Bringing Some Memories Home

Business took me to San Francisco recently for a geeky gathering and a colleague and I went out for dinner and had the BEST meal at a little place hidden a way after exploring the city a bit. The dish was simply called "sauteed shrimp" but it was huge shrimp covered in a creamy sauce with a touch of wine and fresh herbs. I couldn't talk them out of the recipe so I tried hard to recreate it. I think I came pretty darn close.

Due to the evening light, and shadows as not all the lamps are set up, the photo is not all that great (normally I take all my food photos in daylight by the window) but did it ever taste great. Jumbo shrimp with a white wine Dijon cream sauce seasoned with fresh tarragon. This would be awesome over pasta but was perfect on it's own paired with a salad for a lighter supper.

1 pound medium or extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed Kosher salt and freshly white pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup J Vineyards and Winery, California Pinot Gris (or your favorite Chardonnay)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 sprigs fresh tarragon
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Pat the shrimp dry, put them on a plate, and sprinkle lightly with salt and white pepper to taste. Heat a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. As soon as the pan feels hot when you hold your hand an inch or two above its surface, add the oil. When the oil is hot enough to swirl easily in the pan, carefully add the shrimp, placing them evenly in the pan. Without disturbing them, cook the shrimp for 2 minutes on one side. With a fork or a small spatula, flip the shrimp over and cook them until they are uniformly pink and beginning to curl, about 2 minutes more. Transfer the shrimp from the pan to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep them warm. Raise the heat under the pan to high. Add the wine and with a wooden spoon, stir and scrape to dissolve the pan deposits. Let the liquid simmer until it has reduced in volume by half (4 to 7 minutes). Reduce the heat and stir in the cream. Reduce slightly and stir in the Dijon and continue simmering until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes more. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add the shrimp and crushed tarragon to the sauce and simmer briefly to heat up the shrimp.

Sprinkle with some of the tarragon you reserved from the ingredient amount for this purpose or parsley if desired.

Computer Warnings

I've noticed a tendency for companies, and some individuals, to attach warnings to their email (my favorite came from an IT support source that said "if you receive an email from yourself and you do not recognize the sender DO NOT OPEN".)

So I guess in keeping with the trend, I should add my own.

IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is of a sensitive top secret nature, or classified, or not in any way to be read by persons with no sense of humor, low pain thresholds or religious beliefs that involve aliens or large numbers of virgins (void in New Jersey). We take no responsibility for non-receipt of this email because you are still running Windows NT as everyone knows how well that worked out. If you received this email in error, even if it is addressed to you, forwarding of this email is not authorized, (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes a possible breach of Al Gore Internet law or a disabling social blunder. Any sentences involving the name "Charlie Sheen" were inserted in error and are to be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although the yappy dog next door is on borrowed time. Be advised that there are no hidden codes or messages contained herein, however that contrail of Acme Airways Flight 102 that goes over your house at 2 PM each day is giving your neighbor the directions to the Mother Ship. Reading this message backwards will only give you a headache but if you listen to Abby Road backwards you will hear "Paul is Dead". So just ignore that warning box from SpySweeper. If if makes you feel better, pour a circle of salt around your chair, wave your hand over your computer and solemnly mutter "OMNI OMNI VOR" (Latin is allowed) and with that blessing, you should be safe from Malware.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

I put in a full work day, starting well before light, and then cleaned the Range top to bottom, inside and out with the help of a coworkers wife (with a team like mine, we're like family). I left some new cleaning supplies, paper towels, TP, bottled water, light bulbs and garbage bags for the new owners, in case they forgot. (We close Thursday and they want to move in that day, as they are out of their current place the last day of the month.)

It made for a VERY long day and I just got home.UPDATE: Closing has been moved to Friday late. No problems just some paperwork that didn't get to the underwriter quickly..

Now, time for some music, then sleep.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

and that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

Between Rocks and Hard Places

Not only does the English Language borrow words from other languages, it sometimes chases them down dark alleys, hits them over the head, and goes through their pockets. From other anonymous and well known sources, a few of my favorite sayings, words of wisdom and bullet points.

