I just got back from the SHOT Show. It is expected that I will write about all of the cool new guns, ammo, knives and clothing that I saw and am going to test out this year.
And I will be testing and writing about a lot of the cool gear that I saw last week.
I’ve got to test out some of the Umarex guns. Their Side Lever Gauntlet II and their new bowfishing air gun.
How cool is that? And Henry’s has a single shot 12 ga. and 410 for turkey hunting. Sounds crazy to me but they say with the new Bismuth shot that a .410 can now be used. I think that I’m going to be invited to the Oklahoma Governors Turkey Hunt. I think that I’ll use the Henry .410.
Then I’ve got to take an Anderson’s Manufacturing rifle on a Texas hog hunt. And I’ve got some cool Spyderco knives to test.
And I finally met Candy at WE Knives and have to do a hunt with some of their knives. And Karen introduced me to Outdoor Edge.
Raquel is plenty happy about her new pink cap pistol. Ready to go varmint hunting with granddaddy.
They have two knives and a combo set that I want to test. Then I’ve got to run up and cover the new Buck Knives new public store opening in April.
Then there are a lot of cool clothing items. I visited with 5.11. Always have liked their clothing. Then LOWA wants me to test some of their boots. And had a meeting with Under Armour.
Then I’ve got to trick out a Ruger 10/22 with a cool new stock that LUTHER-AR manufactures.
But none of the above items is what we’re going to talk about today. Nope. We’ve got way more important items.
My youngest daughter that is my backpacking/fishing buddy just had a little girl. I was zipping up and down the aisles trying to work deals and passed the PARRIS TOYS booth.
I was in a hurry but after I got 2-3 steps past the booth I stopped and went back. I immediately thought of Little Bit (Raquel) unarmed and helpless back home. I needed to rectify that problem.
Dad got us kids a BB gun when we were six, shotgun when we were 10 and a .22 at 12. I started shooting my sisters shotgun at seven.
I couldn’t even reach the trigger and had to hold it under my arm like Granny on the Beverly Hillbilly’s.
I told Michael Augon that ran the PARRIS TOYS booth of my dilemma and that I thought that we could make a fun article. He wholeheartedly agreed and threw me a pink cap-shooting six shooter to take to Raquel.
I’m on Pro-staff with a lot of companies and sponsored by a lot more so why not start Raquel off on the right foot at a young age?
I told Michael that I’d take the six-shooter home to her and get some pictures to him. Who knows, he may want to put her on Pro-staff.
Granted, 3-months might seem a bit young to some of you but come on-we live out West! Until she gets an agent, we’ll probably just start off slow and have him supply her all of the caps that she needs to keep the outlaws around the High Desert country on the run.
So, if you happen to walk into the middle of a bank robbery and everyone’s life is at risk. Things look bleak! You’re in dire straits.
Then suddenly a cowgirl comes whip, riding and spurring into the middle of the melee on a Shetland pony, it’s not Annie Oakley. It’s someone a lot more formidable. It is Raquel Chappell to the rescue.
She’ll get a big reward for capturing Jesse James VIII and have enough money to start-up her long desired Wild West Show with the reward money that she collects.
And you’ll be able to say that you were there on that historic/epic day and saw it all.
And it was all possible because Grandaddy stopped at the PARRIS TOYS booth and got her a pink six-shooter at the ripe ole age of 3-months old!
(If you’re interested, I’ll be giving a talk at the Payette Nazarene Wild Game Feed on Feb. 10.
Call 208-642-3139 for tickets and details. Who knows? Annie “Raquel” Oakley may be there signing autographs)!
Tom Claycomb is a hunting enthusiast and writes a bi-monthly column for Great Basin Sun.