seasonal slaughter

So Better Half and I are going to go shooting sometime later next week, out at the Carrizo Creek Range nearby. Last time I tried introducing her to the shooting sport, it was at a relatively small indoor range, that was quite crowded the day we went, and the noise and concussion in the confined space was just too much for her – completely understandable. The first time I walked into a range, I was frankly somewhat surprised as well… as with most things firearm-related, Hollywood completely fracks up the noise. This time around, I figure an outdoor setting with the shooters spaced out nicely and no evil cinderblock walls to bounce the concussion back at us might be beneficial. And NRR 30 db sound muffs.
The real question, though, was what to shoot. I mean, paper targets are all good and well at indoor ranges, where you do not really have a choice, but when you go to an outdoor range, just about anything would work. And, as many shooters know, while paper targets are great for improving accuracy and basic training, they are non-reactive, and thus, in this “modern” day and age, not quite as fun. Reactive targets are the obvious answer, but those little clay, plucked pigeons are bloody expensive, and generally one-shot deals (assuming you hit them). I was going to make use of the copious numbers of 2-liters piling up around my apartment (hey, I have to recycle them to get the money Kalifornistan stole from me back), but then I would be faced with picking up the little bits and pieces left behind as they died. What to do, what to do? I live in the ‘burbs, so I cannot exactly go around and pick apples off the trees.
Well, the answer presented itself, as they often do.
Use pumpkins.
Yes, those orange spheriods that seem like they take over the world this time of year – Attack of the Killer Pumpkins, or somesuch. They are organic, which means you can leave their little carcasses behind for the wildlife to enjoy (and since the range is way the hell out in the desert, something tells me the wildlife will). They are bright orange, which should make seeing them, and thus hopefully hitting them, easier. And, unless I am too far off my mark, they should be somewhat reactive. Now, I am not expecting one to simply explode when I shoot it, lacking a 50BMG as I am (at least, I hope they will not… we only have two for targetting purposes), but we should be able to get a little splatter off them when the rounds hit.
For our purposes, we went ahead and snagged two deformed, no-use-in-carving pumpkins in addition to the two we were going to hack-and-slash, but something tells me this would be a fitting demise for those post-Halloween pumpkins that sit around your stoops and stink up the place. I fully plan on taking my camera with us, so we will definitely let you know how it goes… might even figure out how to make one of them newfangled digital video thingummies.
And on a slightly related note, the Carrizo Creek Range is having a cleanup on the 10th and 11th of November. Unfortunately, shooters are normal people, just like you and I, and just like many other normal people, they cannot be bothered to pick up after themselves. These cleanups are organized to pick up the trash, shells, and other detritus left behind by users, such that the Kalifornistan lawmakers and treehuggers have one less excuse to close it. I would be there myself, were it not for my schedule.