Shooting with... "The Girl"?
That's right, The Girl, My oldest daughter has become the next shooter in the clan. The Boy gracefully handed down the Keystone Crickett .22 rifle he started with to his little sis. And as it was he also handed down his knowledge and love for shooting. our first day at the range was a big day for my oldest princess, as it was for me and the Boy. Neither of us were sure how it would go down, You know, how long she would stay with it, or if the cold would turn her off. And at 5 years old she really hadn't shown too much interest in shooting other than shooting the bow with the Boy and an occasional shot with the BB gun. But nevertheless, she asked if she could come to the range, and there it begins.
Arriving at the range we walked her through all the safety rules, and the Boy walked her through the functions of her new rifle. We were now ready to shoot!! I sat her down at the shooting table, helped her load her first round of the Winchester .22 hollow points, resting the elbow of her support arm on the table, she pulled the cocking lever, peered through the peep sight at the 6" shoot-n-see target 20 yards away. After a moment she held her breath and squeezed the trigger. The rifle bucked gently and a green circle exploded onto the target just an inch or so south of the bulls-eye. With that first shot made, we cheered her on, and had a wonderful 2-3 hours of shooting.
Now I have learned something in this too. If you have read any of my previous posts you will know I'm not one who has much to do with pink, or purple or any of the more pastelly of colors. And there was a point in my life that I would have said that the plastic used in rifle stocks was chemically engineered to not allow any such pastelly color to adhere. I WAS WRONG. And I know this because the following day I found myself at Ace Hardware buying a can of purple, and a can of pink Krylon paint. As you can see in the new pic on the right, it adheres just fine.
All in all it is a wonderful new chapter, the relationship has grown stronger between her and the Boy, and she has been given something else that she feels good about. In closing let me say this, anything worth doing, is worth doing with your kids, and anything worth shooting, is worth teaching your kids how to shoot.
6 comments:
Wow!! You are a great dad!! One day your children will grow to be adults who will respect you or shoot you. LOL!! Your wife is blessed to have such a father to take such time with his children.
This elections will be the most important one on guns. We might not get a real conservative president this time around, which is why we need to start looking at our local officials to fight the next wave of anti-gun bills. I created a good starting point for Maryland and Pennsylvania at www.birster.org. While your their, please sign my petition to support HB2.
Heh! This must be absolute torture for the Bradys and other gun-grabbers!
Well done, Sir!
Congratulations Dad, you are doing it right. I'm sure you will be rewarded with much joy.
That is awesome!! The dada, his boy and his girl -- all superb shooters.. ! Good luck to the gun family!
Wow! It looks interesting. You must be proud with your children, you have the same interests. It can be your way to bond with them.
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