes. In this case, I needed cut back a few troublesome trees and the grassy top of one hill.
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- This tree is right in front of Briar Patch. I don’t want to cut down since I can use it to shoot off of later.
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- So…the only option is to trim it up.
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- Like this…
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- Looking back at Briar Patch, you can see why I had to cut this hill down.
The 200 yard target is installed.
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- 200 Yard Target
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- Technically 205 yards. I’ll address later.
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- Looking over target, line of sight to Briar patch.
The 250 yard target is on another shooting lane. Done behind the 360 range. It’s pretty darn down there, so I needed to paint it safety orange for better line of sight measure.
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- The 250 Yard Target back of 360 range.
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- Even painted, not super easy to spot at range.
The 300 yard target. Back on main shooting lane down the road. The fact is, this target probably functions as both a 250 and 300 (maybe 350) since it’s visible from the field up behind the Briar Patch. So I leave the safety orange target down at 250 and shoot it static? Or do I pull it and use it as an odd-distance target on the hill top I just cut? See first world problems.
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- 300 yard steel installed.
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- Camouflaged to keep errant hunters from seeing it. Doubt yellow as camouflage? This time of year, you won’t see this target unless inside 100 yards. And actually looking for it.
Bonus Content. You didn’t think we’re just building ranges did ya? Nope. We’re also cutting 4-wheeler trails. They will facilitate easier access to the longer range steel targets. Provide alternative ways to move about the property even during live-fire. And create some really interesting hunting setups for 2018 and beyond.
How many trails have we cut so far. Not counting range work proper? I don’t have a physical count. But dressing up existing trails was over 2000 yards. And cutting completely new trails is approaching 800 yards. Again…on top of range work.
Sport 4-wheeler didn’t make it.
So why am I mentioning this? Well…one of our team members decided to bring his “sport” 4-wheeler out to help cut some trails back behind the 360 range. Well…he lasted maybe 40 minutes before his bike started overheating. Got it back up to the hayfield and it seems his fan wasn’t coming on. The working theory was something got jammed up inside and while crawling on undiscovered country.
My Honda 4-wheeler is built like a tank. This thing? It sure is fast. For my taste, too fast. And it’s 2 wheel drive which seems questionable. But it is fast and really used speed to get over things. But ground scrub and brush killed it WAY too fast. I am just thankful he wasn’t down in a valley on the backside of the property. Getting him out of there would have sucked rocks.
Marky
www.John1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
Marky Mark
Areas of focus: Defense and National Security, Modern Light Weapons, Small Arms, Weapons Training.
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