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Mothers and daughters take up guns at DNR event
4/16/2005, 3:59 p.m. ET
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
BATH, Mich. (AP) — One of 6-year-old Kristen Carroll's feet dangled above the ground as she perched on her seat Saturday and focused on shooting a .22-caliber rifle at a paper target 25 yards away.
"Watch where your gun's pointing," warned her mother, Michelle Carroll, as the ponytailed youngster in her bright orange sweat shirt and pink capri pants wiggled momentarily.
Only one of Kristen's shots hit the target at the Rose Lake Shooting Range. But she pointed excitedly at her mother's bulls-eye after the two wrapped up practice at a mother-daughter shooting and hunter safety event sponsored by the state Department of Natural Resources.
"It was fun," said Michelle Carroll, who runs a day care business in Leslie. Although Kristen is interested in hunting with her dad, Michelle has another goal.
"I'm more interested in target shooting," she said. "I'm not a big fan of hunting. I don't eat meat."
Saturday's event was the first time a DNR shooting seminar has been aimed specifically at mothers and daughters. The event filled up two hours after enrollment opened, said DNR spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.
With the help of a $2,000 grant from the National Shooting Sport Foundation Step Outside Program, the DNR provided guns and ammunition, a boxed lunch, long-sleeved T-shirts and four hours of instruction in shooting, handling and cleaning guns to the nearly 30 women and daughters.
DNR director Rebecca Humphries, who attended along with her teenage daughter, Jenny, said the state would like to promote more shooting sports, whether it's target shooting or hunting.
Hunting "is a big part of what we do as a family," Humphries said, recalling that a much-younger Jenny used to bring her Barbie dolls and play with them in the boat when the family went duck hunting.
"A lot of the people I know hunt and shoot," Jenny Humphries said. "It's not just a boy sport. It's a coed sport."
The number of hunters in Michigan is declining by about 1 percent a year, and while that's a smaller rate than in many other states, Rebecca Humphries said luring more women to the sport could help keep it alive for future generations.
"Individuals who buy hunting licenses fund conservation," she said. The DNR budget also gets about $15 million a year from federal excise taxes levied on firearms, ammunition, archery and fishing equipment.
Conservation officer Scott Berg, who oversaw the target practice, assured the participants that they'd get the hang of shooting the Henry Mini-Bolt .22s very quickly.
"Your first shot is going to be your most nervous one. After your fifth shot, you're going to be saying, `Bring it on!'" he said.
Out on the rifle range, mothers and daughters took turns putting the bullets in each other's guns. Each shooter got five chances to hit the target.
"Front sight, front sight, front sight, squeeze," Berg repeatedly reminded them as he dispensed bullets and advice.
All of Sherry and Kyan Thelen's shots hit the target's black center rings, making the Pewamo residents among the most accurate teams.
"I think hunting as a sport would be fun," said Kyan, 12, a sixth-grader at St. Mary's Elementary School. She wants to go hunting with her dad when she's old enough.
Jeanette Bailey, 51, already hunts. The DNR event gave her the chance to get her 16-year-old daughter, Taryn Hoffmaster, more interested in the sport.
"It was easier than I thought it would be," said Hoffmaster, a junior at Ionia High School who hit the bulls-eye with one of her shots. "I'm planning to go hunting next fall."
Sharon Schafer's 13-year-old daughter, Abby, already has done target shooting with guns and a bow.
The elder Schafer, from Westphalia, is more interest in learning to bow hunt than shoot. But she thinks knowing how to hunt with a gun is an important skill for her daughter to learn.
"Usually when they talk about hunter safety courses, it's a dad taking their son," she said. "To have one of these for mothers and daughters is a great opportunity."
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/mich...2/1113681032157920.xml&storylist=newsmichigan
4/16/2005, 3:59 p.m. ET
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
BATH, Mich. (AP) — One of 6-year-old Kristen Carroll's feet dangled above the ground as she perched on her seat Saturday and focused on shooting a .22-caliber rifle at a paper target 25 yards away.
"Watch where your gun's pointing," warned her mother, Michelle Carroll, as the ponytailed youngster in her bright orange sweat shirt and pink capri pants wiggled momentarily.
Only one of Kristen's shots hit the target at the Rose Lake Shooting Range. But she pointed excitedly at her mother's bulls-eye after the two wrapped up practice at a mother-daughter shooting and hunter safety event sponsored by the state Department of Natural Resources.
"It was fun," said Michelle Carroll, who runs a day care business in Leslie. Although Kristen is interested in hunting with her dad, Michelle has another goal.
"I'm more interested in target shooting," she said. "I'm not a big fan of hunting. I don't eat meat."
Saturday's event was the first time a DNR shooting seminar has been aimed specifically at mothers and daughters. The event filled up two hours after enrollment opened, said DNR spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.
With the help of a $2,000 grant from the National Shooting Sport Foundation Step Outside Program, the DNR provided guns and ammunition, a boxed lunch, long-sleeved T-shirts and four hours of instruction in shooting, handling and cleaning guns to the nearly 30 women and daughters.
DNR director Rebecca Humphries, who attended along with her teenage daughter, Jenny, said the state would like to promote more shooting sports, whether it's target shooting or hunting.
Hunting "is a big part of what we do as a family," Humphries said, recalling that a much-younger Jenny used to bring her Barbie dolls and play with them in the boat when the family went duck hunting.
"A lot of the people I know hunt and shoot," Jenny Humphries said. "It's not just a boy sport. It's a coed sport."
The number of hunters in Michigan is declining by about 1 percent a year, and while that's a smaller rate than in many other states, Rebecca Humphries said luring more women to the sport could help keep it alive for future generations.
"Individuals who buy hunting licenses fund conservation," she said. The DNR budget also gets about $15 million a year from federal excise taxes levied on firearms, ammunition, archery and fishing equipment.
Conservation officer Scott Berg, who oversaw the target practice, assured the participants that they'd get the hang of shooting the Henry Mini-Bolt .22s very quickly.
"Your first shot is going to be your most nervous one. After your fifth shot, you're going to be saying, `Bring it on!'" he said.
Out on the rifle range, mothers and daughters took turns putting the bullets in each other's guns. Each shooter got five chances to hit the target.
"Front sight, front sight, front sight, squeeze," Berg repeatedly reminded them as he dispensed bullets and advice.
All of Sherry and Kyan Thelen's shots hit the target's black center rings, making the Pewamo residents among the most accurate teams.
"I think hunting as a sport would be fun," said Kyan, 12, a sixth-grader at St. Mary's Elementary School. She wants to go hunting with her dad when she's old enough.
Jeanette Bailey, 51, already hunts. The DNR event gave her the chance to get her 16-year-old daughter, Taryn Hoffmaster, more interested in the sport.
"It was easier than I thought it would be," said Hoffmaster, a junior at Ionia High School who hit the bulls-eye with one of her shots. "I'm planning to go hunting next fall."
Sharon Schafer's 13-year-old daughter, Abby, already has done target shooting with guns and a bow.
The elder Schafer, from Westphalia, is more interest in learning to bow hunt than shoot. But she thinks knowing how to hunt with a gun is an important skill for her daughter to learn.
"Usually when they talk about hunter safety courses, it's a dad taking their son," she said. "To have one of these for mothers and daughters is a great opportunity."
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/mich...2/1113681032157920.xml&storylist=newsmichigan