Teaching the Kids to Shoot

When I was a kid I can remember sitting for hours under a huge pecan tree in my grandmas backyard with my BB gun just waiting for blackbirds or squirrels to show up. Didn’t pose much of a life threat to the squirrels with just a BB gun, but I did make them run for the hills!  That’s all I needed to keep myself entertained,  and I lived for Saturday mornings in the fall when me and my dad would go to the woods and hunt squirrels with my .410. I anticipated  opening day of deer season the way other kids anticipate Christmas, and to this very day I still do!   Now days kids have more stuff than a person could ever imagine to help keep them entertained!

Seems that computers and video games have taken over the kids of today. Nowdays when you hear kids ask about playing a game of  football or baseball,  it doesn’t mean getting their buddies in the neighborhood together  for a game in the yard,  it means getting them together for a game on the xbox or PlayStation! Nothing wrong with that I suppose to a certain degree, but I believe they would learn more and be a lot more productive if they would get their heads out of the video games,  get up off their rear ends,  and get outside!

My 13 yr old son and 10 yr old daughter have been around hunting and fishing since they were born. On the weekends that they come and stay with us if the weather permits we always go to the deer camp to fish or shoot, ride the ATV, cookout, or just do something to get them outdoors and off the video games and computer for awhile.

Recently Michele’s dad sent her three boys some 22 rifles. He sent her 14 year old son a lever action Henry Golden Boy and her 7 and 8 year old boys a Savage single shot and a Marlin single shot with a scope.  The youngest has claimed the Marlin with the scope!  I have let them shoot my 22 before and they liked it but  now that they have their own guns, they really love it! They are gettin’ pretty good too, they can shoot a box of shells quicker than you can blink your eye!

I really love helping  kids, or anyone else regardless of age, who wants to learn to shoot, hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors. If we as hunters and outdoorsmen don’t take the time to teach and pass on what we have learned to the kids of today, let them sit around all day playing video games and computer surfing, then I don’t see a very bright future ahead for our kids. They may not all enjoy hunting or fishing,  and that is understandable if that is not for them, but at least get them outdoors doing something and let them breathe the fresh air and learn a little about  nature and some of the simple things in life.