His Demeaner Changed, His Chest Puffed Out and I Knew He Was Now a Shooter!

[Yodogsandman]

The other day at the range, I got to see a young boy, maybe 6 or 7 become a shooter. His dad fixed him up right with a little .22 rifle that fit him perfectly. Then gave him instruction on how to line up the iron sights and proceeded to let him shoot at 50 yards from the bench. When everyone went to change targets, he ran up a little ahead of the older folk. I saw him put his finger on a spot on his target and heard him loudly shreik "I HIT THE MIDDLE, DAD, I HIT THE MIDDLE!!!". I could see his chest kind of puff out and he took on another demeanor, I think it was confidence. He walked back with a new swagger! No longer just a boy...he was a shooter! Just like his dad!

[MUSTANG]

Hoping next spring to take the two grandsons out (currently four and six) to give them the same opportunity.

[Hamish]

Too cool,,,,,,,

[daniel lawecki]

I remember when my grandkids learned to shoot. She was 6 he was 5 boy they were proud and so was I. Those are memories you and him will never forget.

[buckwheatpaul]

Each year the HAWKS GUN CLUB OF EAST TEXAS holds a rimfire for the children of East Texas. Each child gets their own instructor and we teach each child how to safely handle a 22 pistol and 22 rifle. We teach them the 4 safety rules and they then get to shoot 30 rounds through both weapons.....the short of it is....most of the kids come from single mom homes and to watch their eyes light up after the shooting session is one of the high lights in my world for that year......love the job love helping the children and the beginning of a new shooter!

[LUBEDUDE]

Kudos to you BP, and the HAWKS Gun Club!

[kc2gvs]

I remember being that boy....

[Harter66]

I like these stories. We should have more of them .

[Yodogsandman]

I like these stories. We should have more of them .

Bring a kid shooting. Make a story.

[aspangler]

I taught all my great nephews and neices to shoot. On of the girls even killed her first rabbit with my old 410. Great memories.

[Harter66]

Oh good lord we'd be here all day with the short versions .

I raised 4 ,mentored 4 more and have 7 grands in the works . I can't count the 1st hunting trips but into the mid 20 at least.
The last was the gal that cut her waders on a Russian olive going to the blind when she filled my O/U full of muddy water and stuck it out for 4 hrs in 29 to38 degrees and was so excited and proud of that 1 sad little suicidal teal she had to show it off to everyone even with her blue foot . She mentioned it at the truck saying "so that's why you have a spare coat with socks in the pocket". I think I'll keep that 1 around ,1st kill at just 47.

That day my younger daughter said "umm ... daddy I didn't mean to shoot your water jug I was just going to shoot the cap off " which is funny because there was a 3/4 circle in and out of the snap on lid of that ruptured gallon milk jug in 22 cal.

My oldest daughter was 13 when she killed her 1st full limit of ducks , 2 hen Mallards , 2 redheads ,2 scaup and a canvas back all 7 were limits of their own along with the 7/14 at that time . I'm not sure who was more proud .

My oldest son was all but in tears at 15 when we learned that the 100 gr Game King wasn't the best choice for a 243 on Mule deer . He did put 3 in the engine room and the victory dance 40 yds from the 1st hit was pretty special where the biggest of our 3 deer was laying .

The youngest son is a natural shot gunner and switches left to right with a rifle as if he were tying shoes . He missed Marksman by 1 hit on a cut line . He never was a hunter really the last time we hunted he had the shakes for an hour after we got home with 2 limits of ducks for 3 shooters . We had to laugh about it ,poor kid was so wound up with buck fever from the duck blind I can only imagine what he was like for the first 2 of 30 months in Iraqastan.

Yep lots of stories I could tell but they all seem like brags or stage dad stories when I play them back .

The grand daughters that live with me have started with their red riders, the pop cans are still pretty safe at 50 ft.

What I actually meant was happy stories that have replies .

[bullpen7979]

My grandkids are almost there. Thanks OP, this story will stick with me.

[jeepyj]

Nicely written, I could picture it happening as I was reading...

[flint45]

Good story! We need to teach the young ones how to shot right and safe I am teaching my 7 year old grandaughter.

[Springfield]

One of the first if not the first time I took my daughter shooting, was right after a cowboy shoot. We would leave the targets up for a hour or so while everyone put their stuff away, but some of us used the time for practice. I had brought along an old Stevens .22 pump with an octagon barrel. it was a bit heavy for her to hold so I put my hat on the table to use as a bench rest. We had already discussed how to aim and squeeze the trigger and proper safety. so i wasn't surprised when she started banging away on the steel plates. Everytime she hit one she wold look to make sure everybody saw. Along comes another cowboy shooter, who tosses out a full Coke can about 20 feet out. He is trying out his new 45 pistol. He misses on the first 5 rounds and proceeds to reload. My daughter asks me, quietly "can I shoot the can?" and I say yes. So she swings the Stevens over just a bit and puts a hole right in the middle of the can, which starts squirting liquid everywhere. The cowboy says, hey, that was my can! And my daughter says, with a totally straight face, "yeah, but I can hit it!" He musta been motivated because he hit it 4 out of the next 5.

151187

[LUBEDUDE]

I love your daughter's attitude!