Waiting For Prey 3: The Meeting

By: Ken Leamy "Lighthorse"

 What a beautiful morning! Sitting on the porch sipping on a cup of coffee. The sun coming up, birds singing in the woods, sky a light blue and not a cloud to be seen. Summer, got to love the smell of pines. Love looking across the yard into the woods and just relax.

But the phone breaks the silence. Its Doug, “Got a mission for you” he says. “Well lets have it, where we going” I reply. “Not we, just you, I’ll send you the coordinates. This will be a little tricky” he states. “Yeah, aren’t they all! What’s the target?” I ask. He replies “There is a parking area, I’ll send the info, you will have to hike in about two miles. Take the trail, about three quarters of a mile in I am told there will be a bolder with a small tree growing out of it. There should be a fork in the trail to the right but not very noticeable. Take that the rest of the way”. “Wait, What? What the heck is out there?” I ask. “It will be simple” he reply’s “BUT here is the tricky part, intel has it there will be three, meeting at some kind of camp out there, and the latest lintel has it that your target will be wearing red, the others will be in blue and black. DO NOT eliminate any others!! ONLY the one in red. You need to get in get your target and get out without being seen or heard. The only sound should be your shot”. “Are you kidding” I interject “Why”. He comes back with “To scare the others, that’s all I know and all you need to know”. I give in and say “OK, when” and his response is short and quick “Today of course”. So with a last look across the yard I head in to get ready.

OK so what to take? I’m thinking I’ll take my MAC30 and and head on up. This mission sounds interesting to say the least. So I look at such a beautiful day finish my coffee check out the MAC30 to be sure its ready. On it I have the Sun Optics 4-14x44FFP, good, that will help with the low light in the woods. I load it and some rounds in the car, set the GPS and go.

Driving down the coast I get to wondering about the mission, what are they doing in the woods, why only the one target, why not, why, why not. To many questions, I see my turn off and find the parking area Doug mentioned. Looking around I don’t see anyone else here. So I take the MAC30 out of its case and head into the woods.

The trail seems well used so its easy to follow, now to find a darn rock with a tree in it. Sounds crazy right! Its amazing how the light seems to filter through the trees. It would be a nice day to sit back and soak in some sun, but…….. wait, What the…. a rock with a tree, are you kidding, nice, the rock split right in two as the tree grew out of it. Now to find the trail on the right. I see some scuffing in the dirt so I follow and see the makings of a slight trail. OK now to start being a bit stealthy, according to GPS I have a little over a mile to go. This trail seems to do some winding, crossed a creak that might be deep enough to have a few Brookies in it, a deer or two off to the left. These woods seem so alive. I here something in the distance, maybe not to far, sounds like a generator so I push on.

I’m heading through a shallow valley, the generator is a bit louder now, I am thinking they must be just ahead so eyes open. From where I am it looks like the woods open up a little so I move ahead cautiously, ahead I hear some noise. A generator to the left some talking to the right. I get closer, there in the opening by two trees there they are but I wont have a clear shot from here, I need a better position.

The generator yes that looks like it may be higher ground and it would mask my shot. I work my way up and around slowly getting closer to the generator, looks like it may be a good twenty feet above, I start to head over……Drop behind a bush…What was that I heard something I know I did! Well maybe felt it before I heard it. Someone else is here, intel was off I’d say. There near the generator wearing green, I cant shoot it, the generator is loud enough to mask any sound so I sneak up and wack its head, I look around and see a deadfall on the ground, so I pick it up and lay it on him so he’ll think it fell and knocked him out.

All right that’s taken care of, now to set up for my target. Still can’t quit wrap my head around my instructions but orders are orders. Oh, Hey this is perfect, I have a clear sight to the three of them. they are standing near two trees, cant make out what they are saying they are a ways off and the sound travels well but not enough at this distance. I think there must be some kind of argument. I take out my SIG and range them at 83 yards, with about a drop of 18.5  feet. I have a nice spot here near their camp and generator, so I pull the MAC30 around set the bipod. As I scope them intel was right, one in black one in blue and one in red, my target. I look around, no wind so my scope is already zeroed at 100 so a little hold under will do. OK line up the shot, make it quick, normally center mass and go, but they want to leave a message, so why not a head shot, they'er not moving around or running. Yeah lets do that, I line up touch the trigger gently sque………… WTHeck………. Where………. What……… WHO!!! Damn the one in Blue just went flying back hit the ground and flipped over spilling his life juice everywhere, CALM FOCUS Squeeze off the shot before the target runs, Moved, darn, sent it, no time for head shot, in the gut he flipped over head on the ground legs up the tree, his life pooling around his head, strange the way he landed. OMG who fired the other shot, came from my left, don’t see anyone. The generator is making to much noise can’t hear anything. Got to get out of here, turn and head back to the car as quietly as I can, shooter may still be around. I make it back to the parking area, no one around, mine is the only car, I scan the area I don’t see anything out of the ordinary so I get in my car. I’m going to Doug’s, I need to know what happened. I go over it in my head, I can’t believe I missed the other shooter. the mission was blown to heck only one still standing and I bet hes still standing there.