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - In the August 1993 issue, page 9, of PS magazine, the Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.

All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can't get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer. -- IBM maintenance manual,1925.

The client is trying to kill you, the client is trying to kill himself and the client is trying to kill the rest of the clients." — The 3 rules of mountain guiding.

"The cure for everything is salt water: Sweat, tears, or the sea." - unknown

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." — Frank Herbert's Dune.

"I've got a firm policy on gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be the one controlling it." - Clint Eastwood

"They say miracles are past; and we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Hence is it that we make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge, when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear." — William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well, Act II Scene III.

"A ship in harbor is safe - but that's not what ships are for." - John A. Shedd

"I don't think I'm cut out to be a civilian pilot. When they ask what is the most important instrument in the cockpit I always say "rounds remaining." - Brigid

The Squirrel Has Landed

It's starting to get dark, the lamp is needed, there on my desk in my new home office. With the help of Mr. B. and Midwest Chick we were able to get all of the kitchen and basic supplies loaded up. 15 boxes in all, as well as knick knacks that mean probably only something to me, carefully wrapped and tended. I got up at 5 am and made a couple trips with all the artwork, small pieces of furniture and plants. My recliner and area rugs were moved with their help and tomorrow, just a large mower and some bigger pieces of furniture. After that, on Tuesday after work, a good clean up inside and out, and the door will shut on part of my life, even as the best parts of it remain unchanged. I bought the place from an older couple in fading health, moving into assisted living. With six kids, they'd kept the place up with repairs and such, but the landscaping and garden was overrun, it was a lot of work to get back in shape, it was a lot of work to keep looking nice. When I moved in I was more concerned about the renovations inside, so I did little more than basic maintenance. That's about all I had time for with work, travel, family, caring for my Dad after he had a stroke 3 years ago, Barkley, friends and learning to prepare for a future in a way that is more responsibility than fear. Little did I know that just a few short years latter, I would be happily selling this place, moving further out and much smaller, trying to prepare for a future that is full of change. Then, when news of a interested buyer came in a few weeks ago, I got to work pulling out more of the dead brush and ivy. But in doing so I got to really notice the beautiful plants and such they so lovingly put in when they built the place decades ago. Little things I noticed when I looked at the place, small treasures hidden underneath a few afternoons of hard work. I found some things, an old rusted lock, a penny, and some flowers and plants I didn't even know I had. Also, along the side of the house where I have a bird feeder now, I can see from the breakfast dining room the remains of a tomato vine lattice, with strings of fish line where the owner had helped to tie the vines up.

That made me pause, as my Mom and Dad always had a garden with many things, but always tomatoes. What is it about certain things in life, the simplest of things, a flower, a smell, the feel of a piece of wood or tool in your hand that evokes a place, a voice, that makes you feel like a small child walking on a path of life that got suddenly big. And like a child, you deeply sense how it makes you feel, but the words you know to explain it are so very limited, so you just sit, and look, and breathe it in. So as I sat and held that decaying lattice in my hand, I had to stop and sort my words, as memories came unbidden, color, movement shape. My Mom bending over the garden, helping my Dad weed, a young woman over whom death has already cast its shadow as surely as the apple tree shading her that day. Standing here in my flowerbed today, I can smell her perfume on the air, and the remembrance of the fluid movements of her hands in the soil is as real to me as a tide. Steady, gentle, certain. Tomatoes bring back more than a memory, but a laugh, for one time we were tasked with tending a neighbors garden while they were away and in that is a memory that will always stay with me. The neighbors had some cherry tomatoes and they just weren't coming along at all, dying on the vine, raisins looking abundant in compare. The day they were due back, Mom and Dad went to the store and bought the biggest, juiciest beefsteak tomatoes they could find and TIED them to their vines with tiny wires. When J. and L. came home they exclaimed. "Wow. . Look at our tomatoes!!!!. . . . . hey. . . these are TIED on here!", and we all joined in the laughter.

