How did your Dad teach you how to shoot and hunt?

I remember when I was 7 my Dad and his friend told me to sit down (shoot from the knee) as they were behind me. They told me to stare at the center of the target and they were going to hand me the rifle (so I was not to look back at them). Dad handed me the rifle loaded and so I lined up and squeeeeeeeeeezed one off, the gun was unloaded and I flinched. Once they brought this to my attention (of course I knew what I had done) Dad taught me to squeeze without flinching in a series of these kinds shots, surprising me with a loaded or unloaded gun. Soon after that day of about 100 shots I was an expert shot with that rifle. After that we went on to practice with rolling bouncing targets made from the 3/4" thick cutouts that were saved from those round bathroom sink counters. You can really get good that way and it's fun.

They also used to send me into the thickest and I mean thickest briar bushes they could find to put up game, rabbits, grouse, pheasant and we even had around 7 beagles hunting at the same time. Some of these bushes we're so thick I could get in but then I would get stuck and really get P/O'ed LOL....one time I shot 3 rabbits in one of those briar patches that grow like a giant tent. They worked me hard at a young age, it was tough but had it's rewards. I used to come out all scratched up and bloody from briar cuts and rabbit guts. LOL

My dad, being the competitive pistol shooter, taught me from the gitgo about sight picture, trigger squeeze, breathing, etc., from the time I could see over the shooting bench. He's still giving me tips.

I was so young I cant recall the first time my dad had me shoot. I remember him throwing bottels in the air teaching me aeiral shooting with a .22 lr winchester model 61. Dad was a good shot with anything.
I recall the first shotgun he bought me was a 20 gauge single barrel iver johnson. I recall him haveing a 98 K mauser from the war that he roughly cut down and installed a lyman peep on. My mother also hunted. At a very early age I had access to his 22lr., probley at 7 years old. However he did lock up his handgun on me.

You're all very fortunate to have had such a great training experience with your fathers. Not only did it give you a very solid foundation on which to build your shooting skills, but you have these great memories of a meaningful bonding experience.

I only wish I had been so lucky. Not to denigrate my Father in any way...but I had no such experience. From my earliest recollections, there were various guns available around our house. My Father never once sat me down and explained the dangers and/or value of these firearms, nor did I receive the slightest instruction in their use. I believe this was mostly due to my Mother's beliefs...I think it was a side-effect of her Father's suicide when she was 9 years old. (I kept my distance from the guns not because of any firearm-specific instruction, but rather from an overall respect for my Father's possessions, and a general desire to not incur his disfavor.)

My Father had served in the Army in WWII, landed at Normandy on D-Day, participated in the Battle of the Bulge, etc...and had always held much stock in military service. My older brother enlisted in the Army during the Vietnam war. So, I left home and joined the military at 17 years of age. That was my first experience with firearms, and I recall being very confused and not at all confident. I managed to qualify, though I still wonder how.

In any case, it wasn't until years later that I developed my own interest in firearms, much to my Mother's chagrin (I think she has finally gotten over it!) I pretty much trained myself, which explains my mediocre skills. However, it was enough for me to consistently shoot expert thereafter (the U.S.A.F. has no "Marksman" designation) and I always ended up assisting the instructor during qualification training sessions. I also broke the base record for M-16 disassembly (I missed the record on reassembly though...which would possibly be the more useful skill).

My point in all of this is that I only wish I had had that early training that would have established the foundation I had lacked. Many of my current friends have been shooting since they were 7 or 8, and were already highly proficient by their teens. By contrast, I had never owned or fired my own gun until I was 24. I've been playing "catch-up" ever since.

Tim

I am sorry to hear that Bullzaye but you have seemed to break through that area of neglect (no one is perfect) and have managed to do it yourself...somehow I think you have an important trait one that we may not have. Thanks for the stories everyone I hope you have a Great Evening.

Bullzeye, I probley had several uncles in your dads same outfit. It wasnt only my dad that taught me, but several of my uncles too. I had like 9 of them in world war two, if you can belive that! I was right at 5 years old when most of my family came home in a very short time frame and remember it well. A few of them didnt talk much about the war, but most of them were the opposite and loved guns. Guess the war and what they went through and seen affected the guys all different. I just was lucky in haveing a dad that liked guns and hunting. He even took some of my buddys along hunting with me that didnt have fathers.

My situation was a little different than most. My father was a fisherman, and had very little interest in guns of any kind. He was not against them, just had no interest. I was interested in guns as far back as I can remember, but what really turned me on was a book named "Lucian Cary on Guns". Along with some books on fishing, my dad ordered that one for me, probably to round out the order. I had the usual assortment of guns subsequently, but that book got me really hooked on guns, far more so than friends, whose fathers took them hunting.

My father was never taught to shoot and/or handle firearms.

My maternal grandfather was an avid hunter and fisherman. He started me in these activities and taught me about shotguns.

I learned on my own (reading, observing and shooting with friends) about rifles and pistols.

My kids are/have-been learning from me. Same with my wife. Although her dad is a retired Army man, he served as a telephone technician and had no love for firearms.

My father never taught me much of anything, seemed to busy working two jobs to take care of 8 kids. I was exposed to the one firearm that we had, an old single shot winchester .22, by sneaking it out after being told not to touch it. We all know about telling kids NOT to do things...

I was fascinated by that rifle, I have no idea how many times I fiddled around with it when left alone at the farm... I loaded and unloaded it many times until that fateful day when I AD'd it through the ceiling of the living room!

