What did you do today?

[Wapiti]

There's some there already, but they are made from standard 250MS plate. I put them there for kids to shoot rimfires at, little pig effigies on chains and small round swingers, but when people shoot centrefires at them they get damaged. There is a 40mm thick swinger plate, 400 x 500 at 100yds, that has copped a caning but as long as the chains aren't hit that'll survive.
New ones will allow smaller ones to be put up to test your hunting accuracy, like up the hill above the high rock walls there cut by the creek, 4, 6 and 8" gongs to see if your hunting accuracy, off your two legs against a tree or whatever, is up to going hunting.
And a target frame to check zero at 50 and 100, things get bumped don't they.
That'll compliment the two-person double-sided steel benchrest that's already there.

[Wapiti]

Got out in the welding truck to do what I could inbetween rain squalls and get some more bracing cut and welded as much as I can. Even if I get just enough done to allow all the sight wires to be strained so some mates can help and get the 2400 long Gio posts in the ground while I finish the welding.
Looks like some more rain up to and over the weekend too.
If it rains I will just blade and stick-rake all the dead timber in a nice and wide windrow into piles each side of the new fencing. haven't done that either. It's great habitat for the large Cunninghams skinks, Eastern Blue-Togues and Shinglebacks. They love these hollow logs. So I can't crush the logs up. Might have to pick all the likely ones up with forks first.

But it was one of those unreal days we get in the higher regions of the Granite belt - the big dark clouds under the level of the higher rain black clouds fly over so fast, it's just great to watch. I could see the rain squalls coming so we'd cover the generator and mig and pile into the cab to sit them out, my two mates (Rowdy and Dusty) listening to the loud taps of the big raindrops.
The wind was rocking my mig gun hand, had to brace on the SHS and 114 cattle rail I was welding. Good old flux-core wire, the occasional rain drops and the howling wind would've made using a normal gas-mig completely useless. As would've the galvanised steel.

No shooting today, even though it was plainly obvious the pigs were out cruising the grasslands and mooching around the logs. We watched them from inside the cab, at least a km away across the creek near the camp. No, two k's. I wonder if they've found the offcuts and offal from the 4 deer and two goats the weekend hunters took for meat? I bet they have.
How good is that?

[Wapiti]

Sitting here out the back, overlooking the bird feeder near the little house yard dam. It's lightly raining.
Got the 17HMR set up to pop the Indian Mynas that are trying to move in here.
Loaded with Remington 17gn gold-tipped poppers.
We did the same yesterday arvo, missus and I over a cup of tea. The chickens love it, they race out and tear off with the bodies, pull them to bits.
Great fun.

[bladeracer]

I hadn't thought to leave the miners for the chooks, great idea

We're waiting on calves. We pulled the first on Friday. Her last two have both been breached, the last one took three hours for the vet to remove and we got her a poddy to replace it. With about ten days to go she was looking uncomfortable, and was making milk. So Rose went in for a feel. It was the right way around so we decided to pull it early. It came easily enough and is doing fine.

Then I went to town to get supplies for the trip, packed the car and went to bed. Drove eleven hours on Saturday for the national Cowboy titles in SA, in Virginia, north of Adelaide. Some others arrived late yesterday and caravans have been piling up around me since then.

One of the guys handed me a belt buckle, apparently I was third in something at Chisholm Trail a couple weeks ago

Today is just Range Officer courses and some Cowboy training sessions. Tomorrow we're shooting some long-range events out to 200m on the handgun silhouette range, followed by some 5-stand clay bird busting to get us warmed up.

[Wapiti]

Mate I reckon you should be fined for lead pollution of the countryside - how many tons have you shot into the dirt?
Good on you mate.

On the Minors, I got a few of the buggers. When the 17 goes off, the chooks tear off across the yard at 1000mph towards the feeder area in that funny way they do... wings half out and tripping over their own feet. Hilarious.

Then I dropped the bloomin Ruger upside down on the scope on the concrete. How the aluminium flip-up covers didn't snap off is a miracle. I'll have to check the zero isn't off tomorrow before I throw those tiny gold-tipped rice grains at another feral bird.
Sh*t happens when you are doing stuff eh. No dramas.