Mid-August 2022 update
As La Nina continues to stay with us we’re still powering through the mud at Dunmore as best as possible. It’s been hard on the equipment with the Range Cat and the Red Loader on sick leave as we try to stay on track.
The weather is one of the constant features of our updates and continues to push our timelines back. With so much water already around it takes about 1 week to recover from a shower. While this means there is plenty of mud around there has only been one vehicle bogged in the past month (touch wood) and that was an 8-ton smooth-tyre dozer.
Snakes alive
Despite the cold weather and occasional showers, the local snake population has grown to 4 confirmed sightings. This includes a red-bellied black snake (on the eastern fence), a brown snake (at 1 mile), and 2 spotted pythons. One of the pythons climbed aboard the Colorado when we were working on the ELR platform and was only discovered as we were packing up.
The brown snake was spotted on Lyle’s Knob after we’d previously seen skins around so there is an active campaign to rename the spot Snake Mountain.
Range development
Over the past few months, we’ve been lucky to host Scott from Practical Rifle Training, the crew from Precision Rimfire Australia, and more guys named Jason than we can count. With each visit, we’ve gained important feedback and made changes to the layouts to suit fixed and practical firing positions.
Range Cat on sick leave
After some mighty efforts, the Range Cat (D6R) has had to return to Toowoomba for repairs after she suffered an upset engine. Once again we owe a big thank you to Excavation Equipment for recovering her on a boggy weekend around 4km from the main gate with an excavator and 4 keen guys.
500m
The final remaining stumps are on the chopping block as we (once again) wait for the ground to dry out. With the Range Cat on leave, it’s up to our trusty loader to keep up the hard work tough it is also waiting for a new diff to stay strong.
1000 yard
This month will see the 1000-yard range host it’s first Practical Rifle Training field day so efforts have been in overdrive to even out some of the spots downrange.. Stay tuned for updates at the end of the month on the field day results.
ELR area
Like Obi-Wan, we’ve taken the high ground and marked out the ELR pads for the 1-mile, 3km, and 4km sections. Each of these will have an elevated platform around 1m off the deck and 4m deep to accommodate the longest longarms. While not as boggy the days still swing between rainy on Saturday and sunny on Sunday. This is where we picked up a 5-foot hitchhiker who let fly a spray of snake pee when being removed for failing to wear a seatbelt.
Historical shot.
The photo below shows the track running through the middle of the site. Where the road disappears on the right side of the photo is the ridge that runs towards the left and forms the backstops of the 500m and 1000-yard range.
