Tuesday, July 19, 2005

First time with a Rifle

I was visiting my parents one day and I asked my Dad if he would teach me how to shoot a gun. I'm not sure why exactly I wanted to learn just that it might come in handy some day and that it would be a good way to spend time with my Dad and get to know him better. You see my Dad is very into hunting and fishing etc. Every week or so he goes skeet shooting. This is a type of game you can play while shooting clay (It will take me a while to get to that point, it's pretty challenging and FAST!)

Well today was the first time EVER that I have shot anything besides a laser gun in laser tag or say "Duck Hunt" from Mario Brothers. My goal was to shoot at least one clay. I'm not quite sure how many exactly that I shot but it was at least 15-25 out of 50-. Keep in mind I've never shot a real shot gun (rifle) in my life, and it's not like I'm shooting a stationary target. I was shooting moving clay and had to take into account the wind and trajectory etc. I did really well on two particular stations, some easy, some hard there were two other stations (where the trajectory is a little hard to 'get') that I didn't do as well on, but I improved as I went along. I found that if I thought about it too much I missed or sometimes I would pull my head away from the gun causing the shot to be too high. I'm sure my accuracy had also something to do with 'the fit' of the gun. My Dad says there are specific guns for women that are shorter, and I was basically using the same gun he was most of the time. I found I did better with the smaller gauge gun, but also heavier in weight which gives less when you shoot ( I think I'm telling that right?)

I'm glad my Dad took me on a 'slow' day. There were only about 6 of us there, but in the beginning my Dad and I were alone. He says if I become interested enough he might even fit me for my own gun which would be cool because then I'd stop worrying about matching it up to my shoulder and focus on aiming. I really enjoyed learning to do something different. It was neat to do something for real, as opposed to fake computer games etc.

As long as you follow safety precautions everything is cool. The only thing I kept forgetting was to watch the shells when I opened the gun back up. I hit myself in the lip slighty and my Dad behind me, oops! They just fly out when you open the gun, and you have to catch them. I only forgot 3 times so it's cool. I'm just glad I did average for my first time and it's good that I'm right-eye dominant too :) The best shots were when I exploded the clay (called an eye-pleaser) or you just obliterate them. Usually when I hit them it was either that or I nicked the back/side or nothing at all. I look forward to returning. Maybe if I'll have time I'll come back on Thursday, as that's when they tend to meet. After that he'll take me to 'the property' and he'll show my how to work a pistol. Look out, I'm armed and dangerous (Just kidding!). :)

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