First Guns
Dad bought me my first BB gun at around age 6. It was a Daisy that you could see the BB as it flew through the air it was so weak. After a couple years of keeping it spotless clean and after I could hit a dog food can at 5 steps pretty regular he told me I earned the right to own my first shotgun, a break open single shot 410.He told me I would not ever get a shotgun till I could prove I could take care of the BB gun and handle it safely. I carried that old BB gun around with him when he took me hunting, trying to look like I really knew what I was doing. On my 8th birthday, dad got me the 410. Dad took me dove, quail, hunting alot the next few years. I learned the value of patience and getting close, and picking shots in range because he always said you only got 1 shot, make it count. My first rifle came at age 12. It was a single shot 22LR. I killed more squirrels, rabbits, dove and quail with those two guns in my childhood than I can remember, and to this day it made me a much better shot, and hunter, because I only had 1 shot and I made it count. I learned how to conceal myself, stalk, turn a squirrell on a tree, all that, because I needed to get close to make my shot count. It worked for me, most who know me think I'm a pretty fair shot, but I also worked for years on a gunrange from age 13 to about 18 or so. Dad taught me right I think. It made me a better hunter and a better shot.
