One of the most amazing outdoor events is happening at the beautiful and award winning Ben Avery Shooting Range in Phoenix this weekend, the AZ Game and Fish Outdoor Expo. Two years ago, I discovered my passion for all things shooty at the Expo, and if you’re curious about hunting, fishing, archery or competitive shooting, there is no better (or cheaper) place on earth to get a taste of these challenging and rewarding sports.
So what does the FREE Outdoor Expo have to offer? Here’s a list of just some of the great things to do there, courtesy of the AZ Game and Fish Outdoor Expo Website:
This crowd-pleasing event offers dozens of exciting, hands-on outdoor recreational activities:
* Test your skill at archery;
* Take your kids to the huge catch-and-release fishing tank;
* See live wildlife demonstrations (hawks, owls, snakes, more);
* Hike a nature trail/field course;
* Try target shooting with different firearms on the range;
* Learn about outdoor skills, firearm safety and more;
* View exciting shooting demonstrations by the cowboy mounted shooters, cowboy action shooters and more;
* Attend informative workshops on fishing, hunting, wildlife conservation;
* See off-highway vehicle and boating exhibits;
* Visit with more than 100 exhibitors— sportsmen’s organizations, conservation groups, shooting clubs, wildlife agencies, and commercial vendors and exhibitors of outdoor products and services.
The event and parking are free, as well as almost all of the demos. A few of the local shooting clubs do charge a small fee (a few bucks) to cover ammo costs, but it’s still a fantastic value for anyone looking at trying out the shooting sports.
I completed my second Babes with Bullets Practical Handgun 101 camp two weeks ago, and once again, WOW, what an amazing experience!
For those not familiar with Babes with Bullets, it is an almost all inclusive (instruction, room and most meals included) two and a half day hands-on shooting class for women (sorry guys) held in several areas around the country each year. The Babes with Bullets instructors are among the top women shooters in the world. Yes, I said world. It’s the equivalent of taking golf lessons from Tiger Woods, learning to QB from John Elway or taking a NASCAR driving course with Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as your instructors.
In addition to learning safe gun handling skills and basic shooting techniques, Babes with Bullets camps also teach the art and skill of USPSA competition style shooting. What is USPSA? It’s a run-and-gun type of sport, where your score is based on how quickly you can shoot through a “stage”, as well as the accuracy of your “hits”. Here’s an example of Babes with Bullets senior instructor shooting a stage at a match in Florida this year:
Last year, I walked in to my first Babes with Bullets camp just a few months after deciding to learn to shoot, and I was still very uncomfortable holding and firing a pistol. Three days later, I walked out a safe and competent pistol shooter, comfortably drawing from a holster, and I had completed a USPSA style mini-match (where I surprisingly came in third).
And now I’m completely addicted to competitive shooting.
I jumped at the chance to attend another Babes with Bullets camp this year, and during my second camp, we once again worked on many of the physical and mental aspects of shooting. This year, I was able to work on fixing some bad habits I had picked up while improving my speed and accuracy, smoothing out and speeding up my choppy and painfully slow draw and resetting my stance, which had somehow become strangely exaggerated. We also received some great mental tips, including concentrating on getting the sights properly aligned before squeezing the trigger, rather than just trying to shoot as quickly as possible. This one was particularly important for me, as I have become very proficient at missing quickly.
And did I mention it’s only $675.00? I know that’s a pretty good chunk of change (especially in the midst of these hope-n-change times), but if you can manage it, I promise it’s worth every penny, and then some.
So whether you’ve never held a gun, or if you are an experienced shooter looking to up your game, this camp is for you. If you’re female, that is. I will be back next year for sure, and with a few more years of practice, perhaps I’ll be one of the women wearing the yellow instructor shirts.
P.S. I would like to thank Babes with Bullet’s sponsors. Their generosity makes it possible for Babes with Bullets to offer this high caliber training at well below market rates (see US Training Center or Gunsite’s prices for comparison). Smith & Wesson provides equipment, including the loaner .22 and 9mm pistols, Hi Viz donates fiber optic sights for the pistols, Safariland provides holsters, mag pouches and belts, Howard Leight provides loaner hearing protection, Otis Technology provides Elite cleaning kits for the givaway (yes, there are prizes!) and financial support, Insight Technology donates their M6X laser light for flinch and low light training, Atlanta Arms and Ammo provides 9mm ammo that campers can purchase (at very affordable prices) and USPSA helps fund the instructor airfare and promotes the camps through its magazine, Front Sight.
I’ll be getting practical pistol training from the top Women shooters in the country – Deb Ferns (founder of BWB), Kay Clark Miculek, Lisa Munson, Annette Aysen, and Deb Keehart. Words can’t describe how fortunate I feel to be getting instruction from these amazing Women.
It just so happens that the exurbanleague.com folks reside in the same metro area that we do, and when I saw their generous offer to learn to shoot on their site, Capitalist Pig and I decided to take them up on it.
Kevin from exurbanleague.com was a peach, and kind enough to meet us out at Usery Mountain Shooting Range on Friday. As a member, Kevin was able to get us a discount on the range fee (and we LOVE discounts), and it only cost us 5 bucks each.
Kevin did a fantastic job of teaching me proper range and gun saftey, and we even got some lessons on how to shoot competition practical pistol (which was very cool!). Since I’m very new to owning and using firearms, this trip was invaluable to me, and I highly recommend Kevin’s offer to anyone out there who wants to learn the PROPER way to use firearms.
The image above is the target that I shot with my recently purchased Ruger 10/22. This is the second time I’ve shot with it, and I just love it (the rifle and shooting it). I think I’m doing pretty darn well for a beginner, but you can decide for yourself.
Thanks again to Kevin for the great instruction and opportunity!
