Mom taught me to shoot.

[Fozzy_Bear]

Hi all.

I was just in an (unrelated) discussion online with somebody and I mentioned that it was my mother who taught me to shoot (not recently, mind you, I'm talking about almost 30 years ago).

And that got me wondering, since it is, traditionally the dad who teaches a young man to shoot... How many other people here on THR learned to shoot from their mother (or other female, for that matter)?

Just curious...


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[paintballdude902]

my father hadnt shot a gun in 30 years when i got my first gun when i turned 16

i learned to shoot at boy scout summer camp

 

[Fozzy_Bear]

What was that movie with Brad Pit and Robert Redford?

...

They mention that Brad Pit's character learned to shoot in the Boy Scouts, and used it as if it were a punchline... - Always kinda bugged me since I know a few people who really did learn there, and they're some of the safest shooters I know.


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[shdwfx]

My Mom is such a lady that most people are shocked when they find out that, for extra income, she hunted and ran a trap line in her late teens/early twenties. She was a really good shot too and was the one to teach me gun safety and how to shoot my Ruger 10/22. I think I was ten. Wow...trippy thinking back on that.

My Dad is a great man, but didn't grow up with guns and is a little uncomfortable with my "hobby."

 

[NG VI]

Other than a few times when I was tennish with my stepdad I have learned to shoot rifles in the Army, and handguns on my own.

I can't wait till the range votes on me a week from monday, I'll finally have a place to con people into helping me better myself!

ETA- My Mom hated guns when I was growing up, but now she wants me to take her shooting!

 

[Wheeler44]

I have posted here about most of the firearms related influences in my life. I realize that I rarely mention that the only reason that I can shoot with any level of competency is because of my Mother. That woman taught me how to shoot. She was (her eyes aren't so good anymore) the best shot I have ever met. Pistol, rifle, shotgun or .22 she could shoot 'em all. When we hiked around the woods of Alaska she carried an N frame .357 when we came down south to the city she carried a 5 shot snubbie in her purse (before the days of concealed carry permits). Hunting she preferred her Husquvarna .243 for game or a model 12 Winchester in 16ga. She slept with a .38 Victory model under her pillow. Plinkin' she used a little takedown Winchester pump .22. Home defense she could use any of the above, but was known to display a Winchester 10 ga. lever action 'cause it was downright intimidating.

At the "turkey shoots" back home she competed in the expert class against the menfolk (handicapping was voluntary) until she started feeling bad about feeding us so much turkey. Then she just helped score and encouraged her husband and children.

 

[average_shooter]

My grandmother shot quite a bit. Though she didn't really teach me to shoot, when she noticed I was really getting into the sport she told me of some of her adventures. And through that has definitely influenced me.

She first shot a handgun as quite a little girl. Her father, before he passed away from illness, made sure she knew how to shoot. She said she didn't like the little pistol much when he made her shoot it and even looked away when she pulled the trigger. But she shot it. And she still has it. I can't remember the make or model, but its a little break open .22 short revolver with grips her father made for himself.

When she was older she used to practice shooting her rifle with gophers. That woman has a lot of patience. She would sit at the edge of the field watching the gopher holes and nail 'em when they popped their heads up. She usually used a .22LR.

She even had one of her dogs trained to be a field-expedient bipod (quadrapod?). She would give the command and he would sit there rock-still and let her lay the handguard between his ears. The dog wouldn't flinch. Doing this she was wickedly accurate. Though she said she wouldn't do it very often, the dog didn't seem to mind the report of the .22lr much.

She was known to separate snakes from their heads with a single shot when they ended up where they weren't supposed to. In one instance one of the kids got spooked by a snake in the lawn and froze, it started hissing and getting mean, and the darn dog stood between the kid and the snake until grandma nailed it (the snake).

Sure, grandpa brought home deer with his 30-30, but I think grandma did more with that little .22 rifle than anyone else I know if.

 

[Hikingman]

Squirrels and Pecans

Gramps had the patience quotient when it came to bushy tails in the big 'ol pecan tree in the backyard. He'd lay under it and wait for a headshot. Course, there were able volunteers to further attempt the 'pecan' harvest when a critter would catch a bullet and fall maybe 50 feet. That Savage single shot is still prized by older brother (and me). He taught Dad, and Dad taught us-grandsons.

 

[Fozzy_Bear]

Great stories guys. - Thanks.

Here's one bump though just to catch anybody who wasn't around last week.

 

[Furncliff]

Mom bought me my first ,22 rifle (16th birthday) so I could join a club. I learned to shoot in a converted garbage truck repair garage that the club made into an indoor range. Club is perhaps too organized to describe the collection of blue collar working guys who had recently come home from WWII and still wanted to shoot. They were good instructors and great story tellers.