After 35 years I can still hear the sound of my childish voice joining in, feel the breeze on my face, and the the soil under my fingers, dark and rich, shaded by the apple tree that survived the big blow we had in 1962. The tree is gone now but I can still picture the branches from which my brother and I often hung upside down like little monkeys. I don't know the name of all the flowers that were in that abundant gardent that Mom grew, but I know the ones I likeed. Daffodils and Forsythias being my favourite. Yellow flowers. When I was recovering from surgery in January someone sent me a big bouquet of yellow flowers. It was more than flowers, it was recognition that all those stories I told over phone lines late at night, across continents, had meant something, I meant something. On that day long ago, as my Mom and I clear out a patch of land behind the house, a large open field, we find a patch of wild rhubarb, with strong and spiny looking leaves and thick tart stalks. I go to tear it up, thinking as many did, that it was just a huge weed, and my Mom stops me. She said that will make a wonderful treat later, my Dad's favourite, rhubarb pie.

Perhaps we had a few cherries to throw in with the fruit, and she promised to sprinkle some sugar on the crust, right as it came out of the oven, to crystallize and crackle under our tongues and offset the sheer tartness of the fruit. Rhubarb, a taste of childhood that has a magic all its own, that doesn't need words to carry it forward out of that garden of memory. The sweet taste of life in my Mom's beloved garden. Today I worked 12 hours moving the rest of my belongings to a new smaller home, sorting out what I can donate to Amvets, what I will take. Every muscle in my body hurts, the foot, still in a walking boot from the Japanese Ninja accident a couple of weeks ago, so swollen I had trouble walking on it by the end of the day. (oh, look! A place to elevate my foot right next to this pub bar). Yet with me, were not my parents, but two wonderful friends working alongside me, laughing uproariously even as we toiled, (really that's a flashlight. . . . CANOE. . . he's an astronaut you know) creating something new out of chaos. Among those things taken from the freezer and transported to the new home. Some rhubarb. Once the papers are signed and I've had time to catch up with the one person I've not had much time for this last couple of weeks, patiently supportive, I'm going to make a pie. Memories of those we love then and now, the shared laughter, the smell of a home made pie, the simplest things, yet they bring peace. Even something as simple as a pie made with love. Beautiful and strong, like the wild rhubarb itself, working its magic beneath the cold, dark soil.

Status Report

The new digs are secure, but that's about all that's gone according to plan.

Day 3 the roofers from the large well known IND roofing company were supposed to repair the roof of the range and install all new gutters prior to sale (as promised to the buyers) have no showed. The weather has been clear. I was told I was the first customer on their morning list. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow. The house is supposed to close 3 days after that. The sales manager called my realtor with a lame "well this isn't normally how we do business", but no details as to any follow up. I'm still waiting for MY call. My partner M. has finally heard that tone in my voice only reserved for terrorists and rabid pit bulls. J. is looking forward to the show, but from behind a lead wall with protective goggles on. Short of getting eaten by a velociraptor as an excuse, they're about to lose my business. And get their name in print.

Moving Weekend

The Range sale closes this week and I'm packing up all kinds of stuff and moving it into my new digs. I'm leasing a place for a year while I scout out land off the grid and options. Why leasing? Who knows, I could just move to Montana and be a "round American woman" or build around here. I work pretty much out of a suitcase with the squirrel laptop so it's something to think about, though I do love it here where most of my close friends are. Besides, I think the market could well tank further before it rebounds, so I didn't want to rush into buying another property. I have a nice little place through next April, good landlord, brand new kitchen (built in wine rack!) and a big updated bath, an easy commute, room in the attached garage for a reloading bench and enough square feet to be adequate without needing a loan to heat and cool it. Just enough for Barkley and I.


