There will be a number of items up for auction during the next few weeks.  The first item is up for auction at Gunbroker.com: A SIG 1911 with CTC Lasergrips.

I love my SIG 1911, and I am certain that this one shoots just as nicely.  Add the lasergrips and it is a sweet package.  Last I checked, the auction price was $1200 (USD).

It’s all for charity, and you get a new SIG.  Win – Win.

We have seen Great Britain flirt with offering enclaves where Sharia law would hold sway, complete with court systems.  We have see reports of people stoned in the middle east.  Other reports of vacationers from other countries being tried and punished to the standards of Sharia law.  And many other anecdotes, and stories of punishments, that for most westerners seem extreme and out of proportion to the offense.

Yesterday, this article appeared about a story out of Somalia.

Islamic militants have executed two Somali football fans for watching
Nigeria play Argentina on Saturday night.

The deaths happened in Central Somalia which is under strict Islamic
law and forbids anyone in the region from watching World Cup matches.

Militants from Hizbul Islam arrested 10 fans who were also part of the
group.

A further 30 people were arrested for watching the Australia vs Germany
game the following night.

This is the biggest sporting event on the planet (outside of the US).  And here we have people being executed for watching, and celebrating.  Incredible.

Today we are reminded of an incident to our North, that took place in 2007.

Just two days before she was killed, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez went to the movies for the first time.

She had fought her parents for the right to wear Western clothing, and to jettison the hijab they wanted her to wear. She was going to apply for a part-time job, something her father refused to allow. Then she ran away from home for the second time in three months. The first time, her father had sworn on the Koran he would kill her if she ever ran away again.

Yet on the morning of Dec. 10, 2007, Ms. Parvez went home. Thirty-six minutes later, her father called 911 saying he had killed her. When police arrived, they found Ms. Parvez’s mother crying hysterically and her father with blood on his hands.

We saw a very similar incident in Dallas in the recent past as well.

Not all Muslims take this hard line approach to their religion and honestly we see very little of this in “the West”.  When it does occur, it makes headlines.

In the US, this country was founded by groups of individuals escaping religious persecution.  As a result, we are a nation that is founded on principles that allow individuals to practice religion as they see fit.  There is a line there though that is going to have to be defined.  When do religious, or cultural, practices cross the line to immoral and illegal acts?  How, do we create a society where that that line is well defined, and enforced?

As screwed up as the direction of this country is right now, it is still the very best nation in which to live.  Globally, we see the turmoil in Kyrgazstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Greese etc.  We see the living conditions in Nepal, Burma, Somalia, etc.  As a result I am reminded every day of the freedoms, rights, and opportunities that we have have here in the United States and the responsibility that each individual in our society has to maintain or improve our way of life.  We cannot bring the world to our standards, there are too many obstacles and ingrained beliefs to succeed at that.  However, we cannot allow this nation backslide to the standards of other countries.  Ultimately, that may make the United States a global pariah in some eyes.  To me, it is leadership by example.

BTW: The Argentina vs. Nigeria match was pretty good.  The Nigerian keeper was incredible.  That should have been a 6 – nil score not the 1- nil it turned out to be.  Too bad it cost two people their lives.

I have given you some of the highlights of the efforts it took for me to get to Orofino for the event.  This year my travel was complicated by the fact that I have been working in NYC.  Now, if I had been working in say Fort Worth it would have simplified some of the hoops that I had to work through.  There are easier ways to get to Orofino than flying through Missoula but, that drive time through that stretch of country was spectacular, and I benefited from it as much as from the event itself.

I arrived in Orofino Friday night and the weather was FANTASTIC.  By morning, things had deteriorated and when I got up to the range and checked in for the clinic it was sprinkling with winds ranging from 12 to 20+ mph.  It made for a very challenging day but, with the help of Gene Econ, Monte Milanuk, and the rest of Gene’s team, I was ringing the steel targets on a regular basis and had dusted off my rifle skills at extreme distances.  This is a great group of guys that I always feel very comfortable around and I am always humbled by the amount of skill and knowledge that they bring to the clinic.

This was the first year that I participated in the high intensity event.  Being within 30 yards of detonating boomers is awesome.  Like all explosions, that pressure wave pummels your body.  When my relay was up to shoot though I found that I was concentrating so hard on connecting with the boomers that I didn’t even notice the pressure wave of the blast.

Dinner was a bit of a let down, as the keynote speaker (Michael Bane) was unable to attend.   I found myself welcomed by Gene and his team for dinner and it made the event much more enjoyable for me, than meeting new folks.

Sunday was the big event.  The weather was great.  I had connected with another shooter on Saturday afternoon to form a shooting / spotting team.  Jason and I worked well together and paired up again on Sunday for the event.   Describing everything that goes on at an event like this is impossible.  When you are pairing well with your equipment, and your spotter, and the weather conditions — you have success.  When you have success at an event like this it is AWESOME, and it is generally repeatable.  Others have characterized this as a “zen like” moment behind your rifle.  That is spot on, locating a target, communicating, focusing, adjusting to your spotters call, relaxing into the position and steadying the point of aim, stilling your body, and pressing that trigger with the payoff of a boom and a cloud of smoke at the end.  Truly priceless.

My thanks go out to Joe Huffman and his large team of “elves” that make this event a reality.

If you want a bit of a taste of what this event is all about check out these sites:

Barron’s Video

Laurel’s Take

Purple Ducky was there

Riverdog had this to say

Michael Bane gave Boomershoot double coverage at his blog and in his podcast this week.

There are a lot of folks that seemed to enjoy last weekend.  Go read their stuff.

