did i really just learn to shoot a gun??

last night becca and i did the funniest thing, something i never thought i'd ever do. we learned to shoot guns. not just one gun, but lots of guns. we've been living in montana for about 2 weeks now, so it's about time we did something real montana like shoot guns. becca has this friend, caleb, who knows all about guns and loves to teach people. so last night after stopping at walmart to get clay pigeons, we headed out to this stretch of land called 17 miles. it's 17 miles of land reserved just for shooting. where do we live? there's a big rocky hill in the back, and you drive up, set up your targets or clay pigeon throwers, and then you shoot.


we started by getting everything out. it was fun playing around with the guns, but they weren't even loaded yet so i didn't feel nervous at all.


















we then started with the pistols. caleb patiently taught each one of us about how it works and how to hold it and then we got to shoot. they had placed a target a good ways out and we shot at it. kristina got oh within a mile of the target. then it was my turn. i was so nervous. honestly, guns make me really scared! and this was the first time i'd ever even held a loaded gun. but i calmed my nervous, locked my right elbow, closed one eye, and steadied my shaking hands. first shot was a little high. i then realized that i was looking out the wrong eye! so i quickly switched squinting eyes and shot again. hit the target dead on, three times in a row. those squirrels back in wisconsin had better watch out!





next we moved on to the rifles and ak-47s. this time we first had to learn how to hold them nice and tight into our shoulders. we also set up clay pigeons out in the field to shoot. caleb nominated me to go first. so i got the gun, figured it out, put it square into my shoulder and looked down at the farthest away clay pigeon. i pulled the trigger and the gun was so powerful i fell backwards into the truck. although my balance was off, my aim was right on. i hit that clay pigeon and blew it to kingdom come. after that we just had some fun as the darkness crawled in. we would take turns shooting the different guns and throwing the clay pigeons. i even got down in the trench to see what it's like in warfare. i don't think i was made for that kind of life. but it was fun for one night.