Rucker's Tavern Tales: OVPMS Strikes Again !

My Camp at PMS#2

As you My Faithful Readers may recall the Ladies of the Old Virginia Primitive Riflemen held their 1st ever Ladies Only Rendezvous in September of 2012. And it was a Hoot, no it was many many Hoots! We had so much Hootin’ Hollerin” Fun that a 2nd Primitive Man-less Settlement on the last weekend of September 2013 was scheduled before we broke camp at PMS #1. Except we decided to add in shooting to the Shinning Times.

Gypsy Jane’s Camp

The Spirits of Rendezvous were even looking out for me. I put in for the PMS weekend in October of 2012 with my yearly vacation request but the dates were denied. So I put in a 2nd request 30 days before the event and glory be to the Spirits of Rendezvous I got the weekend off! WooHoo! I never though I would rejoice at having PMS! And my good Vousing buddy Gypsy Jane was even coming to PMS#2!

Friends New & Old

There were more Ladies in attendance this year and thus more lodges in camp. I got set up Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day catching up on all the news.

Chatting plus Shoe Repair

More Old Friends in Camp

Of course everyone else was doing the same with ladies moving here and there to share all their doing of the last year and their plans for this camp.

Potluck is Very Lucky as Always

Of course a camp full of Ladies is going to eat well – no burned parched corn & poorly dried jerky for us! Breakfast dinner & supper were all multi-lodge or all camp affairs.

All Camp Dinning at Rita’s Lodge

There was the ever popular wine tasting event with the inevitable aftermath – the empty wine bottles throwing a party all of their own. The Rkatsiteli (3rd from left) was my offering again this year. There were more white whines this year, a development I heartily approve and greatly enjoyed.

10 of 36 Empty Wine Bottles

The Ladies played Various and Sundry Games, most of which had me so totally engaged or laughing so hard I could not Push a Camera Shutter with any skill at all. (My games skills were even worse.)

Game Equipment - 2 Plungers & 4 TP Rolls

But the above game equipment should give one a general idea of the hilarity and general mirth which is the heart of any good game. A we ladies play very good games.

New this year was afternoon shooting for both novice and experienced shooters.

Holly Studies Her Target

Holly Takes Her Shot

Rita Takes a Shot

Yes there is a Man on the Range. We voted him an Honorary Woman. He’s a very good instructor and was most gracious in helping folks improve their technique. Muzzle loading guns reward consistency – consistent loading, consistent holding, consistent trigger pull. Having a knowledgeable coach watch you shoot helps to identify your shooting inconsistencies and thus work on eliminating them. And yes, we let him shoot too.

The Range Loading Area in Use

This wasn’t a shooting contest, just a shooting session to have fun and learn a bit too. We also had a similar area set up for hawk & knife throwing.

Of course we’re camping in the Great Outdoors and the Great Outdoors has permanent residents. These ladies were very busy with their own affairs.

The Yellow Jacket Neighbors

Fortunately I noticed the activity shortly after setting up my lodge and marked the area with a “fence” of downed wood and then notified the camp at large. No one got stung. And I’m not all that close to the nest for the photo either. My Canon SX40HS has a 24mm-840mm (35mm equivalent) zoom range. I was around 680mm for this shot. Yes its taken handheld.

Of course no rendezvous is all hurry burry activity. There’s plenty of time to just enjoy the great outdoors. The weather was most accommodating and many of use didn’t even bother setting up a fly.