Put his butt out on point with the 12 ga. and let him have at the enemies legs, He cant do any damage to you all if hes 50 yards out front.
Tonights Shooting Adventure He's at it again. Tonight we got visited by a small posse of Raccoons. They decided to sample the mulberry tree in the front yard. I was walking off to the bedroom after watching a movie with the boy only to hear the bark from the 20 gauge. First one shot, then another and another. Flash light dancing through the canopy. I look outside and figure that he may need some accurate firepower so i unlock the safe and pull out the 597 and it's mag. plus a small flash light. Once getting outside what do i see, the father-in-law right below the mulberry aiming straight up. 'Dad hold on a minute' i say. 'You are probably not going to want to stand right under the tree just in case the coon falls on you'. 'Oh shyte ' he says as he scrambles out from under the tree pointing the barrel of the 20 gauge right at me. as i dance to the side and put a 40 year old pine tree between us. I asking him to please note the direction of his barrel (I might have used a few words not appropriate for this forum unless we all worked on a ship or in a machine shop). Anyway, we regroup and discuss. Ok it's more like me asking him 'Do you know where the powerline is? How about the cable line? Or the Telco line?' 'Erm, not exactly', I asked him if he heard the zinging of the shot off the power line on his previous shot. 'No really?' he asks. 'Yep' says I. 'I think we should look at what we got here'. 'Wait, no gun pointing yet. Let's see where they are first'. Ok, we've got 3 raccoons, a momma and 2 cute little baby devil spawn. 'Ok, here is the plan, we shoot momma in the second crook first, babies will panic and start coming down the branch into a safe line of fire as we don't want to nip the cable line'. 'got it?'. 'Got it!' he says. Ok flashlights on momma. She's 20 feet away. Blam, 20 gauge loaded with #4 shot rips the bark in a 6 inch pattern nearly 1 foot above and too the right of the shiny eyed bandit. Momma coon tears arse up the tree about another 5 feet into some heavy foliage. Dad quickly breaks open the action and drops in another shell. Shoulder and fires clearing a clean hole through a smaller branch causing it to fall away. Through the hole i can clearly see the cable companies silver line silhouetted against the overcast sky. Again he missed but this time low and to the left but he's getting closer. Now momma coon is in the next tree balancing on a 2" diameter pine bough, nothing between her and the shotgun that has been brought to shoulder freshly reloaded. Blam, again Dad misses. To tell you the truth I've no idea where that shot went as momma coon didn't move but this time i think he loaded up some #2 steel magnums cause it was freaking loud a couple of feet away. Anyway, Dad is frantically searching for additional shells. I finally get him to move out of my line of fire by saying 'I think I've got a shot, let me try'. He reluctantly withdrawls and I step up, place the flashlight along side the barrel of my .22lr, lighting up my front sight, i align my sights , place the sights between the two glowing cujo dots in the tree and send the subsonic round forth. Thwap as the projectile hits home, momma falls of the branch and hits the ground with a dead cat bounce. It's lights out for momma. During my concentration Dad has found another shell and has drawn a bead on baby #1 coming down the branch just as anticipated. Blam, this time his aim is better, directly below the baby, the shot is running up the branch, So some of the pellets hit their mark and spared the cable line. Now he is out of ammo, running for the house to get more. Baby screeching, I line up and fire a single shot, it falls to the ground, I send another to prevent suffering. Dad emerges from the house a minute later and asks where are the coons. I inform him that it seems that one has either locked itself to the top of the tree or fled on the cable line either way, the shooting is over for the night. 'Damn, i wanted to get that coon'. I tell him that there is always tomorrow night. Now we've had target practice, probably put 100 rounds through the shotgun, maybe 50 though .22 and around 200 through long gun (he thinks he's a long range expert 8" at 50 yrds) in recent weeks. He's going to have a better time of hitting a barn shooting from the inside. Heaven help us. A .22 pistol at 7 yards he does pretty well but it's still a big spread. but at least it's all on the paper As he walks away, I tell myself, I need to buy a case of blanks for him before SHTF and during SHTF he's on point and he'll get some new ammo but not before. I'm just going to hang back to see where we are taking fire from. Sorry Dad.
I'm searching on how to remove the firing pins from both his shotguns. If worse comes to worse, I've got a welder.
The tree needs a tree surgeon and psychologist!!! I kinda feel for the mulberry tree's pain...I can't but think that the gouging and bullet holing of the tree with toxic heavy metals will but reduce the ne xt crop somewhat....suggesting to your dad that he may commit mayhem on the poor tree another night will surely give the tree P&PTSD (pre and post traumatic stress disorder).
