My daughter (8 yrs old) started showing a lot of interest in hunting this year, so had her tag along for a day of whitetail hunting over Thanksgiving. It wasn't the easiest day (cold, with snow and ice covered ground) but we saw deer, and had a helluva nice 3-4 mile walk thru some beautiful Idaho timber. She ended the day as excited as she started, so a month later she found a Henry Golden Boy .22LR under the Christmas tree with her name on it. What an excited little girl -- was pretty cool watching the wheels turn in that little head about the adventures she could have!
After she got home from school this afternoon, I took her out shooting for the first time. What a ball! We set up a 25-yd target, and walked off the yardage ("... because Dad, if the target says 25 yds, we're going to play by the rules...") I took 3 shots to adjust the open sights and show her the dos and don'ts, and then I set her up to shoot. She was pretty tentative on her first shot not knowing what exactly to expect, but somehow managed to punch the 7 ring amidst all the wiggling. That little bit of success was all it took. She cussed herself on shot #2 as she just missed the paper, and then proceeded to get progressively better as she figured out the sight picture. Shots 3 and 4 found the 8 ring, shots 5 and 6 hit the 9 ring, and then shot 7 found the X! I was dumb-founded (and a little surprised my wife -- 2 miles away -- didn't hear our whooping and hollering when she hit the X...)
Decided that's a pretty good note to end on, so called it a day as the sun went down and the temps started to drop. It's funny, I've never been one to save targets, but I think I'll save this one...
[URL=http://s870.photobucket.com/us.../maverick_2/Hunting/SavandGoldenBoy.jpg[/img][/url]
After she got home from school this afternoon, I took her out shooting for the first time. What a ball! We set up a 25-yd target, and walked off the yardage ("... because Dad, if the target says 25 yds, we're going to play by the rules...") I took 3 shots to adjust the open sights and show her the dos and don'ts, and then I set her up to shoot. She was pretty tentative on her first shot not knowing what exactly to expect, but somehow managed to punch the 7 ring amidst all the wiggling. That little bit of success was all it took. She cussed herself on shot #2 as she just missed the paper, and then proceeded to get progressively better as she figured out the sight picture. Shots 3 and 4 found the 8 ring, shots 5 and 6 hit the 9 ring, and then shot 7 found the X! I was dumb-founded (and a little surprised my wife -- 2 miles away -- didn't hear our whooping and hollering when she hit the X...)
Decided that's a pretty good note to end on, so called it a day as the sun went down and the temps started to drop. It's funny, I've never been one to save targets, but I think I'll save this one...
[URL=http://s870.photobucket.com/us.../maverick_2/Hunting/SavandGoldenBoy.jpg[/img][/url]
It is nice to see so many of you taking both their boys and girls out into the woods and also teaching them to shoot, both of them need their dads desperately.