Midwest Chick and Mr. B. are showing up this weekend to help move all the shop and excess stuff into storage. Neighbors are collecting the cover charge to watch me ride my big riding mower up a ramp into the back of the truck (though I passed on jumping over 3 derelict Piper Tomahawks with it first). Several other local friends offered to help (thanks guys and gals!) but most of it is done already and I have Two Men and a Truck to move the remaining heavy stuff. Rangebuddy and family are watching Barkley until I'm all situated so the move for him is less stressful with his bed and toys and familiar smells already in place before he shows up. I think things are moving right along.

But I WILL have to check out the new bath before I hang pictures or do anything except sleep for about 11 hours. The large tub is calling my name.

Faces of the Land

The land in polished by clouds, no mountains exist to block the efficient sweeping of soil with the ragged, torn wet edges of a huge cold front.

Still even scrubbed clean by yet another thunderstorm, the land shows every scratch, each dent, gouge and rut born by tractors that run in the same lanes where years ago, pioneers crossed here.

The midwest is a land shaped by the storms, the boarded up storefronts, behind whose doors leaves huddled sidewalks no longer tended, heaved and broken, grass growing through the cracks like crabgrass on a forgotten grave. Windows of closed businesses turning their bright shiny faces to the sun, only to darken with approaching clouds, for the sun is a ways off.

But the storm here is not the design of mother nature, but the state of living here where the land is rooted in the hard work, of which little is available.

Unemployment is up at almost 10% here. If you add in the number of people who have jobs, but their hours have been cut drastically, the number of people affected is over 20%. Others say that statisticians quit counting people after theyhave been on unemployment for one year, as they assume "they're happy that way". The Vice President stated after the stimulus, after billions of the hard working taxpayers money has been spent, "I guess we underestimated the economy."

Last year, I drove out West to visit family, rather than fly. I expected to see some signs of the economy, but was absolutely amazed by how many businesses along the former bustling interstate were closed. Mom and Pop restaurants that had been open for years, gas stations, even hotels. Places I remembered seeing for years, shuttered. All I could think was, "I don't think the media is telling the whole truth"

In my travels this last few months, I spent some time in a city in Northeast Florida, a former thriving area when I'd been three years ago. Many of the places I once shopped or dined at were vacant. I ran into a lady at the library there who remembered me from the last trip through, and she asked about my family, and I hers. She said, in her home town county, north of Daytona, unemployment was up at over 20%.

She still had a job, though many of her coworkers had been laid off. But things were tough, as she was helping her adult children, college educated, smart, hard working people who could find no work in the area.

There will always be those that do not wish to work. Those, sound of limb and health, that would rather stand with their hand out, expecting those that do work to pay their share to them, simply because they occupy space here. I will fight tooth and nail to keep my hard earned dollars from going to the lazy and the greedy, something that's happening much too much recently. But what about those people like my friends, my neighbors, who have worked all their lives , want to work, and work HARD, and there's nothing for them

In my state, the Elkhart-based Indiana National Guard's 1538th Transportation Company returned from Iraq last year to cheers and tears of pride as their family members greeted them as they marched, these 182 citizen-soldiers marked, in formation, into a hangar at Indiana's Stout Field.


I know none of them personally, though myself and a friend sent a number of care packages over that way when they were overseas. We are proud of our soldiers, for stepping up. We were happy to see them come home unharmed, for the 1538th sustained no casualties during almost 10 months in Iraq, providing security and ferrying numerous supplies for U.S. military convoys. Perhaps as they said, it's because their unofficial motto is,“Drive it like you stole it.” Perhaps it's because these men and women know how to work safe, and work smart in the worst of environments. Certainly someone I would want to have on my team, or my payroll.

For ten months they put their lives on the line, crossing landscapes distant and impenetrable, with little in the way of daily comforts, things we take for granted at home or at work. There was no comfort from the blazing desert sun other than a small wind that might come from nowhere to thin the smoke and the heat, wind that might carry on its back, enemy fire without warning. In the far distance, gunfire flicked across the hard, unforgiving land, like hail on a metal roof. But the distant sound didn't stop them. They moved and worked, bringing needed things to others who served. Hours across landscapes fought with dangers, clinging stubbornly to hope as they crossed the churned soil, among scraps of burnt out life and remnants of liberty. Fueled by hope, that soon they would be home. Back to their jobs, their families and their lives, things that when they left, were whole and sustainable. Sometimes those thoughts were all that may have gotten them through the days and nights.

