Took a kid shooting today!

[TXGunNut]

Met a nice young man at a trap shoot last week, he's on a local high school shotgun team and is a pretty talented 16 yr old. He's not a member of the club where I shoot and doesn't really have a place to shoot so I invited him out for a couple rounds of skeet today. It was my first round of skeet in over 20 yrs so it wasn't purely an unselfish act on my part, I was a pretty sorry wingshooter back in my younger days as well. :mrgreen:
I was quite impressed by the kid; very polite, intelligent, good eye and a pretty good shot to boot. I think he missed maybe 4-5 birds out of 50 and he hasn't shot a round of skeet for awhile...probably a week or two. ;-) I don't know how many I missed but I'm pretty sure when I broke a double he was probably a bit taken aback by my giggling "happy dance". :mrgreen:
I don't get to take a kid shooting very often so this was pretty special for me, I'm pretty jealous of you guys that get to do this on a regular basis. This next month is going to be crazy but you can bet we'll slip out and bust some birds again soon. He said he'd like to shoot pistols someday, seems I might just have a few he'd like to shoot. :mrgreen:

[Bloodman14]

Sounds like the two of you are on to something! keep it up!

[lylejb]

Well done!

[RED333]

[smilie=w:Good for you, it is fun taking a kid shooting.

[Magana559]

Good job! Always exciting to take a kid shooting.

[nagantguy]

That's the stuff; take them hunting and shooting let them know the rules let them.know someone cares. Our kids haven't fails us in all to many cases we've fails these kids! Good for you sir, sounds as though he's a fine young man.

[TXGunNut]

Yes, he is a fine young man; his folks are doing a great job raising him right. Met his dad briefly at the trap shoot, quite impressive raising a good kid in these times. I don't think being a good parent has ever been easy but I'm pretty sure these are difficult times.

[southpaw]

Lets just say that shotguns are my thing. Me and skeet get along pretty good but sporting clays is my game. If there is anything (or advise) that you need let me know.

I remember starting out and there was a few (ok many) guys that helped me along. If I can help in any way let me know. I envy you, I really LOVE shooting clays! Heck, I am even a class 1 instructor for sporting clays.

I guess the best advise that I can give is to get involved with a local program. Local 4h, school or whatever it is. A couple of the class 2 and 3 instructors at my "local" range didn't mind helping out many of us shotgunners. They gave up their time to help us in the 4h club.

The info that you will gain from an hours worth of instruction from a class 2 or better instructor is amazing, especially if you listen and use the methods.

Another thing, shoot with a group of guys that are better shots than you. They will help you out. There are some snobs but most want to help others out (and get more satisfaction helping others).

Lastly, Thanks you for helping a kid. Trust me, he will not forget it.

Thanks!

Jerry Jr.

[shooterg]

You done good.

[TXGunNut]

Thanks for the tips, southpaw. We have a few snobs in the club but most are quite helpful. We have regular comps and even a league or two. A few old geezers have a Wednesday afternoon league for retired guys, one shot a round of skeet recently with a .410 firing BP in brass cases built by my shooting buddy. Broke 22-23 IIRC.
We have a few instructors and I will probably spend an hour or two with one of them soon. He's a very sociable guy and a club officer so will be a good move on my part. I've tried a few things I've read about and some worked, others didn't. Next trip I'll work on the things that worked.
Thanks, shooterg, can't wait to do it again.

[MaryB]

I taught my nieces, nephews, and some of their friends to shoot. My pacific 366 has probably loaded 10k+ rounds over the years. Now when they come to visit and go shoot I sit them down in front of the press and guide them as they do the reloading. My nephew in AK especially liked learning to reload because he does a lot of hunting for food. Showed him the basics of rifle reloading but I am not setup for the 308 and 338 lapua he shoots so he is working with someone in AK to learn those two. He did reload a bunch of 223 when here that we used on the 300 yard range in my bolt gun.

[jsizemore]

Teach him the first rule. Don't beat anybody with their own gun.

[TXGunNut]

Teach him the first rule. Don't beat anybody with their own gun.

He could probably take the riot gun out of the trunk of my car and out-shoot me with it, pretty sure he'd never seen one up close before that day. I don't care if he beats me, as long as I'm learning. I was a comp pistol shooter for quite a few years and getting beat never hurt my feelings, shot against some truly awesome shooters in my time. Getting out-shot comes with the territory in comp or semi-serious shooting.