I took my son out with his new rifle today. I sighted it in last week but he hadn't had a chance to shoot it yet. We were at the farm and the range set up is pretty nice. Downrange there is a line of targets. There is a rifle backstop on the far left, then 40 yards to the right is the first big pistol bay, then an 8 foot berm separates it from the next pistol bay...these are all backed by earthen berms lined with railroad ties. All-in-all the firing line is probably 100 yards wide...it's a great place.
So...there are three shooting benches at 100, 150, and 200 yards. From these benches you can see all of the rifle and pistol ranges. The 100 yard bench is level with the rifle target backstop and the benches get higher up the hill as you move back. The 200 yard bench sits atop a hill that lets you look across a small lake to see the entire line.
His last rifle was a .243 that had some accuracy problems. It was good to about 150 but for practical purposes we determined that we'd draw the line around 125 yards.
Earlier this month I bought him a new Weatherby Vanguard S2 with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40 for his birthday. I figured that would be his "deer rifle"...the one he'd have the rest of his life. This was his first trip with it.
We went to the 100 yard line and after a quick review of the fundamentals he got on the gun. I had originally planned to have him put three shots downrange just so he was confident with where I had it zeroed. I really didn't plan to do any more than that.
This is always a nice time because we shoot once or twice and then talk about what happened and how the process works, what the bullet is doing, how the wind affects us, how the barrel heats up etc. It's basically a big loud fun classroom. He knows to use the same point of aim on each shot...we just want to see where the groups land. i have him recite "the three things" every time. Sight picture, breathing, trigger control. I want him to be the best shot he can be so that when a live animal is in front of him he has the confidence and knowledge to do it right.
After he shot his three rounds I thought this might be the perfect time to do some more advanced stuff. It was a new rifle, he was having fun, and we had no place to be...so we put another three downrange at 100 yards, checked the target, then moved back to 150.
This is a hunting gun and he's always been a good shot and I started thinking that today would be a great day to just hang out and let him get familiar with his new gun. So I told him we could shoot that whole box of bullets.
We backed up to 150 and he laid down another good group. It really gave him some confidence to be punching small groups at 150 yards with the new rifle. After a few rounds there we went way back up on the hill and we shot from the 200 yard line. You should have seen the smile on the boys face when he saw that not only was he hitting at 200 yards but they were nice tight groups too.
It was time to go change the target and he started to get up when I asked him "Do you see that steel target over on the right?"
Way over on the far right side of the firing line is a smaller pistol bay and there are a few steel targets in it. He confirmed that he could see it but he still didn't know where I was going with this conversation.
"Shoot it."
"Shoot what?"
"The steel target...drill it. It will fall over when you score a hit."
"REALLY!?"
"Really."
He adjusted his position on the bench and with a big ol' smile he let one off the leash in that direction.
"BOOOOOM" barked the .30-06. The concussion of the muzzle blast knocked mud off the tires of the four wheeler parked beside us.
I waited, and watched, and waited...and then I saw a small cloud of gray dust pop up in the air and the steel looked like it was in slow motion as it fell over backward. And then "PING!!"...the sound came back to us.
When he looked up from the scope his eyes were glittering and a huge excited grin stretched across his whole face as he pointed to his ear muffs and half yelled at me from two feet away "I could HEAR IT when it hit!!!"
All I could do was smile and laugh...its not every day you get to see that type of youthful exuberance. I told him to chamber another round and hit the one next to it. Again I watched as the distant target got flopped on its back and the "PING" raced back across the lake toward us to confirm another solid hit.
He was having an absolute ball with his new gun. He was getting a lot of practical experience in just about the most fun way possible. Soon enough he had burned through his box of 20 rounds. He was out of ammunition long before he ran out of enthusiasm. I looked over and told him I had another box in the truck and he pumped his fist in a victorious fashion and thanked me for bringing two boxes.
He spent the next half hour or so banging steel from 260 yards. We shot poppers, and steel squares, a chicken and a gopher. All of this was done in a pretty volatile bit of wind. I can't think of a better way to spend the morning with my 13 year old. He really got a lot of fun trigger time as he blasted paper and steel from 100 out to 260 yards with his new gun. In the end I turned 40 bucks worth of ammo into a lifetime of confidence. He now knows what both he and his rifle are capable of and he's ready for any deer he could run across on that farm.