But in a area which has been devastated by the economy, they come home to find their jobs were gone, many of them receiving the termination letters not too long after Christmas. The employers had honored their military commitment, their civilian jobs protected by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, but that is no help when massive layoffs occur in the the total work force. The local economy was as flat as a penny placed on a train track. The RV industry, a prime employer in the area along with other key manufacturing sectors, had limped to the side of the road, it's tires flattened by soft sales, high gas prices and the reining in of spending by anyone with common sense.

Elkhart-Goshen's unemployment was up at 17.5 percent this time last year. It's higher now.

When interviewed, the soldiers spoke matter of factly, not looking for handouts, simply looking at options, for they are fighters, some having to move back in with parents, some likely having to delay much awaited plans for marriage and children. Not all of them were young, some were in my age group, serving our country later in live, coming back to jobs they'd held for a lifetime already, only to find the doors shuttered, weeds growing up around once profitable local businesses.

The face of the poor and the homeless used to be a stereotype of laziness and poor choices. That has changed. We as a nation have changed. The face of the unemployed is more than the lazy or the uneducated or the young. It's the educated and the motivated. It's our friends and neighbors. But for timing, a choice or two and luck, it's you and I.

In the past few years I've volunteered at both a woman's violence shelter and a shelter for the homeless. Not always the most pleasant of tasks, dealing with the homeless, the battered. Many people would meet these people on the street and instantly turn away, a pivoting of one's whole self back towards the sanctity of their safe little world. I can't say they were all pleasant, or thankful, or people I'd want as a friend. Yet, who was I to judge them on first appearance, or their lack of things we all take for granted, a job, food on the table, the ability to get up each day and pay our own way, supporting ourselves and our family.



One night I was there when we had a severe storm and the power went out. It was in early spring when winter had not yet given up its hold and ice pellets rattled the roof. The old building got cold quickly. With the wind still howling, it wasn't safe to drive home yet, so we sat together in the kitchen area, with blankets, trying to keep warm til the power came back on. I was sitting near one of the homeless women who was staying there after living in her car after losing her job and running out of benefits. She had just found some work at minimum wage, but still did not have enough to rent an apartment. Coming here was a last resort during the cold remnants of a Midwest winter. She sat off by herself with a warm fleece blanket, locked into her own healing place. I sat on a chair, shivering, as there were not enough blankets for all of us.

After a time, the woman came over, soundlessly, and put her blanket around me, wrapping it around our legs as she sat next to me, to help keep me warm. Her clothes were worn but meticulously clean, her too thin arms still showing the muscle definition of someone who worked strong, her fingernails clean and short. On the surface, someone that some people might dismiss, but when I looked in her eyes I could see it, someone who has battled life and survived with determination and pride.

If I had met this person on the street, poorly dressed, needing a decent haircut, I too might have have passed without caring, taking little notice. Yet on that night she shared one of the few things she called her own, with me, a stranger. I don't know what happened to her, but with these words I have to say to her. Thank you. I can't make up for the way people may look at you or treat you or save you from what has happened to you in your life. I can only blanket you with these few words to cover you with reassurance. Reassurance, that you are strong, you are a fighter, one worthy of the rest of us taking a deeper look at you and and what you can offer.

To the soldiers returning to no jobs. I can offer you a prayer that you will soon be able to apply those resources that helped you come home to our state whole and healthy, as you find work for someone else. We as your neighbors are behind you, we as your State are proud of you. Simply telling you "sorry, we underestimated the economy" is NOT a welcome home sign worthy of your service.


