As we are all used to now, Monday morning started off with a test on Arthropods and Ecology, which we studied last week, along with some more sights and sounds. We then split up again into two groups for either Track & Sign with Colin Patrick or for rifle handling. This week it was my turn to work with the rifles, so we had a lecture on everything rifle related in the afternoon while the other group went tracking.
On Tuesday we started our rifle dry runs and drills to get us used to handling the rifle and to practice the exercises we will be assessed on for our Advanced Rifle Handling (ARH) in the coming months. For some of us who had never even held a firearm before this was a big step, as there is a lot required of us for ARH including some lightning-fast reflexes. This is necessary if you are leading a group on a trail guide on foot and you suddenly encounter a dangerous animal charging right at you… scary stuff! Luckily, we’ve got a lot more time to practice though before we get assessed.
Trevor and Vaughan gave us a treat on Wednesday morning when we did some practice runs of the ARH exercises using a .22 rifle, whereas we need to use a minimum calibre of .375 for guiding. All of us did amazingly well, so much so that we were allowed to fire one shot from the .375 rifle to get us used to the kick and how it handles. The reason we practice more with the .22 is that the ammunition is probably nearly four times cheaper than the .375, which makes a hell of a difference when you have 18 students all firing lots of rounds! It still helps us go through the motions though and gives us some practice with our aim.
Thursday came around and it was our SASSETA competency tests to ensure we hold a valid certificate to use firearms for ourselves and on behalf of a business. This is something we’ll need if we are to get our ARH and operate with a rifle whilst field guiding. Luckily, we passed all of the tests and went on to pass the practical assessment on Friday where we had to shoot 20 rounds from a .22 rifle at a target 15m away. Now I’m not making excuses, but my eye protection was so scuffed that I actually couldn’t see the target while I was aiming, so considering I was shooting blind I’m not too upset about my shot placement!
On Saturday morning, the tracking group finished their assessments while we studied, and they all got a level! Ryan got a Level 2 so I’m super proud of him and we’re both going to try to build up our knowledge to take the test again at some point after the course. As everyone had done so well, we celebrated hard at Mahlahla in the evening, with lots of pool and card games being played. We got home and as usual got up to some weird and hilarious activities late into the night, meaning a lot of us were suffering on Sunday. It ended up being a very lazy day of recovery for everyone, which I think was very much needed!
Next week we are doing some 4x4 driving which sounds like it should be awesome, so keep an eye out to see how we all get on!
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