Goin' To Missoula - Gonna Shoot Some Pins!

KeeWee and I are off to Missoula, Montana for the weekend, so blogging will be non-existent from Friday night until Monday night at the earliest.

Once a year the Montana Shooting Sports Association puts on a Bowling Pin shoot as a fund raiser for their legislative activities in support of hunting and shooting sports in Montana.

The shooting is done against the clock, rather than head-to-head, as pin shoots are often done. What makes this shoot so much fun is the variety of classes to enter. Rimfire pistol, rimfire rifle, semi-auto centerfire pistol, single-action revolver, double-action revolver, pump shotgun, semi-auto shotgun, hunting rifle, assault rifle, and full-auto. Yep, they even shoot machine guns at the pins! Kinda makes you want to move to Montana, doesn't it?

It's a long hot 12 hour drive from Whidbey Island, so we plan to try to get out of here either Friday evening after work, or very early Saturday morning. Evil Al and Rainey will be stopping by the shoot on their way back from the Montrose, Colorado World Handgunner Championships so if you're there you can get a chance to meet some of the folks I write about on a regular basis, along with KeeWee and I. There will be autographed pictures of Mr. Completely available too! (.....that's a joke, son!)

The range is called the Deer Creek Shooting Range, and it's in East Missoula. If you take the East Missoula exit from the freeway, then turn left and go under the freeway, that will take you to East Missoula. Go a short ways, then down a hill, then take a hard right onto Speedway. Go about a block ,then turn left onto Deer Creek Road. Go about a mile, under the freeway, then across the railroad tracks. Just past the tracks there is a large gate and sign for the range.

This is a fun and informal event to raise money for a good cause. The people are great, and the shooting is a blast, so even if you have to drive a ways to get there, you're bound to enjoy yourselves.

For me it's 12 hours on the road each way just to be there, but I wouldn't miss it for anything!