At Doug’s I walk in “what the hell man, the mission was compromised”. Doug turns “what do you mean compromised?” I proceeded to explain what happened, as he stands there smiling he says “oh that, yeah, I sent Rick after the one in blue, didn’t think you would mind. Looks like all turned out OK”, “yeah how about a little heads up next time” I retort. I head to the door, open it, I turn and say “Doug, someone should go out there and pick up that Pepsi Zero, we scared it so much I think it peed it’s pants”. As I head home I can’t help but wonder, what was Mountain Dew doing out there, was he spying on Pepsi and Coke? Was Pepsi and Coke trying to eliminate Zero?…………………………

Waiting For Prey 2: The Hunt

by: Ken Leamy "Lighthorse"

 Its early morning, the sun is just rising. Standing here with a cup of coffee in my hand, I receive a text. Target Acquired is all it said. I know Doug is on his way over. Doug is my spotter, but more than that he is my friend. I know he will have the intel, so I have a cup ready for him when he arrives. Sure enough, there’s the knock on the door. “Coffee” I say, “sure, here’s the target” as he hands me a picture and grabs his cup. I look at it and put it in my dope book asking “you have the location”. He says yes and gives me the coordinates. As I look everything over I say “I’ll grab the MAC30BR” I haven’t shot the MAC on a hunt before so I am thinking its about time I test her out. The MAC30BR is made by Inovairtech and at .30 has a good accuracy rating. “what do you have for backup?” I ask “I brought my Bobcat” says Doug. “It looks like we have a 2 hour drive and the woods are dark, I’ll grab the dark green ghillie and we can get going. You have yours?” I ask. He looks at me and laughs. “What do you think?” saying as he walks out the door.

 Two hours later were at the base of the trail, we grab our stuff, through my Drag Bag on and get ready to head out. According to the intel we have a two mile hike through the woods and another mile upstream. The sky is clear, no clouds, slight breeze, as we are walking through the woods the sound and smell of the forest is enchanting. You can hear the finches, and sparrows chirping in the background, there are small animal trails cutting across our trail. The smell of the pine trees, and once in a while a musky smell wefts by making you wonder if your being watched, the color of the Fall leaves are very enticing. The trail looks well used, we are slowly climbing and I here something up ahead, not sure but it sounds like water, off to our right there is a stream, so we start following it up.

 After a short distance upstream Doug holds his hand up, we squat down, he says were getting close, gives me a little more intel on where the target might be. I look around and notice its getting steeper on each side of the stream so we stay on the high side. I figure if our target is up stream, I want to be above it. A little farther along the sound of water is getting louder and the sides are steeper. Up ahead through the brush and trees I can just see it, a waterfall. We are steadily moving higher, I am going to feel this workout for a few days. You can feel it in the air now, the mist from the waterfall. as we come around the next clump of brush it is there in all its glory. The sound, the spray, the beauty of it all around us.

 We’ve been moving slowly and crouching for so long that I feel some relief when Doug whispers he believes we are here. I look at him, then at the chasm of space in front of us. As I kneel there the waterfall to my left, about a 200’ drop to the pool below and 90 to 150 yards across to the other side. So now I need to find a perch of some sort so that I can stay under cover and still see all around me. I am up against some bushes slowly looking around and I see it. Up there closer to the falls, a flat area with overhanging brush, If I can get in there I can have a good view of the other side, the bottom and some of this side. I signal Doug and we make our way up. As we are moving I have not seen any sign of our target. There is not very many places to hide, this may be tough.

 We made it to the outcropping, there is just enough room for the both of us. I pull off my Drag Bag, throw out my pad, pull my MAC30BR out and set the bipod to low. For a scope I have a Sun Optics 4-14x44FFP, very clear for here. the light is very dim because of all the trees, ferns and brush. The waterfall puts out a lot of mist so it has dense growth all around us. So I start scanning, looking in every nook and cranny. Doug says the target is here somewhere, he feels it, so the search is on.

 Searching the other side scanning for anything that looks out of place, I spot a squirrel, his lucky day, he’s not the target. There, a little higher up, a movement, something, no, just a Fox. Keep scanning, its there, it has to be, but where is it hiding. As we lie there a slight breeze swirls the mist in the air, a feeling of dampness, still scanning, the target is being very elusive. There seems to be many small ledges and outcroppings with brush on them. The target could be anywhere.

