First father son range day

[CENTURION24]

So I brought my 9yr old to the range to shoot for first time.
He started off with my dad and a 22 rifle. He seemed ok with that so we moved him to my sport. He didn't seem excited or skittish about shooting before, during or after our outing. I know when I was a kid I would always want another turn.
His "take it or leave it" attitude surprised me a little but I guess that's better than being to excited or to skittish at the idea of shooting a gun.
Here is his first shots at a 12" gong at 230yards with my sport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS4tI1TXEy8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[littleriver1]

Way to go dad! I love it.

 

[Gischileu]

Excellent! More dads should do the same!

 

[i1afli]

His "take it or leave it" attitude surprised me a little

Same with my 13 yr old. I don't understand it. I begged my father to take me shooting when I was a kid.

 

[cyphertext]

I think with all the stimulation kids have today with the video games (xbox, ipad, itouch, iphone, smartphone) and the fact that they are rarely unplugged, paper targets just don't interest them.

I know that with my own son, he could take or leave a day to go to the rifle range. He is a little more exited about pistols. However, offer skeet or sporting clays, he has the truck loaded and ready to go. I think the reactive targets and constant change keeps him more interested.

 

[Fat B]

As a teacher I see it all the time. The "take it or leave it attitude" is an exterior that is put up by many pre-teens. You'd be surprised at how excited they really are on the inside or how they change when they tell the story to their friends. My advice is not to push the issue too much trying to get him to show emotion and slowly introduce all the different types of shooting as cyphertext suggests. Great job at spending some time with your son and teaching him how to safely shoot.

 

[rwsmith]

He's a cool kid.....

He really lines up his shots. Looks like he could be a competitor or sniper.


My son has gone with me a few times but he's not real big on it.

 

[otisrush]

I teach rifle shooting to teens and it's amazing and fun to watch their interest grow as they associate actions on the bench with tighter groups. That's when I've seen a marked increase in interest. It doesn't happen with everyone - but a lot.

It's so cool to see them walking back to the firing line, target in hand, and a grin on their face.

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