The campout to Wisconsin this weekend was a great success. It was loads of fun with camping, nightime Lazer Tag, service for the camping merit badge and shooting sports. Last minute events came up for several boys, so the group dwindled down to just three boys and two leaders. This meant more time shooting for everyone, so it was a great time! Click below to read more about the trip.

We arrived at Bro. Eugene Smith's farm in Wisconsin about 8:30pm and proceeded to setup camp in an area surrounded by large trees. A large pile about 10 feet tall of cleared brambles, bushes and tree limbs was in the center of the camp. After we setup the tents, we applied some flint and steel to the pile and were rewarded with a huge bonfire to enjoy. The rest of the evening was filled with running around in the dark playing Lazer Tag. Everyone's tactics got better as the night wore on and the last games were spent stalking around in the black night trying to carefully find targets without being seen. Even though this as the least amount of shooting, it made for the most fun.

In the morning, everyone slept in a bit before starting up breakfast, a camp-style feast of grease bacon and eggs that was surely not health-oriented, but tasted great. After breakfast, we worked for an hour and a half on service for the camping merit badge. Everyone collected many scratches and scrapes as we cleared bushes and trees along a fence line. The brambles were incredibly strong and thorny, so it was hard work. The boys did a great job and we halled the branches over to the fire pile for the next group to burn.

Finally, after the service project, we got to the highlight of the campout, the shooting sports. Bro. Pier and Bro. Baker brought many different guns for everyone to shoot. The boys got to try out everything from .22 rifles, to lever actions, scoped hunting rifles and even a .223 AR-15. The had a great time trying everything out and everyone did a great job following safe procedures. After rifle shooting we decided to skip lunch because the flys from the nearby dairy cows had too thick for anyone to feel good about eating food with them around. So we moved on to shotgun shooting in a nearby field.

Bro Baker brought his clay pigeon thrower. Although it had a little difficulty (many, many broken clay pigeons) the boys had a great time. They all traded between the over-under, pump, and auto shotgun. This was more great fun and the boys did a great job at shooting. After we were done, the boys scoured the field for unbroken clay pigeons to take home as souveniers. Being the end fo the day, we went back to our camp and packed up to head for home. On the way out, a quick stop at Culver's was a nice treat at the end and filled everyone up from their missed lunch.

All in all, another successful campout. Our thanks to Bro Baker for arranging this trip. Pictures will be posted soon.