I carefully covered the hole with toothpaste (The only thing I could find the same color!) and hid the rifle back where it was supposed to be... but my fascination was truly fueled now. I hung out at the neighbors and watched while they shot clay pigeons, till finally the dad asked me if I wanted to try... of course I did.

I went into the National Guards after dropping out of high school, and was really hooked then, qualifying Expert easily. From then on I bought, sold and traded over the years, then sold them all when my marriage went on the rocks as I couldnt trust my then-wife around them.

New wife now, so starting again on the old hobby! Picked a good one this time though, as she wants to go shooting with me any time I want to go!

Both of my parents were completive shooters...
Mom bullseye...Dad Bullseye and small bore
indoor iron sights/scope......and some high power....
I fondly remember going to Camp Smith, NY and
pulling targets in the 1950's (age 5) and waving
"Maggie's Drawers". Rich memories. I consider
myself very, very lucky.

More people should have this "American Experience".

Not my Dad, but my uncles and grown cousins. Many of my first cousins were close to my Dad's age, and they lived on farms and in small towns. My Dad had no objection to guns, but I don't know if he ever fired one, except maybe in WWII. He only owned one pistol, late in life, that his brother (who was police Chief in a small Tennessee town) gave him (a S&W model 10-5 that my son now owns). I started owning guns at age 10, and I bought my first gun myself when I was 13, at the hardware store/Texaco station in my Grandfather's hometown (it was a 12 gauge Remington Wingmaster, and I still have it). I hunted many rabbits and quail with that gun, and I have fond memories of those days and my kin, most of whom have passed away.

Buck

My grandfather was a gun nut, as well as my father.

My first experience with a gun was when I was four. Dad didn't want me getting into the guns when he wasn't around, so he took me out and put a 16ga single barrel to my shoulder and let me pull the trigger. I didn't want to have anything else to do with guns for a while- they'd hurt a boy!!!

When I was ten, I got my first .22 Winchester, because Dad thought that an air rifle or BB gun would not teach the proper respect of a real firearm. However, for the first year all he would let me shoot in it when he wasn't around were shotshells, and even then if I was able to buy them myself!

There were lots of coke bottles in the ditches, corn to hoe and grass to mow.

My dad never did. He wasn't a hunter or shooter but was a great guy none the less. I had an Uncle that taught me and typing this brings a smile to my face because he was a great guy who has passed but got me into shooting on top of being a great friend and confidant.

writerinmo said:

I carefully covered the hole with toothpaste (The only thing I could find the same color!) and hid the rifle back where it was supposed to be...

Click to expand...

That's a great story! Lucky it was "only" a .22! Good job improvising that repair. Did they ever discover the hole, or did you ever tell them?

Tim

I didnt have a dad growing up as he (runoft) when I was 4.so I taught myself on a old remington model4 rolling block 22.my grandpa would come over to the farm and shoot some.I remember him shooting a 25 auto to show my great uncle it worked and killing a snake with it. the i got to see him shoot a nickel colt 45 long colt he got in the 1920s and because it was a cowboy gun i wanted to fire it but wasnt allowed.I was impressed by that big ole gun.maybe thats why im a big bore fan now.great stories guys you were luckey to have a dad to be there and show you how to shoot and hunt.

Not a hunter myself, but the first gun I ever shot was my Grandpa's Lefever double barrel 20g. My Dad, Uncle, and Grandpa were out in our back field phesant hunting and they thought it would be funny to have me shoot a squirrel nest just about straight above me (it wasn't really straight above me but was but the gun was pointed pretty high). That thing kicked me and the first thing that hit the ground was back. They laughed and I brushed the dirt off...

Learned to shoot .22LR on my Dad's hi-standard.

My father lost his father in the depression. He had to feed the family.
He worked three days (11 years old) to help a man build a fence. There was no money. He was paid with a Win 06 .22. He shot pheasants (on the fly) for the family to eat. He told me sometimes he could only afford 1/2 of a box of shells.

He was a life long hunter and shooter. He took me along a 5 years old, then I got a pop gun, then a BB gun, then a single shot 410, then a 12 gauge with one shell. He always taught me to make the first shot count.

It was the worst day of my life when I lost my hunting buddy.

We had a garden that Mom and Dad maintained as a source of food. The rabbits used to eat the crops. Dad would take us out about dusk to "hunt" rabbits. Shine a flashlight looking for the eyes (orange, rabbit, green, cat). Spotlight the rabbit and start whistling (the whistling supposedly froze them), then blast them with the 16 gauge.

Not really hunting, but protecting the crops....

In my youth I went through a Daisy BB gun (lever action), a Crosman .22 pellet rifle (single shot), and finally a bolt action .22LR Remington with magazine. My first shooting experience was when I was alone at a young age and shot my dad's S&W model 17 through a bedroom window screen. Don't know if my dad ever found out, since he never mentioned the dirty gun or the hole in the screen. My dad took me along to hunt crows in the woods across the street with my Remington, but spoiled my fun by shooting all 4 crows we saw sitting on a branch. He made up for it the next day by letting me go alone - got 2 more crows and was very proud. My first REAL hunt was a trip with my dad to a cousin's farm to hunt pheasants. By that time I had acquired a 20ga Remington pump, which brought down a couple of pheasants - my first.

Dad taught me safety when I was about 12. Hunted shortly after-He sponsored a Boy Scout Rifle Team-evolved into Explorer Post Rifle Team-Earned the NRA qualification badges-NRA Distinguished Expert. Met my future wife while competing with her in college. So I guess in the long run my dad is responsible for my 33 year marriage-and my safe handling of firearms. Passed it all to my son and daughter-both are safe with firearms-Son now hunts terrorists.