Omaha-BeenGlockin
Member
Shot my 1st west Texas jackrabbit at the age of 5 with a Winchester 290 .22 under the close supervision of my father and grandfather----some 52 years ago.
Still remember it very clearly.
Still remember it very clearly.
Man, that was almost twice your height. At 1 year old how did you ever handle that thing?I was about 7 or 8 when my mom let me and my older brother get a BB gun. I was hooked. A couple of years later I got a pellet rifle and started hunting squirrels with my friends.
My mom and dad got divorced before I was one. They didn’t get along so, it wasn’t till I was about 1 before I got to know my dad. Dad picked up my older brother and me one weekend and when he brought us home we bought had our first real guns. My brother had a Remington 552 Speedmaster and I had a Winchester 9422 XTR.
Boy was mom pissed, but my dad drove off with a smile that I remember to this day.
Like a lot of other older(-ish) guys on THR I started shooting fairly young. But I would say the majority of people I have taken hunting or shooting for the first time were either later-teen friends of my son or guys in their 40s/50s from work. My son' said his average first-time customer is late 20s to early 30s (upper/middle class suburbs gun shop). The great thing for the OP is the resources available today for new shooters are a whole lot better than when I was starting out. Sure we have plenty of Fudd Lore and anecdotal non-sense, but at least the majority of guns today function well and are accurate. You have lots of material to read online (assume most of it is biased and go with the average consensus to find so truth). There are very good indoor pistol ranges and plenty of trap ranges near most big cities.Anyone else start a little later in life?
This pretty much mirrors my intro to shooting and hunting.I was very fortunate to have a father who like me loves guns. He would bring me and my siblings to the range as far back as I can remember. He would teach us gun safety and the proper way to handle guns. When we became of age to get a junior hunting license my father signed my brother and I to a hunter safety course. I still enjoy getting range time and think of my father when I am shooting. He doesn't shoot anymore due to multiple surgery's. I myself have brought friends into the fold of hunting. Any age is a good time to start.
Depends on what you call starting shooting.This is sort of just me being curious. I'm 26, and I really just got into shooting this year. I'd always been kind of intimidated by guns before. I didn't have a problem with them exactly, I was perfectly fine with people owning them as long as they were good with them. But it was when I started getting interested in hunting and the hunting culture here in Wyoming.
Now I'm going on my first hunt this year, but I know a lot of people start pretty dang young! Before they can even drive sometimes.
Anyone else start a little later in life?