All ye who didn't come, eat your hearts out. You missed a fine time, great weather, great folks to hang and shoot with, great food, and me screwing up absolutely
everything I tried to do in the Plainsman match - I couldn't have done a better job of messing up if I'd been trying: wrong size caps on the one pistol, forgot to bring caps for my musket to the line, forgot to clear the oil out of the nipple before I loaded it, had to remove the nipple and dribble some powder underneath it... and on and on. I started getting ticked and then I realized what the hey, it was my own fault for not practicing enough and not coming prepared. I chuckled over it all weekend. Next year, oh, yes, next year. My main problem was not knowing what I'd need - I brought lots of stuff I didn't need and not nearly enough of what I did, which confused me (not hard to do in any case) and made me dither and rush. No one laughed out loud, not where I could hear it, anyway.
That was, by the way, the first time I'd ever fired a projectile from a musket. Dang, I
liked it! It beats shooting blanks six ways from Sunday. I may have to join the N-SSA now if only to get in on the discussions. I'm sorry I had to leave early, I wanted everyone to shoot my musket and to try out Sgt. Drydock's Spencer. By next year I'll have my own Spencer and I
will be prepared to shoot cap 'n' ball and cartridge guns with the right ammunition and implements.
Traditional reenacting has definitely lost a lot of its remaining luster for me. I've been pretty inactive for a while now, only participating on the forums most of the time. Now it seems even more boring. Actually shooting real lead from these guns at steel plates is a whole new and exciting thing. For that matter, shooting smokeless is going to be boring from now on. But that's getting off the subject.
Many many many thanks to Steve,
Madame Kayleen, Kelly (Kellie?) and the ladies who cooked up the great grub and cleaned up after. Tess and I had a
wonderful time, we really enjoyed the whole trip for many reasons, and seeing Prairie Fire Range and meeting all the fine folks will always be a terrific memory. We're already planning on doing it again next year and have the lessons learned to make it even better.