I made my daughter go to the range today, that's right I made her. I've been struggling lately getting her to shoot. I don't want to force her, but deer season is coming up fast and she needs to shoot.

I asked her if she liked hunting, and she said yes but she didn't really like shooting anymore. So she reluctantly said okay to shooting when I told her that she didn't need to shoot a lot she just needed to shoot. I also threatened not to take her hunting in OK for Thanksgiving.

So since she's getting bored with punching paper I decided to switch things up. I had her hang up a paper target at 100 yards and have her take one shot. We walked down and saw that her zero hadn't changed. So we went back to the bench and I adjusted her scope up 3.5 MOA and told her to shoot the gong at 300.

I got a "WHAT" from her! I told her to just take her time and send three shots at it. Then I got a sheepish "okay" out of her.

1st shot and I yelled out "HIT!", she just grinned at me. 2nd shot she missed, I asked her what happened she simply stated "I jerked". I told her to take time with her next shot and do everything like her first 3rd shot "HIT!", 4th shot "HIT!".

We then packed up everything to head home. Then we walked down and took a look at her target. 3 out of 4 on target and she knew what she did wrong on her miss, that makes for one happy dad. The load is a 125 grain NBT at 3000 fps out of a .300 Savage, and I told her we should be able to "whack and stack OK whitetail" with her rifle.

Hannah with her .300 Savage M700 Classic.


Hannah's group 7.531" at 300 yards.


Walking back to the bench I asked her if she'd rather shoot at 100 or 300? She said shooting at 300 was a lot more fun. So much fun that tonight when she prayed at supper she thanked God for shooting.

Outstanding!

Kids today need different challenges. Most of the ranges around here don't have gongs, won't allow reactive targets, there are no dueling trees, etc. There are no places to plink soda cans without driving 100+ miles.

The situation is leading to a whole generation of people disinterested in shooting, let alone hunting.

Awesome, congratulate her for us

Good for you to change up the routine. Shooting paper can be very boring indeed. When I am able to get the wife out shooting I like to take along some water filled gallon jugs and other targets for her to shoot. If I only have paper for her to shoot she will generally shot a magazine full and then say she is done. Now if we have reactive targets she will shoot much longer. I plan on buying some of the exploding targets for her next time to really get her into shooting.

Jugs filled with colored water is fun. We have a short range for running pigs/moose what young people like. A balloon wiggling in the wind is fun and challenging. Small fruits is fun to.

WTG, Hannah! Great job, on both of your parts! You both are most fortunate.
It is a great feeling of pride when my kids enjoy shooting and hunting.

Ya done good Dad!

I have discovered that getting people to shoot, that do not "like" shooting, it is a lot easier if you have fun reactive targets.

Steel plates are my favorite for longer ranges as you can keep them painted after a few rounds and spot the hits, and the shooter can hear the hits.

Up close,colored water in plastic bottles works good, as does clay pigeons where you can use them.

Also a target of Tannerite once in a while is great, as well.

Also when training a hunter, kid or adult, I like to use deer,elk or for big bore bolt/double rifle training, cape buffalo targets.

Sounds like you both had a nice time at the range.

I like shooting gongs at 200 and 300 yards, especially if they swing. Shooting paper at those ranges is essential but it can become bothersome to repeatedly go 300 yards downrange just to replace or paste over a target.

Put a little jug of tannerite at the 300 and you'll see her concentration increase and a grin that won't disappear when she connects. Kudos to you for involving her.

quote:

Originally posted by matt salm:
Put a little jug of tannerite at the 300 and you'll see her concentration increase and a grin that won't disappear when she connects. Kudos to you for involving her.

My daughter doesn't really enjoy tannerite from the little she's been around. She's pretty sensitive to loud noises, which has been an issue with her shooting and she still struggles with it from time to time. The best reactive targets for her so far has been prairie dogs. We are an hour away from our dog towns, but 5 min from the shooting range and we can hit it after she gets off the school bus.

Well done papa !

Oklahoma whitetails at 300 yards! That opens up a few more opportunities!!!

When I was doing competitive pistol shooting I got more of a kick (excuse pun) in shooting the steel poppers and seeing them being knocked over.

Sure beat the hell out of shooting paper.

It's really awesome to see you encouraging your daughter to be involved in hunting. We definitely need more women and young ladies worldwide involved in shooting and hunting.

Anything to beat the anti gun w&^kers!

Michael :-)

Just an update from a proud papa!

My daughter had a good day!

For many many years I have shot Necco Wafers and aspirin as targets with a 22. My son, when he was young liked the Necco Wafers as he could eat them between shots. My late wife wasn't as great a shot so she used Ritz crackers and always seemed to have a small jar of peanut butter in the car for misses.

Congrats to both of you. That's the way its done ! Spending time shooting with your kids. Awesome. Well done young lady.

One more offer of congratulations.

I only hope the young lady continues on with her shooting and hunting.

Punching hole in paper can get kinda boring.

Acton target/gong makes it a bit more fun!