Just got back from Pinetop, AZ (see cool in the dictionary). 75degree days, upper 50degree nights…
Convinced my father to go shooting with me and my kids yesterday.
This is the first time I have gone shooting with him in ~30 years. He has not been shooting in about the same amount of time.
As kids he and my mom would take us boys (4) shooting all the time, he taught me and my brothers how to shoot and to be safe doing it.
Needless to say, I was very excited to go out with him…
Lost my father May 1st 2007. He introduced me to hunting and shooting and all that goes with it, which I’m so thankful for. He watched me go through all the shooting phases (trap, skeet, sporting, rifle, pistol, archery and in the end the tactical) with great support. Together, we competed and traveled thousands of miles shooting sporting clays matches all around the country. We were even lucky enough near the end to make it out West together to hunt Mullies.
The morning of his funeral, with his granddaughter (10) and grandson (9) in tow, I returned to the farm field were as a young boy he would hand toss me clay pigeons and teach me the fundamentals of shooting. With his Beretta 303 in hand I fired two rounds into the air and collected the spent hulls. Before his casket was lowered, I took two clay targets, crushed them by hand, and along with the two spent hulls laid them at the bottom of is grave. For he had shot his finial “Dead Pair”. An appropriate ending and the greatest honorable act I have ever part taken.
I only hope I can give my children as much as my father gave me. Spend time not only with your father but your children. As parents we are responsible for not only raising the next generation of great Americans but also the warriors to protect her.
The best memories I have of being a kid is my dad teaching me about gun safety and taking me shooting.
It’s really kind of weird now…I teach him. He’s also a member of my gun club and is retired, so he can get out and get some trigger time when he wants.
I still try to get to the range with my father as often as possible.
I just went not too long ago with my dad to the range at Ft. Dix that I belong to. Like the original poster, my father also taught me how to shoot and hunt at 10. Great memories.
We don’t do it nearly enough anymore. Maybe a small game hunt around Thanksgiving and one or two outings a year to the range or to shoot skeet.
My father doesn’t shoot anymore because he can,t see the sights on his 1911s. But I can remember going with him down to the range every weekend. He took me to Chapman’s Academy to be taught by Ray when I was 16. When we got back he even built us our own 25 yard pistol range. Every week he would take me down to the range to reinforce what I had already learned. He would also have me running any drills that he had learned from his time competing. What is really amazing about my dad is how well he can still shoot just from rote memory.