 Wait… there, on the other side, why didn’t I see it sooner it looks like a small ledge. There in the brush, I think, maybe. I’m looking hard through the scope there is a branch with leaves on it slightly swaying back and forth, something behind it. I point it out to Doug and ask for a range check. he just smiles and says its not working. and he didn’t see anything. Yeah, Right, well, I am sure I saw something, so I keep watching. I know what I saw, it just didn’t look right, it had to be our target. So I am focused on the last spot where I thought I saw it, and then the branch wiggled, no, it was over a little. Yes there, I see it again, I know I’m on it. Darn whats the yardage Doug’s rangefinder is whacked. Got to guess, nothing to size with, guessing 90-95 yards. Still aiming at that spot, I know its there, My eye is getting a little fuzzy, come on blink stay on it, MOVE BRANCH MOVE…. come on, its there. my finger on the trigger, cartridge in the chamber, the darn branch just needs to move so I can see it. I’m ready, I’m focused, staying calm, I think I have the range, just give me a slight breeze, just enough to move that leaf. I’m sure its behind that one darn leaf. MOVE darn you, OK, come on, stay calm….and there, MOVED……. YES……..take a breath, let it out, hold, squeeze the trigger gently……. GO MAN GO……. the leaf went flying, wheres the target? I heard the thump, I heard the hiss of its last breath. I’m still looking through the scope, my heart is thumping, I saw the leaf fly, the target was right behind it. I saw it for just a fraction of a second, I know it was there. What? Did I miss, no I cant believe it, OK stay calm, maybe it moved at the last moment, no, I don’t believe it. It was there, it was, I think… I think it stuck its tongue out at me.

 Well the only way to know is go over there and find out. So we backed out of our spot, packed up and made our way to the top side to cross the stream. We worked our way down to where I saw the ledge begin and made our way to the little out cropping where the target was hiding. it turns out that the ledge was a bit wider than I figured. as we come around the last clump of bushes, there it was lying there, three feet back from where it was standing, a .30 JSB hole straight through its belly, its life force still flowing out the wound, the shot was through and through, feeling bad, this wasn’t good, I was aiming for its head, I wanted it to be quick. That 20oz Mountain Dew will never give someone a sugar rush again.

 I look at Doug, “Lets get out of here, its a long way back”, in my mind thinking, I don’t like to miss. Doug says “Hey, dude, dead is dead”, I say “ yeah but his family will know he suffered”

Waiting For Prey

by: Ken Leamy "Lighthorse"

I wake up to a new Fall day. Grab a cup of coffee and look out the window to a beautiful day. I pick out one of my favorite air rifles, the Condor Ext. and a shooters mat and head out the door. The soft breeze and pine scent hit me and all is right. The temperature is around 60 and the sky is clear, my hopes are up. I head out back through the woods to a large field, I find my favorite high spot, flipped out the mat and set up to wait.

Off in the distance a line of trees about 200yds, a large clump of bushes around 100yds. The field is full of tall grass, a few wild flowers scattered around, a bolder here and there. Lying here scanning for movement, just grass and leaves drifting, a bird teasing me in the distance. And then what was that out the corner of my eye? I keep scanning, THERE…! again, a glint, a movement, a wiggle,a squirm, damn, I think……, something. Wait….. , I see something maybe 100yds +or-. A little shimmer, a glint, a movement? I focus, I’m using my Sun Optics 4-14x44 so not sure, but maybe, yes maybe there was movement there. I continue to scan the area, and then a little gust, a slight breeze, the grass moves and again a glint, a glimmer, trigger gently squeezed, pellet flies, and THERE IT GOES………., flying into the air, spinning, twirling, gasping, hitting the ground.

HEART THUMPING…, I calmly sneak down quietly as not to scare off any other prey. I have that driving urge to see the carnage, to enjoy the final moments, to enjoy the feeling that envelops you, the high of the one shot one kill.

As I come upon the area, looking, quietly searching for the remains, I finally see the resting place of a lonely empty Bud can with a devastating .257 hole through its head.

Agggggg the HORROR, the HORROR !!!!!

Ever so slowly I make my way back to that favorite high spot and hope for another to dare cross my path. Ahhh the scent of pine in the morning……..

<p>Art from Falcon VonLeamy<\p><p>Lighthorse

<p>Art from Falcon VonLeamy<\p><p>Lighthorse

<p>Art from Falcon VonLeamy</p><p>“Lighthorse”

Art from Falcon VonLeamy

“Lighthorse”

Art from Falcon VonLeamy

“Lighthorse”

Art from Falcon VonLeamy

“Lighthorse”

Art from Falcon VonLeamy

“Lighthorse”

FX Bobcat .25 Air rifle

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This is a cartridge based Airgun

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The MAC30BR is an airgun that uses a cartridge that you fill with air.The MAC30BR is made by Inovairtech LLC. in Nevada.

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