Hunter Safety

 Today was the first day in a long time that Matt had to get up early for school... so to speak

 He had hunter safety at it was in a town 45 minutes south of us. I thought it started at 8:30 and being that the Willits men like to be early we got there at 8:15...only to find out it was at 9:00. So Matt and Mike killed some time. 

 Matt's first station was with Todd. He taught them about different guns, and first aid

 getting in and out of a boat correctly while hunting...

 and tree stands

 how to properly harness yourself so you don't fall out of a tree

 Then there was Doug. He taught them about sighting in guns and of course respecting them(btw... isn't Minnesota beautiful this time of year!!)

 Then it was time to shoot! 

 They each got 15 shots with a 22. 5 laying down, 5 kneeling, and 5 standing up

 When we came back up I noticed the ground was covered in casings from all the shootings over the 60 plus years the club has been in operation. 

 Matt did really well. 14/15 in the target area. The only one outside was just on the rim. 

 Then we moved to Neil. Neil taught them about safety in the field. 

 crazy that this kid is so darn big

 how to properly cross a fence by yourself, using your hat to protect your gun! Pretty cleaver. 

 Then we had a visit from the local conservation officer. He stressed to them that he was there to help educate and help them not just issue tickets. I thought it was really neat that he showed up. 

 After class the three instructors offered to shoot Trap with and of the kids that wanted to. Matt was not going to miss an opportunity to miss out on this. 

 He started out with a 20 gauge and hit a few...

 Then... He took up Neil's 12 gauge and found himself a new BFF. He could almost not miss with this gun. He got an easy 9/10

He was all dimples after that! 

Maybe PJ needs to start training to be a bird dog??