[Sweetwater Series] Hunting camp

Last week was the week, I headed to hunting camp. As much as I enjoy a good week-long camping out/elk hunting trip, antelope hunting has inched higher and higher on my list of favorite gun activities. And here's why

• It's warm
• More likely to tag something
• Easier on the out-of-shape-factor
• It's warm
• Hunting camp includes mattresses and pillows...at my house
• It's warm

Because I'm a procrastinator, I waited until the weekend before hunting season opened to make sure my gun was still sighted in....and it wasn't. 6 shots and I wasn't even on paper, in the next 6 I got it dialed in and my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I decided to take a break and come back the next day. We were right on track!

Only to find out that it was no longer sighted in on opening day. :( It was a hunting disaster, I had a couple of shots which I proceeded to miss quite big. I was so upset with myself, thinking it was just me. We headed back to the range and sure enough, completely off paper in less than 24 hours. After taking a few shots, we determined that something was wrong with my scope.  Switch guns and then a run in with the Game Warden, where someone might not have had all the paperwork that is supposed to be carried at all time. Luckily, he could call dispatch and make sure I had it all, but I was done hunting.....couldn't take anymore. A bad day of hunting still beats a decent day at work though!

FF to the next weekend, a new gun, a new attitude, a new hunting hat, all my paperwork and plenty of hunting provisions. Hunting provisions include things like Coke, licorice, Twix and maybe a bottle of water thrown in there. Since we were prepared for another disastrous hunting day, we were back at the house in time for coffee and breakfast.

I'm not going to lie, I'm very hard on myself when hunting. I don't like missing and I don't like wounding anything. I am very happy to report that after my disastrous opening day (where I was beginning to doubt my shooting ability) I bounced back. This gal was brought down with 1 clean shot, never even took a step. And that makes me one happy gal! I think the key was in the OSU orange hat (and maybe a gun that stays sighted in), that is the good thing about OSU it doubles as hunting gear! Out with the Boston Red Sox hat for hunting and in with my Cowboys!

And thanks to my hunting guide, The Retired Guy, I'll have some yummy antelope sausage in my freezer soon!

And since I love nothing more than good customer service, I emailed Leupold Optics about my scope and they said send it back to us, we will take care of it. After my Burton experience and now Leupold.....some things are just worth a little bit more money.