To give you a brief idea, I am writing this from a hotel room in Orofino Idaho.  Yesterday I was in New York City.  Between 4 PM EDT yesterday and now I have left NYC, flew to Chicago, drove to the secret outpost and spent 10 hours with my family, returned to O’Hare, flew to Denver landing at minimums in a snow storm, flew to Missoula, and then drove 3+ hours to Orofino.  All that just to spend the weekend in the fresh our of Idaho working on my long range precision rifle skills at Boomershoot.

At at least two points today, I was standing in an airport wondering if it was worth it.  The travel, the time in the airports, hauling gear and rifles all over the country.  Then I got off the plane and started driving.  After getting out of Missoula proper the first thing I notice, a herd of Buffalo.  That’s right, American Bison.

The road from Missoula to Orofino is primarily US-12.  Funny thing, US-12 is a road I drive often in the midwest and here I was spending a few more hours on it, just a thousand mile removed from the midwest.

Once I turned on to US-12, it was two lanes almost the entire way to Orofino.  Through the Lolo pass, and winding along the rivers and creeks of Idaho and Montana.  There was very little traffic which made for a very pleasant drive.  As I was driving along, I was mentally comparing the road to all of the other mountain roads that I have driven in my lifetime.  Through Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, there was something very familiar and relaxing about this drive but it took me a long time to pinpoint it.  Finally, it dawned on me how very similiar this drive was to all of the many drives that I made around Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams, and the Sisters, through Rainier and the Olympic National Parks, even over the Coast Range in Oregon.  The tall hills, in many cases snow capped.  The small towns and settlements.  Winding along the rushing rivers.  The remaining snow on the road as I reached the summit of the pass.

And throughout this whole drive three very distinct thoughts came to mind.

1. How the Hell did Lewis and Clark have the perseverance, and fortitude to make it through this same trail with only canoes, horses, and their feet?
2. Damn, I miss this part of the country.
3. Yes, the trip is all worth it.  Because as much as I enjoy Boomershoot it isn’t only about the weekend shooting.  The trip to this corner of the world does more to rejuvenate my spirit than anything else I have done in the past 12 months.

I need to get out here more often, and bring the whole family too.

Through life I have realized that quotes can cover a lot more ground, and really can just be the phrase that rings true at the moment.

Joe Huffman has a home run in his Quote of the Day today.  Go over and read it here.

On a related note:  I finally have my therapy arrangements set.  I’ll see you at Boomershoot next month.

I was with some folks last week that were looking for horror stories of people paniced in airport, and everyone wearing masks etc.  After traveling through four different airports I did not have a single story to relay to them.

Today I actually saw someone wearing a mask in an airport!!  I have a story now.   Passing through O’Hare this morning during the peak travel period 7 – 8 AM there were four people wearing masks.  Uh, only four and they were all international travelers except for one janitor that was sweeping the floor.

Of the few hundred people that I saw in O’Hare four were frightened enough of the piggy flu to hide their faces behind a surgical mask.

Another overhyped crisis that the American people have decided is not really a big deal.

I knew this, I just forgot that part of the packing and boy was I paying for it by day 3.

Another early day and drive up from Orofino to the shooting site.  Hauling stuff up and down the stairs at the hotel got very old.  The day started out cold again, although a bit warmer than previous days.  The skys were threating a bit of precipitation but it seemed to holdoff.

With the full number of participants showing up for the event on Sunday there were a lot more folks around enjoying things, and lot more equipment to appreciate.

I wound up spotting for the first string which was okay.  I would have liked to have had a shot at the first boomer of the day but, it wasn’t that important.  My partner had a light barrel in his rifle that tended to walk as it warmed up so we were shooting his first and then letting it cool.  I got him on target fairly quickly at 380 and we had some boomers there before switching over to my turn.

Concentrated on the 380 line to get things loosend up and wound up going shoot – miss, shoot boom, shoot boom, shoot boom, shoot miss, shoot boom before looking for the hanging targets.  Turns out that they hung a handful of targets from the trees, and painted them to blend into the background.  That presented a bit more of a challenge but I managed to get one of those as well.

We spent a lot of time trying to get the 600 and 650 yd targets.  Bryan was able to connect with a couple.  I managed to snag a couple as well but either missed the explosive inside, or just did not have enough energy left in the round to detonate it.

By the end of the day I was wiped out.  I was having a hard time holding a steady position to trigger the remaining boxes, and still had a fantastic time.

Another cold morning to start the day.  The weather overall though was pretty good.  Winds ranging 6 to 10 which impacted the shooting but after having to remount my optics overnight (using locktite this time) I figured I was going to have to start pretty much from scratch on all my zero setting sfrom the day before.

The day ran pretty much the same as the previous day.  Picked up some pointers from MSG Hubbard and from Monte which were good.  Wound up making some modifications to my physical shooting position and the way that I was postured behind the weapon.  Using a bipod means I really did not need that front hand supporting the rifle, so I was able to adjust my entire left arm and use that hand to steady up the back end of the weapon more.

The shooting went well.  I was able to rezero the weapon very quickly, and wound up reaching out successfully on the steel to about 650 yards.   Anything beyond about 550 though got to be very challenging.

We came back into about 380 to shoot boomers and I was very pleased with my performance.  One to two shots on each.  Very comfortable with that range.

That evening was the Boomershoot Dinner met some new folks and faces.  Gene Econ was pressed into service as the guest speaker when the scheduled speaker cancelled.  He did a fine job.  I wound up having dinner with Joe Huffman and his family.  A very enjoyable time, and Barb made me feel right at home.