The Reason you Shoot

Many thanks to all you good people here on this fine Forum.
A special "Thanks" goes out to Lee and all the Mods. for all the
hard work done to keep us all in touch and informed.
I've made alot of good friends and contacts through the S&W forum.

Everyone shoots for a different reason and it's "All Good" as far
as i'm concerned. It's part of me and what i grew up doing
and enjoying. I hope i have the physical ability to shoot and hunt
until the day i pass on.
Everyone be safe and keep on pulling the trigger.
Chuck
 
Like everyone else, I shoot because it is fun, relaxing and a great means of camaraderie with friends, both old and soon to be. My love affair with shooting starting with my Dad getting ready to go to the UP in Michigan deer hunting. I was way too young to hunt but we always went along. The 8 to 12 hour waits to catch the ferry across the straits. It always started with Dad getting his Winchester Model 55 (breakdown lever-action) out of the closet, along with the red-plaid hunting outfit. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to go with him to hunt the White-tail. When I got old enough to hunt with him, which I loved, I realized that while I liked the hunting, I wanted to shoot a lot more then what the hunting allowed.
 
I would echo most of what has been said. The trouble for me is that I don't feel that I have much time to shoot recreationally. Probably 80% of my shooting practice is defensive. I returned to the gunowner fold around 10 years ago when I had been studying the self-defense issue and decided that it was important to take it seriously. Consequently most of my shooting practice is not all that fun, since I'm laboring to become better able to defend myself and my own. I enjoy shooting much more during the 20% of my practice when I'm just trying to tighten groups on paper.

Andy
 
My dad started me at 6. I don't really know why I love it so much. When I got into LE it became even more enjoyable. I think the skill at arms has always been an enjoyable fascination for some men. (generally speaking of course ladies)
It is a discipline that requires training, practice and commitment. You get out of it what you put in it. When I get to Heaven I fully expect to see a range there.
 
I could give gobs of reasons like staying on top of the game, or praticeing for HD, possible CCW (I WISH!). But the real reason is...IT'S FUN!! Sure I practice like I mean it with my SD/HD weapons, but what I really enjoy is busting tin cans with what ever I happen to have on hand, it takes me back to bein a kid again! Dale
 
Coming from Harlan, KY it is a requirement of birth. When I was young, at 5 or 6 you are taken to the city/county dump and taught to shoot the refrigerators/washers and then rats with 22s [my dad's was a 1930s era Mossburg which I still have]. By Boy Scouts we learned rifles and pistols [M1s and M14 from the National Guard and 38/357 from the State Police].

So now, 50ish years after I started shooting, I hunt paper at the range [no outdoor places that I know of around here] and silhouettes at Cave Run Lake [70 miles away].

For shooting furry/feathery stuff I use my Olympus E3 or E30 with Sigma 135-400 Lens.
 
Why do I shoot? I enjoy it. I enjoy shooting 1903/1903-A3 and M-1 Garand rifles in vintage military rifle matches. I use them for hunting as, again, I enjoy carrying them and hunting with them. My first deer was shot with a Rem. 700 in .30-06. All the rest have been taken with 1903-A3's and M-1 Garand rifles.

Recently I was informed that I would be moved to a new pastoral appointment. This has required my wife and I to do some downsizing. I have sold off most of my hunting rifles and shotguns. I have kept the 12 ga. 870 and Win. 190 given to me by my parents. And... I have kept my 1903 and 03-A3 and M-1 rifles. I have a lot of ball ammo remaining that I can use in them. And if the occasion arises where I can go hunting, it is a simple matter to grab a 03-A3 and head for the woods.

