Met A Reader.....

[Dave McCracken]

I went to PGC today and watched the kids shooting on 7,waiting for them to finish so I could wage war on evil wobble frisbees. The instructor had two brand new shooters on the line, one of whom was the child of non shooters.

His Mom stood nearby and we talked.

Always ready to plug this site, I told her how to get here and access the Shotgun 101 threads. When I mentioned my name,her eyes widened.

"You're Dave McCracken? asked she."I've seen your stuff on the Net".

Surprised, I answered in the affirmative. I'm not used to being known by strangers. Guess it had to happen,sooner or later......

[sm]

:)

[kudu]

Wow Dave, it's official, you are famous. :neener:

[armoredman]

Kin Ah have yer auto graff?:cool:

[rugerfreak]

A star is born:D

[MCgunner]

Welcome to the world of...Celebrity????? LOL I have had similar experiences from writing articles in regional motorcycle magazines. Weird when someone does that to you, really weird. Hell, I didn't know anyone actually read those magazines. :D I guess a guy like Mas Ayoob has to have throngs of body guards to keep the paparazzi away....:D

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks, folks. I still feel a little weird about it.

Anonymity suits me. Unlisted phone, limited number of folks know where I live, etc.

Partly that comes from working at Max Security prisons. Partly it's just me.

There's a bit of warmfuzzies to this. If I'm known, what I'm teaching about shotguns is getting spread around.

Huzzah!!

MC, my hunch is Mas handles things himself.....

[Calliope]

Dave,

It's always good when they recognize you and they seem happy about it. I work with a capital hill lobbyist who has the complete opposite effect on people. It's brutal! LOL

Calli

[Dave McCracken]

True. Some people are just plain toxic....

[berettashotgun]

You were wearing the "required" suit and tie ~weren't you!!
Have you got any 1st edition player cards printed up yet:neener:
Neat. Sweet. And cool:cool:

[Logan5]

Hehehe... If I ever catch you, you're going to have to come home and explain a lot of Wingmasters to the wife, particularly the 16 and 20 gauge vs suspiciously similar (to my wife's way of thinking) Ithacas. Stear clear of the northeast!

[Dave McCracken]

Suit and tie? Oi Vay!....

My usual off duty ensemble runs to denim and flannel. Suits are for church, court, etc.

Logan, I'd be glad to, but I've no plans to head that far North right now. Fit an Ithaca and an 870 to her and let her find out the differences for herself.....

[SSN Vet]

but now that your a bonified celeb. any one can say anything about you and smear it all over creation with total impunity. :eek:

and no matter what you say, the media will spin it to mean exactly the opposite of what was obvious to all present.

I'm sure the pavaratsi will be staking out PGC to see if they can get a picture of you violating one of the four rules (or maybe scratching yourself) :D

[Rock_Steady]

We need to get you some tracts to pass out whenever someone recognizes you - something on the lines of www.chick.com - about the "Tao of Shotgunning" - maybe some folks to preach your gospels. I've given good thought to driving out to PGC to see you in action. :D

[Spinner]

I've been secretly famous for years ..... ;) :scrutiny:

Spinner

[Nematocyst]

<subscribed>

I am honored to be participating
in a thread begun by my shotgun mentor.

(Among other shotgun mentors
including Lee and Steve...)

Dave, rock on, dude.

;)

[Dave McCracken]

Popparatsi? They might get a closeup pic of me employing the time honored vertical butt stroke. I value my range time highly.

Tracts,Rock? Maybe BA/UU/R buttons. And come on out. Bring ammo....

Spinner, I knew that, didn't want to let it out.

Nem, sarcasm ill becomes you.

Celebrity? Feh. Now I'll have to hang out with Paris Hilton, etc....

[Nematocyst]

Dave,

T'was nary a dram of sarcasm in my words.

Just sheer boyish delight
to see you get the recognition
that you so justly deserve.

:)

Nem

[Rupestris]

Way cool Dave. Send me a couple autographed spent shells. Won't be long before they're worth a mint on Ebay. :D ;)

[Dave McCracken]

"[I]Sheer boyish delight"...[I]

Maybe...

I'll reserve judgement.

Rupestris, hold not thy breath waiting for values to peak. Even E bay has limits...

[Nematocyst]

Hmmm. Looks like I'm lacking some credibility here. :uhoh: Dave thinks I'm pulling his leg about my praise for him. (I'm emphatically not. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;) )

When I came to THR (that's over a year and a half ago; wow, time flies when you're having fun), Dave gave me some of the best advice yet on narrowing down my choice of an 870.

