TSRA Highpower new kid

[Blackfork]

Took the neighbors 12 year old to the Texas State Rifle Association Highpower Rifle Championship. We were staying in the barracks at Camp Swift so it was cheap and conveniant.

He learned to score and run targets in the pits, plus met a lot of good people. He certainly can see trace well. He could tell you exactly where the bullet hit the target at 600 yards. He said he could see the bullets all the way in.

Nothing like having your own 6th grader. He policed brass and trash, picked up the number boards in the pits after we finished rapid fires. He's the son of some divorced friends of mine. Good enough kid. Good eyes, wants to learn to shoot. My previous junior is with the US Army Marksmanship Unit now so I have a spot open. He just needs to get about an inch taller and I need to find a left-handed kids coat.

Probably won't get much parental help but I don't think they are moving. He won't be driving for a while and he snores, unlike my previous junior who slept like he was dead. He isn't shy around people so that's good. Mom and a sister are raising him.

Might as well learn to shoot highpower.

 

[Mr White]

Very commendable that you're willing to mentor him, although I detect at least a small sign of some ulterior motives:

"Pissboy, I would like my sunglasses."
"Pissboy, bring me my 600 yd ammo."
"Pissboy, police that brass."
"Pissboy, fetch me some water... spring, not tap... with ice... crushed, not cubed."

Yep. Nothing like having your own 6th grader.

BTW, Congrats on winning the Texas State Highpower Championship.

 

[Blackfork]

One of the best parts about shooting highpower, (and probably a lot of competition venues), is that pretty quickly you cut them loose. You give em ammo and a scorecard and say: tell me all about it when it's over.

I won't get much personal valet work out of him, though he pitched in cleaning the barracks and loading the truck.

He did work for the guy running the pits and the guys running the line. He seemed to pick up scoring quick enough. I didn't think he would learn to run a target, but as soon as he got it, I shut up and let him go.

They learn to run their own show pretty quick and it's very good for them. Plus this particular kid can use being around a lot of good guys. Maybe we ought to assign sixth graders to every shooter on the line. In short order we would have a lot more shooters.

Stan Jaroz, the Texas Junior coach has a HUGE crop this year. We might be scraping to put together an adult team, but Stan is taking more kids to Perry than ever.

 

[Mr White]

I was involved with a local 4H shooting program last year. Some of the air rifle and smallbore kids were just making the move to highpower and some of them shot rings around the local highpower shooters on the reduced courses. It took them a little while to learn to read and dope for wind but once they did, they were unstoppable.

I guess the big thing at that age is positive encouragement. I knew a kid who won the junior highpower championship at Perry a few years ago. His dad's a pretty good hp shooter as well and was pretty demanding and pushed the kid pretty hard. The kid's probably about 17 now and doesn't shoot at all anymore. No longer wants anything to do with any part of competitive shooting.

I have my own 6th grader and 4th grader, and their minds really are like sponges at that age. There isn't much they can't figure out and do. Neither of my boys got into the competitive shooting but they both like to accompany me to the range for practice sessions and to matches. I promised myself early on that I wouldn't push them to do anything they didn't want to do. They play the sports they want to play and we all enjoy our range time together.