I enjoy shooting handguns... specifically S&W revolvers and 1911 pistols. I don't have the budget for a high end 1911, but that's O.K. The RIA 1911 I have is nice. And after I bought it, someone kindly offered to fix it up a bit for me. The result is that that RIA 1911 is the one and only semi-auto I own... and it shoots superlatively. But, when I just want to enjoy a pleasant afternoon at the range or when I want to go for a long slow walk in the woods, fields, I routinely take one of my revolvers. It affords me time alone when I need to be alone. It brings back now distant memories of times when my identical-twin brother (deceased) and I would spend time out shooting and just bumming around in the woods and fields. Our favorite calibers were the .38/.357 and the .45 ACP. This past week when I went to the range, not surprisingly I took my S&W 66 and my RIA 1911. This past Friday was 8 years ago to the day that he died.

One final thought. Why do I shoot? Because I very much enjoy the people with whom I share the fellowship and camaraderie who share this interest in firearms and the various shooting sports. Some are highly skilled competitors of a caliber I can not hope to ever approach. Some are folks who really enjoy shooting just rifles... or just pistols. Some of them are folks who are more into discussing the various firearms but who are not so much into actual shooting. Two of them are my daughters. We have had some nice times simply walking in the woods and fields "hunting." We would have starved to death on what game we actually shot. But oh those memories. They are food for the soul.
 
I have been shooting since the age of five. In the late sixties and early seventies I shot to stay alive. From the early seventies to the early two thousands I shot to protect the citizens and myself from the bad folks. I now shoot to protect myself and my family, to relax and I really enjoy putting holes in paper quickly or very close together at long distances even at an older age.

I was a avid hunter as a young man, but after two years of ground combat in Vietnam, I became a paper shooter. Still took my son and daughters hunting and shooting, but I became a paper puncher.

I also have eleven grandchildren that I have taught to shoot and enjoy the sports of shooting and hunting. Every one of my grandchildren is a shooter.

Rule 303
 
I shoot to relax, have fun, and spend time with my son. For me its about fune first and self defense second. I don't spend alot of time worrying about how good I am because the more I shoot and have fun, the better I'll get without even having to really think about it.
 
Shoot for FUN, it matches up well with retirement.
I shoot at an indoor range mostly so:
If you're not POOTIN', you should be SHOOTIN'.
 
Now this is a variation on a drinking poem I picked up somewhere in the far distant past... on a planet a long way away... and why it stuck with me I have no idea... :D

I have a few reasons for shooting,
and one has just entered my head...
If a man can't shoot while he's living,
how the heck can he shoot when he's dead?

Hog
 
The real reason? The passage of "must issue" CCW in MN. I had owned a couple of guns for years, but never shot them much, maybe once every couple of years. In 2007, I bought a Model 60 and took it to the range to try it out. Had fun, but buying it had been a bit of a pain. I might want to buy more, and getting a carry permit made purchase a lot easier, allowing instant gratification.

Since then, I have bought about a gun a year, on average, usually on the spur of the moment. I shoot about six to ten times a year, not a lot for most of you, I'm sure, but a whole lot more than I used to.
 
Because I love doing it,,,,,And I don't like regrets.

Someday, if I last long enough, I'll probably end up like most. In some sort of physical and/or mental condition that won't allow me to shoot or gunsmith or engrave.

I do what I can now and when ever I can.
I shoot rifle, pistol & shotgun at least once a week with a trip to the range.

Always something different in the mix,,I'm not one to focus to closely on one gun though like everyone I do have a favorite or two.

I keep working and will as long as I can at the trade.
I cringe when I hear anyone who says "maybe someday I'll get out there and do some shooting (fishing, hiking, reloading, etc)"

I heard that all too often from the 'older folks' while growing up and told myself I would never do that.

Don't put it off, someday you won't have that option and all you'll be left with is regrets.
They did...

Just my way of lookin' at it.
 
Well the fishing hasn't been all that good the past few years and I am getting too old to chase women plus I imagine the mrs. would frown on that so.... I go to the range and let a few fly. Seems like most of us have been raised with guns in the house and it is just as much part of the house as the stove or couch. Actually I think I enjoy the company at the range just as much as I do shooting. Its kind of like family. Thanks for the thread chud, I have enjoyed it.
 
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