OMG...I can't stop crying!~ I know it's NOT really funny,..... BUT then again, yes it is! I may need to take a pill to calm down after reading this! The cat thinks I'm having fits! I love it! Keep us appraised on the "next" EPISODE of: " Did I get it?" yeehaw! Annie Oakley strikes again!
I guess i should re-title the thread to 'How Can you tell that you don't want someone on your fireteam'
Tree Massacre update. At 4 am still pumping with adrenalin from the earlier firefight with the mulberry tree, Dad runs a boundary patrol sweep looking for survivors of Treemageddon. The sharp bark of the 20 gauge alerts the 'ENTIRE' house of sleeping personnel and the neighbors that death of a night stalker has been delivered. (ok actually we assumed it because there was only 1 shot and not a string of shots) Hopefully all raccoons,possums and skunks have been duly warned that this property is protected by Harrington&Richardson. I now need to go check the truck and cars for shot strikes.
Take the jumbo sized can of gap filler with you! Have you considered surreptitiously substituting beanbag rounds for his lethal shotshell rounds...The bean bags may not actually kill the 4 legged varmints...but neither will the two legged varmint do for you with his H&R either : O If it is any consosolation to you, my father is remarkably like your father....at least when he has a gun in his hands. I guess you never knew you had an uncle living in the Antipodes...best that you...and I NEVER allow our respective fathers to go varmint hunting together.....It's certain that the Mulberry tree, and all that have not taken cover at a respecatable distance from them would survive the spectacle.....the chipmunks, more than likely would be sitting in deckchairs enjoying the entertainment of watching two great white hunters scaring the crap out of their own afraid...very afraid kinfolk! : O
Smack down at dead branch Well, He got him another one. One shot 2 kill. Pa heads out around the perimeter with his trusty H&R 20 gauge and his blinding flashlight. I'm standing on the front porch awaiting his arrival to the bleeding Mulberry Tree. I know there is a coon in the tree because the branches were shaking as the masked bandit searched for the tempting morsels. Maybe a minute after he started his rounds he arrived at the tree. Scanning the branches with his flash light he announced, 'Nope nothing tonight' for a moment i thought about not letting him know there was a coon in the tree, but the turkeys were sleeping outside tonight as their barn was freaking hot. Anyway, i stepped off the porch and headed over to the tree. 'I think there is at least one in there, I heard branches rustling' I said. He scans again, I take out my laser pointer and laze his eyes (not Pa's but the raccoons'). Bright red glowing eyes attached to the furry brown and black bandit appear on the naked tree branch. 'There he is' says Pa. Pa lines up, takes aim, i'm still marking his target. Blam! A tree branch that was just above and behind the little devil came crashing to the ground. Direct hit. 1 inch diameter cleanly cut from the previously debarked,poorly pruned and steel impregnated tree. About 10 seconds later the baby coon hits the ground. Dead. Pa very proudly states 'Hey, it was a twofer. I like that laser. It makes aiming easier' I didn't have the heart to say: I was marking the head, you hit back about 8 inches at 15 feet range. But I was thinking it really loudly.
uh-oh, Pa's shootin' agin. Well, glad we have extra windows for the greenhouse. He was drawin' a bead on a possum, it ran past the barn along the fence that had windows to be installed in the greenhouse. He got the possum in the a$$ and the window in the frame. But the mulberry tree curled into the fetal position and screamed, 'Make it stop' That is all.
You seriously need to promote him to spotter/observer and take his gun away! It's just a matter of time before he takes an animal or someone in your family out.
Try letting him put some of this large "Victor" brand rat traps out...that'll keep him busy! Who knows, he might get "lucky" too! Besides the worst that could happen is a big toe, a thumb, or a few fingers get "whacked"...Nothing serious except the sound from the scream/s following that LOUD snap! ( those things hurt...don't ask!)
Too many cats for traps. But he got all the glass cleaned up from last night. 2 windows. At least he's aiming away from the house. MM you are right. He can't pump the Pellet rifle, I don't trust him with a 22. Shotgun is the least dangerous in his hands at moment. He want's a mosin nagant 91/30 in 7.62x54R. THAT ONE WILL NOT BE USED ON THE PROPERTY until SHTF, hopefully he's passed by then. Otherwise his position is on the roof of the house. We will stay in side in the safe room.
Blanks and a .410? I mean download them to PRIMERS only! Use TP for the loads! Or maybe styrofoam plugs? No harm, no foul! Someone makes a cool pellet gun with inserts for a shotshell (You load them yourself) little cups, and low power?
