Well this was a long time coming. With a couple of failed attempts, it was now set in stone. The inaugural Gringa Gathering was going to take place at Yowies place. A gathering of the Gringa brotherhood, along with a couple of much respected gentlemen that have been very influential in Rod's apprenticeship.
Now if your name is Moreton, you should probably stop reading now. You are not going to enjoy reading about all the fun & shenanigans , let along seeing the photos.
Blu-dog with drew his nomination, He reckons water world was going to be more fun.
Moreton deciding he would follow suit with a late withdraw, Something about staying home with the bride was far more fun than shooting a round or two with us.
So with that little ribbing out of the way. On with the story.
Saturday morning rolled around, I gave the lawn the once over before heading to Rod's to load him & his gear in, before we hit the road.
Arriving at Red Ridge, we roll in to find Bent Stick & Tea Tree (Mrs Bent stick) (A soon to be Ozbow member) the story about the name Tea Tree will come about I am sure.
Greetings were exchanged & the chairs were unfolded as the stories of hunts & shoots gone by were told whilst we waited for the rest to arrive.
A cup of Green tea or two later
& we were in full bench racing motion with the inclusion of Ferdy, Stickbow Hunter, Dennis, John & Rabbits Valery. Tall stories were being told & as with every great story, they all grow an inch or six every year Yowie's couple of dogs came to see what all the commotion was about, the white one completely unhappy with the story Ferdy had told ! He decided it was a crock & showed his disgust as he lifted his leg & emptied his bladder on Ol' Ferdy's hat, before quickly retreating with a large size grin on his fury little face, whilst Stickbow Hunter did his best cranky Dad voice.
There were a few laughs going on. Ferdy wasn't laughing for some reason, as he made way to a tap to give his old faithful hat a wash.
Yowie cooked us a feed
It wasn't long after then the bows started to be strung, the warm ups were under way. Which led to the arrows starting to fly, which in turn started the sledging.
The Start was announced, as we all followed Yowie to the first peg.
Rabbits was wounded, so was unanimously voted in as the official field photographer, occasionally mumbling something about stupid camera & passing it over for me to use.
A big thanks to Rabbits for taking as many pics as she did (489 photos of 100 things) got to love continuous shooting
But the story just isn't the same without photos.I have just selected a few out otherwise we will be jamming up your modems with a heap of pictures.
Stickbow Hunter lets loose on his first target
Now for some, it has been a while between shoots for whatever reason. So it came as a shock to all, that the very first target, had us all on the target card at least !
The next target had a few people nervous where they had parked their cars, but they all managed to survive unscathed.
Then came someone's idea of a seated target, then came the bush toilet. Nobody was left out !
Walking the trails between targets.
Nobody escaped the torment of the shutter as we shot.
With the sensational tree award looking hard to win, arrows were being broken & trophy class trees were falling like flies.
Dennis with what is yet to be confirmed, but possibly the largest photographed kill of this species in Australia !!!!!!!!!!!!! Possibly the WORLD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following photos tell a story, Ferdy shoots & if you look in the fork of the tree, you will see where the arrow passes between the fork on its way to the target.
The following photo's show Dennis lining it all up and ..................................................................................................................................................................
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Onlookers were left
Half time was called & we retreated for a cold drink & a feed. During this period some unusual species of hunter were observed.
The Australian URKLE hunter was spotted. It was just lucky for me, I had the camera handy & photo's were captured.
With Dennis leading the Gringa Tree award at the first break, he decided to step aside & talked Jeff into a retreat to allow another fierce fight for the trophy to begin.
Handshakes done & the dust settling from their retreat, intermission was over & the quivers were donned once again. The 2nd half was about to begin.
Well who would have thought, once the front runner had stepped aside from the tree award race, the competition would be so fierce. The arrows flew, like the Indian's played cricket. The sound of wood breaking was also very similar to India batting this summer. It could be heard splintering throughout the venue. Some arrows were lost, others multiplied. 1 arrow would become three.
Like all good shoots, it had to come to an end, target number 50-odd was shot. It was time to put the feet up & continue the tales that were started earlier.
The rain set in & the final Swinging ball shoot was not shot. Which meant the final scores could not be tallied until tomorrow.
One thing was sure though, the trophy for The inaugural Gringa Tree award was hotly contested. But a winner did emerge & the presentation was made on Saturday night.
With the Guest of Honour slightly liquored up, he presented the First ever GRINGA TREE AWARD to ........
........ Drum Roll
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Tea tree (Mrs Bent stick)
With heaps of laughs attention then turned to a nick name for Mrs Bent Stick. Plenty were offered & many were shunned. But it was down to Tea tree or Wattyl. With Tea tree seeming to stick ! lol
The laughs & stories continued until we all called it quits & hit the hay.
The rain continued all night, but come shooting time on Sunday. It cleared long enough to get under way.
First up was the left over novelty event from Saturday. The swinging ball shoot.
How's ol' Rabbits form, she shoots 6 arrows for the weekend, 5 of them for the swinging ball & takes out the swinging ball award !
A photo of the highly contested trophy's.
With the swinging ball shot & won, allowing Yowie to rig the scores to determine the winners. It was presentation time, so we could then shoot the final Freestyle round.
A little shy due to his now much lower beer consumption, the Big fella presented the final trophy's.
Yowie reading the results.
Then the victory dance when he wins
With the formalities all cleaned up, it was time to shoot the final freestyle round. Same coarse as yesterday, but shoot it from where you want. Some targets were missed out, some were shot from far away, some were shot from a near. But it was a riot, pick a silly shot or an easy shot, the fun facture was once again high !
Just a few randoms from Sunday.
The sky once again opened up & the rain was soon belting down. A quick walk back for the safety of the tarp was in order for a couple of photos & wait for another break in the weather.
About half of the broken arrows made it back for a photo, the rest still litter Yowies range !
With the weather not relenting, the time came to pack up wet & head for home. But nobody left feeling disappointed. Plans were hatched & the Gringa gathering look like it may poke it's head up again soon, although at another venue !
A huge thanks to everyone who came. It was a great weekend.
A huge thanks to Yowie for hosting us, all his hard work on the range, the trophy's & of coarse feeding us.
A huge thanks to Rabbits for taking photo's.
I am sure there is heaps I have forgotten. So feel free to chime in & add your stories & tales.
No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of this tale. Although it was written with some tongue in cheek & a good sense of humour.