I was really proud of him. And it was a ton of fun for me to have such a great, great shooting partner. I also have to admit that he shot better than I did today
...the student is truly becoming the master.
So...there are three shooting benches at 100, 150, and 200 yards. From these benches you can see all of the rifle and pistol ranges. The 100 yard bench is level with the rifle target backstop and the benches get higher up the hill as you move back. The 200 yard bench sits atop a hill that lets you look across a small lake to see the entire line.
His last rifle was a .243 that had some accuracy problems. It was good to about 150 but for practical purposes we determined that we'd draw the line around 125 yards.
Earlier this month I bought him a new Weatherby Vanguard S2 with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40 for his birthday. I figured that would be his "deer rifle"...the one he'd have the rest of his life. This was his first trip with it.
We went to the 100 yard line and after a quick review of the fundamentals he got on the gun. I had originally planned to have him put three shots downrange just so he was confident with where I had it zeroed. I really didn't plan to do any more than that.
This is always a nice time because we shoot once or twice and then talk about what happened and how the process works, what the bullet is doing, how the wind affects us, how the barrel heats up etc. It's basically a big loud fun classroom. He knows to use the same point of aim on each shot...we just want to see where the groups land. i have him recite "the three things" every time. Sight picture, breathing, trigger control. I want him to be the best shot he can be so that when a live animal is in front of him he has the confidence and knowledge to do it right.
After he shot his three rounds I thought this might be the perfect time to do some more advanced stuff. It was a new rifle, he was having fun, and we had no place to be...so we put another three downrange at 100 yards, checked the target, then moved back to 150.
This is a hunting gun and he's always been a good shot and I started thinking that today would be a great day to just hang out and let him get familiar with his new gun. So I told him we could shoot that whole box of bullets.
We backed up to 150 and he laid down another good group. It really gave him some confidence to be punching small groups at 150 yards with the new rifle. After a few rounds there we went way back up on the hill and we shot from the 200 yard line. You should have seen the smile on the boys face when he saw that not only was he hitting at 200 yards but they were nice tight groups too.
It was time to go change the target and he started to get up when I asked him "Do you see that steel target over on the right?"
Way over on the far right side of the firing line is a smaller pistol bay and there are a few steel targets in it. He confirmed that he could see it but he still didn't know where I was going with this conversation.
"Shoot it."
"Shoot what?"
"The steel target...drill it. It will fall over when you score a hit."
"REALLY!?"
"Really."
He adjusted his position on the bench and with a big ol' smile he let one off the leash in that direction.
"BOOOOOM" barked the .30-06. The concussion of the muzzle blast knocked mud off the tires of the four wheeler parked beside us.
I waited, and watched, and waited...and then I saw a small cloud of gray dust pop up in the air and the steel looked like it was in slow motion as it fell over backward. And then "PING!!"...the sound came back to us.
When he looked up from the scope his eyes were glittering and a huge excited grin stretched across his whole face as he pointed to his ear muffs and half yelled at me from two feet away "I could HEAR IT when it hit!!!"
All I could do was smile and laugh...its not every day you get to see that type of youthful exuberance. I told him to chamber another round and hit the one next to it. Again I watched as the distant target got flopped on its back and the "PING" raced back across the lake toward us to confirm another solid hit.
He was having an absolute ball with his new gun. He was getting a lot of practical experience in just about the most fun way possible. Soon enough he had burned through his box of 20 rounds. He was out of ammunition long before he ran out of enthusiasm. I looked over and told him I had another box in the truck and he pumped his fist in a victorious fashion and thanked me for bringing two boxes.
He spent the next half hour or so banging steel from 260 yards. We shot poppers, and steel squares, a chicken and a gopher. All of this was done in a pretty volatile bit of wind. I can't think of a better way to spend the morning with my 13 year old. He really got a lot of fun trigger time as he blasted paper and steel from 100 out to 260 yards with his new gun. In the end I turned 40 bucks worth of ammo into a lifetime of confidence. He now knows what both he and his rifle are capable of and he's ready for any deer he could run across on that farm.
I was really proud of him. And it was a ton of fun for me to have such a great, great shooting partner. I also have to admit that he shot better than I did today
...the student is truly becoming the master.
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