Took my son out to play “Spot the Sniper”

[nikerret]

I posted this a couple of months ago, in some of the other forums I’m on. I think the guys on here may appreciate it, too. If the pics fubar, I’ll try to get them reposted.

In March, was warm, but windy, here. Great sunshine with 20-30 MPH sustained winds and 40-50 MPH gusts. A great day to kill some time, in nature. My son is REALLY into snipers, military stuff, and being outdoors. For Christmas, he got a ghillie suit and a “Marine” camo set. Since then, he’s put a lot of miles on it, in our small suburban yard. We are only about twenty miles from the edge of a small Federal Wildlife Refuge.

We started by comparing different camo patterns, in different types of terrain and vegetation. Here is one of the pictures, just for reference:

Left to right:

Plain coyote tan hydration pack, ACU pattern hydration pack, Multicam hydration pack, desert camo hydration pack (behind the ghillie pants), the boy wearing Marpat-style pants and his ghillie shirt and hat.

Here he is, hastily hiding:

We moved into the trees and played “Spot the Sniper”. Here was his first attempt:

Zoomed in a little:

Not great….he didn’t have time to put on the head cover. His next attempt was better:

I didn’t get a picture of his next couple. Each time, he applied the lessons and his best hide was very good. I didn’t see him until I was around ten feet from him. Of course, this is a far cry from setting a FFP, but it’s good practice and age/skill appropriate to be able to disappear.

While we were out there, we also practiced avoiding and exploiting track traps. We went over the scat and tracks we saw, mostly deer and coyote. We also worked on when to use or avoid trails and how to look for signs of booby traps.

Overall, it was a ton of fun and he did great.

Here are a couple more, since it’s hard to see in the pics:

*What the pictures show and how it appeared to the in-person eye are not the same. Pics are just for reference.

 

[Ranchhand]

Better than video games. Nice to spend time with your son.

 

[brian1]

i'm curious how old he is

 

[Kalthoff]

That is superb parenting.

 

[Longshot231]

My friend's 13-year-old son likes wearing his ghillie suit in appropriate surroundings to refine his skill sets.

I told my friend that I know a patch of woods that he can go hide in. It's several dozen acres. We can give him a 30 minute head start to go hide.

After the 30 minutes is up, we'll find him.

Oh, I forgot to mention, that we'll be using my thermal monocular to find him. We won't tell him that.

If anyone here thinks that's cheating then you have never been snipe hunting.

 

[nikerret]

i'm curious how old he is

He is eight.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Best Internet story for the month.... Great Dad... It will pay off in the long run. Kudos.

 

[camocorvette]

That's awesome

 

[Ronws]

Reminds me of "Clear and Present Danger." Willem Dafoe is putting together a spec ops team and he goes to what was then the Ranger's SOTIC program. So, the cadets are doing a sneak and the judges are next to steel that keeps getting it. Finally, the sniper gets enough shots and the test is over and they ask him to stand up (Raymond Cruz from "The Closer" and "Major Crimes") and he is inside of 25 yards. They ask him how he got so close.

"Sir, by being a sneaky bastard, Sir!"

 

[Spartan67]

You get a nomination for Dad of the year award! Great times indeed!!!!

 

[Gary/CO]

Your son did great and is to the level of WW II Soviet camouflage. The Germans remarked that the Russians were very adept at it and it was only when they were atop of them were the Soviets spotted. The Germans had to up their game.

That was time well spent. Pat yourself on the back and buy your son a coke.

 

[BOFF]

Great times, memories and skills!!

God Bless,
David B.