Awesome story Moonpie.
When I was a kid, we were army. Broke ass Army brats. Even BBs were more precious than gold. Every once in a while we would go to Lake Carles to visit Mom's family. Papaw was the manager of a local wharehouse and would take us out shooting in the swamps. He would stop at the wharehouse, open it up, and get boxes of 500 rounds for us to shoot. They cost him almost nothing. Talk about two kids in heaven. My brother doesn't shoot anymore, but I was hooked. He had a little single shot youth .22 and a full size semi-auto.22. I always got the single shot because I was smaller. It was considered junk. Kept in the shed instead of the house like the good one.
I got it before he passed away. I still have it too. And I still shoot it. It is one of my most treasured possessions.
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When I was little, my dad worked 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide for our family of 6. He loved to hunt and fish but gave that up to be a provider. I never had the chance to hunt with him but, at night when he came home he would ask me to tell him about my field trips and he loved to eat the fish and game I brought home beginning when I was 14.
At 9 or 10 I started reading everything I could about guns and hunting. I used my allowance to subscribe to Outdoor Life and Jack O' Conner became my absentee mentor. I read everything he wrote and went to the library every weekend to check out his books and read back issues of magazines. I loved this man like he was my grandfather and soaked in every word he wrote except his obsession with using the .270 because my dad had a .30-06 and I just knew then (and now) that the old Springfield was the king of calibers.
So, I was basically self taught but I learned from the masters of the shooting world. For big game it was O'Conner, for rifles it was Whelen, for pistols it was Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton. I regret not learning from my dad or any other adult but I loved guns and hunting and I did not let my lack of family support stop me. At 12, I took an NRA hunter safety course and went dove hunting with my dad's Stevens 16 ga. O/U and never looked back.
On one hand I envy some of your stories but, on the other hand, I guess I can say that I did it my way.
My brother in-law for sure. Used to go open range shooting and 4 wheeling all of the time since I was about 10 years old. He bought me my very fist firearm for Christmas when I was 14. I have since gifted that .22 Marlin model 60 to my youngest daughter.
In case you didn’t know, back in the late 80s, early 90s, Skeeter Skelton wrote a book, “Good Guns, Good Friends, Good Whiskey”. I may have the order turned around.
My Dad, He first taught me Gun safety Then when we would go camping we would use the Daisy BB gun for practice on Cans and bottles. Next he would take me to the the Woodbridge NJ Police range for 22 Safety and marksmanship training class. When we moved to PA we would shoot skeet in the back of our property. I bought him a garand and m1 carbine. We would go to the Range when I would come back and visit.
I must say I am a bit envious of everyone who said their dad was the most inspirational firearms person in their lives - when I was 8 or 9 my parents divorced and the monster that was my father (usually only when drunk but also at other times) moved out of the house. Nice to see that dads (and moms) teach their children about firearms and bring them into it all be it hunting, target shooting, plinking, home defense, collecting, or whatever. I can say, I am happy to have taught both of my children to shoot even though only my son stuck with it. I still love shooting with him and hunting & fishing with him (it's been awhile for the last two) when we have the chance.
Funny my dad was never a gun guy. Not sure if it was from growing up poor & being used as the bird dog to his 4 older brothers or if it was WWII. I inherited a BB gun & pellet rifle from my older brother. When I told my dad I wanted a shotgun he ask if I had saved enough money & off we went to buy it. He never once acted like it was the wring thing for a boy to want. He ended up with 5 guns in his name that I wanted.