To those newly elected, look hard at the landscape. Listen to those who voted for you. Listen to those who labor, for not just ourselves, but for our country. For the economy is not just a landscape, it has a face. We are not statistics, we are not overpaid, underworked and lazy. We are the American people, we want to work strong and proud. But we can't do it with promises and outsourcing, bailouts to the greedy or self serving and financial admonisments to the hard working taxpayer.

We are the American worker. Don't forget that as you work for us.

That's not a knife. . . sheath.

Oh yes, it is.

There are incredible things being done with knots and such things as paracord, twine and rope any more. Just ask Stormdrane.

It wasn't always like that.

I came of age in those last years of the 70's (saving the really good 80's hair for college and grad school). I don't think there was at least one house on the block that didn't have one of these on the wall. The 1970's macrame craze.


And yes, I had one of those those hot little 1970's vests that looked pretty much like the owl with two arm holes. Probably explained my social life.

The Range has a buyer. After a year and six months on a sinking market. While I lived out of a suitcase as it showed. The last step, the appraisal for their FHA financing (oh please, on please). UPDATE: It was approved, the house closes next Thursday!!! I've not said anything about it, not hoping to jinx it, but it's getting closer to being gone(even if at a $20,000 loss). Given the current market, one I can live with. The land I own separate is leased to a farmer, I simply get out from a very beautiful, but large, older house that's WAY to close to the city.

I'm prepping for a closing at the end of the month unless FHA gives them a last minute "no". Og and my hunting and shooty buddies from up north, plus Mr. B., Midwest Chick and Tam and my team from work have all volunteered to help with the move (though the heavy stuff, Two Men and a Truck are going to do.) But still, a lot to do, in 10 days time, if all goes well.

That includes cleaning and sorting and packing, including the little barn, which Rangebuddy and clan helped me with.

There in the back, in the land of the spiders, was this little gem. A lawn chair. Macrame. It appears to be homemade. And such a nice aqua color. It had to belong to the previous owners, an elderly couple.

What to do with it. . ?

I mean, I hate to waste anything. I can preserves and food. I store bulk items long term. I reload. I can sew, fix a lot of stuff, and set a broken bone. With a little tending to a fractured leg, the chair is quite serviceable. It's really clean actually. It could be used for something. OK, it's macrame and it's the color of Aquaman's underwear, but maybe an extra little chair out where Barkley's bed is set up.

Oh wait, I think I have a second opinion.

You are a STRANGER to me. . . .

Look Borepatch, Targets Can be Found Everywhere!

Even in Dublin


Keads over at Another Day is a certified firearms instructor and just finished up a concealed carry class of 11. This post is for the students, some of whom have become readers here. Congratulations on taking that important step ladies and gentlemen!

Remember that old saying if you're moving too slow, you're just a target.

I remember the very first time I pulled a trigger, 12 years old, under my LEO Mom's supervision, and after years of watching gun safety. I remember the target, a soda pop can. I remember the hesitant deliberation of the hand, the tightening of the muscles in my stance, knees slightly bent, leaning in, that seemed to convey twice the weight of what my childlike body held. And I squeezed and hit the top rim of the can, knocking it off its perch. It took ten minutes for the smile to leave my face.

We practiced with those soda cans in an old quarry, or out in the woods, using the center of the can as a little target area. The .410 bore was pretty light, but it would take small game out to 35 yards consistently. Difficult to use in wing shooting, but a fine starter gun, for garden pests or rogue soda cans. Like any first love, we couldn't get enough, and would work hard during the week, doing our chores and school work to earn another trip to a rustic range. Responsibility had to be earned. Trust had a price. In time we graduated to bigger guns, and more elaborate targets, but that smile of accomplishment remains unchanged, even if there were years where I didn't get to shoot at all.


Targets can be as elaborate or as simple as the weapon you own. Some of the more common types are:

Silhouettes. Experienced hunters, law enforcement and tactical course shooters are familiar with silhouettes, targets that provide a realistic representation of what the shooter is likely to see in a self defense situation. Though I did have a squirrel threaten me in a tree blind once, I'm not expecting to be mugged by either a gopher or a red bullseye target.