Yes, I fully admit, gratefully, that many others helped. Other extremely knowledgeable and helpful people included Lee Lapin, Rupestris, SM, Dfarriswheel, Powderman, Vern Humphrey and others (sorry for any mispellings and omissions).

But I got some of the most straight up advice from Dave.

(Thanks to all of them, I made - for me - the best decision. I haven't regretted it for one nsec. )

Then, there's those three <ahem> ... three stickies at the top of the Shotgun forum table of contents (http://www.thehighroad.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7).

And, lets' see, from whom did I get BA/UU/R? Hmmm. Can't quite remember.

So, yes, I for one think that you deserve some praise for your contributions to this forum. IMNSHO, you don't get enough thanks. So it's great that you got some positive feedback, and got to experience first hand what a lot of us think.

It's why I often refer to you as Dr. Dave. That's no joke. If there was such a thing as a PhD in shotgunning (and there should be), you'd have one, and would be one of the leading full professors in the field. IMO, of course.
_________

Now, speaking of shotgun mentors, just yesterday, I received by mail my copy of Shotgunning: The Art and the Science by Bob Brister (http://www.amazon.com/Shotgunning-Art-Science-Bob-Brister/dp/customer-reviews/0832918407). On SM's recommendation, I placed the order over a year ago from a regional bookstore. Must've been on backorder. Over a year for delivery time gives new meaning to the term "snail mail". :what:

Anyway, I've only scanned it so far - table of contents, images, sampled a paragraph here and there
and some captions - so all I can say for now is...

WOW! What a book!

My favorite image so far: p. 89: looking down (the business end of) the barrel of an O/U to illustrate improper canting compensation by right-handed, left-eye-dominant shooters. Very effective illustration. :eek:

I know what my pleasure reading is going to be for the next few weeks. :D

Happy ground hog day, yall!

Nem

[Lucky]

Do they ever ask if you're related to Phil?

[MCgunner]

Do they ever ask if you're related to Phil?

Phil? You talkin' about Phil McCrot ....uh, that Phil?:D

[Lucky]

http://www.dashhouse.com/darryl/moe3.gif

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Not to turn the 'lime light' off, but + 1 for the mom.

You refer to the kid as a 'reader', from non-shooting parents.

I've got to give credit to mom in that she must have done some research on the net. However she stumbled upon your information was still a result of her action prior to taking said child to the gun range.

I hope the kid had fun.

I hope the mom gets involved too.

-Steve

[Dave McCracken]

Nem, I just have trouble regarding myself as other than ordinary. I've known extraordinary people, been mentored by some, and count myself fortunate to know them.

But I'm pretty ordinary, I know something about shotguns and shooting. That's not really extraordinary in my book. I like to teach what I know. That's just part of a natural process.

Lucky, never twice.

Jack, the reader there was Mom. In fact, she spoke of taking a class offered at PGC for beginners of all ages.

[Calliope]

I can vouch for Dave's mentoring. He's the reason the "light came on" and my shooting has vastly improved. He's a pearl and one I am truly glad to have met!

Calli

[Dave McCracken]

Aw,shucks....

Calli, the woman keeping score the other day for the kids was the inspiration for the thread. Small world...

[Nematocyst]

I can vouch for Dave's mentoring. He's the reason the "light came on"
and my shooting has vastly improved. He's a pearl and one I am truly glad to have met!See, Dave?

This is what I tried to convey in an earlier post.

Like any rock star worthy of praise, you may have trouble
"regarding [your]self as other than ordinary",
but that doesn't mean that you aren't.

;)

Nem

[Dave McCracken]

Ok Nem, you win.

I hope some fortune comes with this fame. It's tuition time.

There goes the phone, maybe it's Oprah....

[Nematocyst]

LOL.

Oh, I hope it was Oprah. What great coverage we could get for shotgunners, RKBA, etc.

I can just see you teaching Oprah the concept of patterning 101 on stage. :D

Before you know it, there'd be a spin off program (like Dr. Phil, which was an Oprah spin off).

<cue music>
<male announcer voice>

"It's the Dr. Dave Show. Today: Shotguns for home defense".

"Brought to you by Remington Arms Company ..."

[Dave McCracken]

Sorry, Nem, not Oprah.

But think of it....

Oprah and I standing amidst a pile of empty hulls at the range doing 101 with a flurry. I'd explain that Knowing How to Shoot Is True Empowerment. That a woman with an 870 and gumption was both safe and a fine role model.

The camera would shift to her powdering one of those fast lowballs from the Wobble trap and smiling.

Then a break for these messages from Remington, Beretta, Claybuster wads and The NRA.....