Target Practice

This weekend has been one of the few that Cody has been in town for the past month, so we took full advantage of lots of bonding time just the two of us. We cooked some tasty ribs and homemade mac and cheese after watching the Aggies BTHO Arkansas on Saturday (Whoop!), and yesterday after church and brunch with our sweet Bible Study friends, we decided to head out to the country for a little dove hunting and target practice for me. I was pretty pumped, as my mule deer hunt is now just over a month away. After shooting the 20-gauge and 243, I feel pretty confident that I can shoot a buck bigger than my husband when my hunt rolls around. :)

The hunter and his bird dog. Turns out Rio might be more of a duck hunting dog than a dove hunting dog... he wasn't too fond of the taste of the dove and its feathers in his mouth. In fact, when Cody told him to "fetch it up", he picked it up, spit the bird out, and simply rolled the dove to Cody's feet with his nose and paws. Our dog is quite resourceful. Cody was a little disappointed in his first performance, but I can't say that I blame him for not wanting a mouth full of feathers. 

Shooting the 20-gauge for the first time. I may not have shot any birds, but I sure did achieve an excellent arm workout while holding that gun. My father-in-law commented that I looked a little prissy though... I guess you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl!

 My target during my first experience shooting the "240-something". When Cody's dad first told me the gun I would be shooting for my deer hunt, I couldn't remember the numbers and called it this, so it became a running joke on both my side and Cody's side of the family. I was quite proud of my shooting skills with the 243, and feel a little more confident about trying my hand at deer hunting in November. Hopefully I'll live up to all the hype that my hubby is creating. No pressure, huh?

The hubs and me with his collection of birds. He's quite the hunter, I must say! 

When we were driving home from our hunt, Cody commented that these kind of experiences help him to feel more at home. It's true- I guess there's something to be said about enjoying the great outdoors. I'm thankful that I have a husband that is patient enough to take me, despite my constant need for conversation and short attention span!