These targets range in size and color, and some resemble real "bad guys", though this popular police qualification target reminds me of Matlock in his younger days.

I understand there are ranges that do not allow such targets, as shooting at something resembling a human is not politically correct. I'd take my business elsewhere if my range was that way. I prefer to shoot at a more realistic target once in a while, at least until the first woman is raped and strangled by a 8 x 10" ground hog. Hunters will use targets resembling the game that they will hunt. These targets will often have small bulls eyes on the prime areas for aiming to achieve a humane kill in a real life setting, better for hunter and hunted alike.

Not everyone that shoots, hunts. That's a deeply personal choice. You can be a vegetarian or buy your meat at the store, killed by someone other than yourself. You can shoot for self defense, or simply for sport.

When target shooting to improve your skills a bulls eye target is great. The bulls-eye ring(s) should be easy to see from a distance. Color doesn't matter, red green, black, orange, it just needs to stand out from the rest of the target.

In this target, shot at 40 feet, one can look at shot placement to see what worked and what didn't. A bullseye chart can't be beat for diagnosing Common Shooting Errors. In this case, the first shot was in the center. The next few were just barely to the right of that. But what about the higher shot? Shooting to the 9:30 to 12 o'clock position of the bullseye is usually recoil anticipation, in this case likely releasing the trigger too soon causing the front sight to rise to the left. The lower one? Also anticipating the recoil, and perhaps forcing the weapon down before the recoil actually happened Or I just "limp wristed" it (relaxing the wrist before the BANG).

Some shooters like the cross-hair type target where, in place of circular rings, you'll find a vertical and horizontal axis. Some sharpshooters may find they prefer this cross-hair type target.

Then there are the metal targets - These are silhouettes ranging from circular or other shapes to animal representations. Some twirl, some just clang. Though more expensive, these can be fun. Don't want to buy your own? Try a steel plate match at your your local fish and game.



Be aware though, metal targets could deflect a bullet, so be sure that you are at a safe distance before attempting to use them. As with paper targets, the knock-down targets can be found at many online sites and traditional retailers.

There are small adhesive backed targets that can be placed on any target. They explode in a bright, fluorescent ring of color around each bullet hole. These will really show up from a distance, showing you placement on those 50-200 yard shots or even a 50 foot shot with a .22 round. I always have a few Birchwood Casey Shoot•N•C^® Targets in my range bag. They aren't particularly cheap but I like them. With the current consumer in mind, they have a new "Dirty Bird" target that splatters white on impact and is a price comparable to paper, as well as working well for long distance shooting.

The Best Targets? the Free Ones!

When selecting a target, you don't have to leave the comfort of your little home office. There are many targets available for free downloading on the net. All you need is a printer and some paper. You can even make your own with simple paper, index cards, paper plates and a marker pen. I used to shoot next to a fellow that had an assortment of buck-toothed woodland creature targets all done with a large marker pen on stock paper. He was fairly gifted as an artist and some of the targets were almost too amusing to put holes in.

One day, after I had not shot in a while due to work, the range master at my former indoor range came up with this little number with pen and a piece of regular size copy paper. He ran it to distance, saying I probably couldn't hit the broad side of a barn after weeks away. Ha! Be it a hand drawn target, a paper plate with a dot, or a playing card, there's targets that are effective and cheap.

I enjoy the regulation targets, but as a beginner or recreational shooter, free is good. If you are set on a regulation one, there are a number of Internet businesses offering paper targets, affordable in bulk.Then there are the specialty targets to prepare you if you are attacked by zombies:

Clowns:

Or Barney:
Or want to register your that AARP card they started sending when you hit 40.

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Or for lack of a paper target OR Barney (as Bore Patch found): Teletubbies.

Paper targets are indispensable for reinforcing the finer points of accuracy. But for lack of paper, how about water balloons, bowling pins, bobbleheads, and anything involving Ronald McDonald. Just be careful when shooting things that shatter that you have proper eye protection and backdrop.

