Sighting In Your Deer Rifle

Deer season seems like a long way away, but it will be here before you know it. Around this time of the year I like to take my rifle out and site it in. Whenever I am sighting in a new rifle, scope, or old faithful I start out at 25 yards. I usually shoot three or four rounds from this distance or until i get a good tight pattern. Then I move out to 100 yards and do the same thing. I like to set my rifle about an inch high at a 100 yards since I mostly hunt in open fields, but that is up to you to decide.

My Trip To Colorado

Colorado
This summer my family and I went to the USA Shotgun National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colorado is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. The temperature was in the 70's the whole time we were there. There was no humidity, no gnats, and no mosquitoes. While we were there we went to Pike's Peak, Royal Gorge, Garden of the Gods, and the Cliff Dwellings. My favorite was probably Royal Gorge. We got to ride to the bottom of the gorge and we also got to cross the highest suspension bridge in the world.

The Tournament
The tournament started on Sunday and ended on Wednesday. On Monday I shot a 90 out of a possible 100 and was tied for first. On Monday I had a bad round that left me in fifth and frustrated. On Tuesday I was still a little upset about Monday and I shot a 16 That dropped me out of the whole thing. On Wednesday I came back with two good rounds that left me eight behind third. Whether your going to Colorado on vacation or for a shotgun tournament your sure to have a good time.

tag: Colorado, shooting, USA shooting, Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak, Royal Gorge, olympic shooting

Fishing in Puerto Rico

This summer, our family took a trip to Puerto Rico. It is the most beautiful place I have ever visited in my life. The water was one of the prettiest things. It was a deep colored blue and was full of many different fish species. The day we got there we booked a trip with Captain Marcos Hanke. He was an experienced captain and knew the waters well. I knew we were going to have a great day.

The first thing we did was catch live bait. My dad drove the boat while Captain Marcos threw his cast net at the baitfish. We caught our bait and went to where the big fish were. The first thing we fished for were spanish mackeral and many different species of jacks. We fished for them with jigs, not live bait. The way we fished for them was by trolling and skip reeling. Skip reeling is when you cast a metal spoon that looks like bait into the bait circle and reel as soon as it hits the water so it skips.

The species we concentrated on the rest of the day was tarpon. These "silver kings" normally range anywhere from 30-70 pounds. The biggest one Captain Marcos caught was 180 pounds. The first place we fished for the fish was the sandy shorlines of the island. The fish were not there like they were supposed to be so we moved to the cliffs. The cliffs was the best spot we fished in all day. There were many jacks at first, then the tarpon came and chased them away. We started jigging and after about five minutes I hooked about a 50 pounder. i fought with him for about a minute and the third time he jumped he spit the hook out. I did not catch a tarpon the rest of the day but I will remember this experience for the rest of my life.

Deep Sea Fishing

This year while our family was on spring break, we decided to go on a deep sea fishing trip with our friends. We booked our trip with Charisma Charters. If you are looking for a quality deep sea fishing trip, I would recomend Charisma Charters every time. I like to get my beauty sleep and getting up at 4:30 did not help that cause, but it was worth it. The forty mile trip to get out to the fish took about two hours, during which i slept. We caught bait first and then about 7:30 we started fishing for the big boys.

Since we booked our fishing trip a week before snapper season, we had to throw back every red snapper we caught, but that was not the only fish we caught. We caught many different species of grouper ranging from 15 to 30 pounds. I was really hoping to catch an amberjack, but we did not see one all day.

My little brother Patrick fished mostly for trigger fish and red snapper. He had some trouble with the one grouper he caught. My mom caught a mammoth snapper but we had to throw it back. We had a friendly competition for who could catch the most fish and the biggest fish. Patrick whipped us in the most fish competition. My dad and I each caught a fish virtually the same size so we tied in that category. If hunting season is out and you are on vacation, a deep sea fishing trip would be a great way to enjoy your family, friends, and the outdoors.