NRA Women’s Wilderness Escape Trip Report at the NRA’s Whittington Center, Raton, NM - It was a blast!
Equipment bought or donated just for us:
• Mathews Genesis™ Pro Bow
• In line black powder rifles
• Remington 597 Rifle 22LR Pink Camo W/TRUGLO sites (we had scopes on ours)
• FNH PS90 using C-more red dot optics
• S&W 22 revolver
• FNH Five-seveN Pistol - 5.7x28mm ammunition
• Escort shotguns in 20 and 12 gauge
• Cabelas supplied all of the shooting vests
• Other stuff: turkey, duck, goose, and predators calls, tents, sleeping pads, and flashlights
Day 1 - registration and cabin assignment
Day 2 - Day – Archery, paper and 3-d targets
Night – Reuse to be a Victim
Day 3 - Day – Black powder shooting paper and steel
Night – LaserShot
Day 4 - Day – Pistol, .22 revolvers in the AM and Five-SeveN in the afternoon
Night – Survival Class
Day 5 - Day – Rifle, .22 Remingtons in AM and PS90 in afternoon shooting paper and then steel
Night – Long range shooting from prone and sitting 308 caliber.
they had a 1168 yard target set up I was two for two on it!
Day 6 - Day – Shotgun shot skeet and sporting clays.
I was the only one to hit one of the mini clays on the sporting clays range.
Night – Turkey clinic (habitat and calls)
Day 7 - Cowboy action shooting
Night – campout and survival camping
Day 8 - Geo caching and tree stand archery
Night – closing ceremonies
This was a wonderful experience. The weather was perfect. It was 80-90 with very little humidity during the day. The temperature at night would drop into the 40’s and 50’s. In the afternoons we got an occasional thunder storm. The scenery was gorgeous.
The Center was teeming with wildlife. We would wake up to bears, turkeys, or deer outside our cabins every morning. In fact we had to stop shooting several times during the day to let the wild life cross the shooting ranges. I had bears show up three times while I was shooting! No I wasn’t tempted to shoot them with anything but a camera.
The event was set up to accommodate women with no to moderate experience in the shooting sports. Women with expertise in the shooting sports found it fun to shoot with other women and an opportunity to try different firearms. There really was something for everyone. I found my biggest complaint was that there too much packed into our week. You really want to be in pretty good shape to go. I am glad I was because I would get to shoot the ammo that other ladies were too tired to shoot!
A truly first class event and one I hope to someday go back as a volunteer.