No matter what target you select there are basic fundamentals to ensure you hit where you want to and practice with the highest level of safety for yourself and those around you.

The proper stance affects nearly every aspect of target shooting, and there are as many stances as there are shooters. You need to find one that is comfortable for you, yet offers stability and range of motion. I thought my stance was just fine until Shooty Buddy, an NRA instructor, gave me some hints one day on bending my knees more. It made a difference in my stability.

Posture does not mean a Emily Post type of stance where one could place a book on their head and walk across the parlor. A correct posture for a shooter is one where lower and upper body are comfortable yet keep the body as a whole, and especially the hands, steady. The width of your stance can affect your target accuracy as much as to what degree you adjust your torso. More than any of the other fundamentals of shooting, personal preference is key in the posture you use. What works for one persons build, may not work for you. You are aiming for stability of platform and a steady hand.

Grip. You can't control your handgun if you can't grip it properly. When you give up control, you give up accuracy. Gun hand grip is simple: the thumb goes to one side of the grip, the other fingers to the other side and wrap around the handgun grip. Until you have identified your target and are ready to fire, the trigger finger should generally rest along or above the trigger guard. Never rest the trigger finger on the trigger. The only time a finger should be near the trigger is when you are going to fire and your target is clear. The support hand normally "cups" the gun hand from underneath.. The pressure from the supporting hand should be even and equal to that of the gun hand. Too little or too much pressure will result in poor results.


Sight Alignment and Sight Picture. The sight picture is what you will see when looking through the sights at your target, at your "ready" position, gun drawn and pointed at your selected target. Sight alignment is simply how the rear sight is “aligned” with the front sight, with the sights aligned along BOTH the vertical and horizontal axis. (the front sight, normally a single post exactly center between the rear sights with the top of it even with the top of the rear sights.)

Eye: To close or not to close. Opinions will vary on whether to close one eye during shooting. I'm cross eye dominant, meaning, though I am right handed, my left eye is dominant and I just do NOT shoot as accurately with the right eye open. However, I practice both ways, as in a defense situation, I may wish to keep my peripheral vision clear and still be able to hit center mass.

Trigger Pull.
Anticipation can help or hurt. A slow steady pull with the index finger pad (the middle of the index fingertip), on the trigger is your goal. Trying to anticipate the moment when the gun will go "bang" will result in shots that are off center or miss the target completely. For, in anticipating your shot, whether you know it or not, you can fling or jerk and it's goodbye bullseye. What helped me was "dry firing", practicing trigger pulls on a well lubed, broken in, unloaded weapon, exercising the same care with it as if it was loaded. It can't be said enough, treat ANY gun as if it were loaded, in however you handle it.

Breathing. I missed my first 10 point bow kill because of bad breathing. Huffing and puffing like the little engine that could, I ended up shooting Mr. Buck in the behind. It was a glancing blow, and I tracked the tiny bit of blood spor and signs in the brush for an hour, trying to ensure he was down as humanely as possible after my blundered effort. The blood was minimal to say the least, and I didn't find him despite tracking til dark. The next day I saw him, he of the non typical rack, prancing around like nothing had happened. Though he looked up at my direction with disdain before scampering off after a doe. Uncontrolled breathing was a mistake I would try not make again. As with the other fundamentals, proper breathing is integral to accurate target shooting. Control is everything. If you breathe in and out during the trigger pull you'll have a shot that's likely off its mark. What works for me it to take a breath between trigger pulls. Breathe out. Trigger Pull . Breathe in. Some people do it breathing in, holding and breathing out. Whatever works for you, but control your breath during the trigger squeeze. Look at the target. Fire. Utter "son of a*(#&" under your breath, and try it again.

If you are a beginner, study the fundamentals, get some expert instruction and shoot where it is safe and supervised. For beginner and sharpshooters alike, whatever you shoot, you'll find as many ways to enjoy the experience as there are targets.

- Brigid