Steve Merlo: Help to raise money by shooting clays
| Thursday, May 21 2009 10:31 PM
Last Updated Thursday, May 21 2009 10:31 PM
The Bakersfield Chapter of the International Footprint Association will hold a sporting clays shoot May 30 at 5-Dogs shooting range. The IFA is an organization of law enforcement officials, safety departments and civilians. The group raises money to support charitable projects and organizaions such as the Special Olympics, Kern Hospice, Tehachapi Equestrian Program, Optimal Hospice, American Cancer Society and the Kern County Sheriff's and Bakersfield Police Memorials and does it in a fun manner.
Fun and games will highlight the event, including a gun raffle and shooter's poker. Contact Mike Pasaglia at 325-3767 or 747-7822 or Ron Phillips at 706-2010.
Remember Memorial Day
A long time ago, in a jungled valley of a country far, far away, I woke one morning to find myself staring into the glistening eyes of a giant black bear sitting only eight feet away. He seemed unconcerned with my hunting buddies and me camping on his home turf, but nonetheless, managed to send shivers through our senses that he had penetrated our perimeter so easily. With a derisive snort, he stood on all fours and ambled off, somehow missing each of the logger defenses we had painstakingly posted the evening before.
Later that same day, I was fascinated by the pair of mongooses (mongeese?) that played otterlike within inches of the blind I had dug and hid in to keep away some seriously unwanted guests. The animals both eyed me curiously from a range of only a few feet, sometimes standing tall to get a better view of a creature I'm certain they had never before seen. Quick as can be, they would dart out to claim spoonfuls of canned meat thrown to them, and wrestled each other for every tidbit. There were two kinds of cobras around, but I didn't worry about either.
Later that week, a huge tiger, perhaps 400 pounds of striped cat, stalked within mere yards of where we lay, drawn perhaps by the copperish smell of dried blood from a lot of camp meat. I've always regretted not seeing the beast like several of my friends did, but I did witness the huge pug marks where he had traipsed. There were other types of tigers around, too, but they were the friendly type and posed no threat to us.
Forty years ago, our government saw fit to send several million young men and women to a place called Vietnam. As soldiers, we fought for American ideals, doing our sworn duty to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Not many of us enjoyed our year's sojourn to Asia, but lots of us tried to make the trip a little saner by doing some of the things we did before we left home. I would love to return to the once war-ravaged country, to shed the vestiges of war like so many others have, but also to enjoy the hunting and fishing opportunities I know exist there.
Along the South China Sea, thousands of wild pigeons gathered along the cliffs where my company commander and I would take an hour here and there and hunt them. We fired double-aught buck out of the point-man's pump shotgun and gave our smallish take to the grateful locals, like we did in Mexico and Argentina. I've often wondered what kind of shoots we would have had with cases of regular bird shot.
I managed to trade an electric fan for a fishing pole when I was in the rear. My father sent me some line and hooks, and I'd catch fairy pompano, barracuda, striped bluefish, bonefish, Asian pargo and zillions of other species on the beach just below my unit's headquarters. A lot of the fish were so big that I was simply outgunned, and I'd like to try it again with the proper tackle.
Quail and doves were everywhere, as were parrots and wild ducks, including some beautiful exotics I'd like to get my hands on for my waterfowl collection. In the mountains, bear, deer, wild boar, palm civets, tigers and goats were plentiful, and the spectacular birdlife was a joy to hear and behold. It was a shame that this beautiful country so rife with wildlife had to be so maimed by the horrors of war.
It is also such a shame that so many young men and women died there, but that's what happens in war. People die, and only when one has seen the absolute stupidity and the absurdity of people shooting at people, trying to kill each other over an ideal or piece of ground, does one get a grip on it. That I would like to return to that piece of ground so far away to hunt and fish does not dampen my concern for what happened there so many years ago, and I would like to feel that final release. Hunting and fishing in a country that at one time tried to kill me and did kill some of my friends would go a long way towards assuaging those wounds.
This weekend, this Memorial Day weekend, while people in America spend many recreational hours in the outdoors fishing and camping, take a moment to remember those honored soldiers that died in every war protecting that way of life, and especially those that didn't make it back from Vietnam. I will never let them be forgotten, nor should you.
Hunter education
A Hunter education course is being offered by Kern Shooting Sports on May 30-31. To enroll, call 325-8725.
