Evan Putnam, of Falmouth, Maine, takes aim at a pumpkin 420 yards across a farm field as his cousin Tim Putnam, of Piermont, looks on in Piermont on Tuesday.
They came to the farm, where they grew up across the road from each other, during a break on the last morning of muzzleloader season to test-shoot a long-range rifle built by Evan, a former hunting guide.
Though not normally used for hunting, Evan said they had sighted a bear in a large field and wanted to be ready if it showed up again on Wednesday, the opening day of New Hampshire’s deer rifle season.