Its time for all of us to come clean with the very first time we shouldered a big bore,leaned into it, and learned the true meaning of power and recoil,here is mine. I was 12 at the time, and spending the summers with my Aunt and Uncle in Rhodesia. I started shooting .22's at eight and progressed into bigger things as i became older. By 10 i was tasked with the duty of garding the garden with a .275 Rigby High Speed. To their dissmay the Baboons were getting to know the range and accuracy of it by this would be Bawana. Uncle Bob had always told me if i could handle his .375 i may go with him next time he went to hunt. He said "is time for you to show me how well you shoot"I thought he ment the Rigby, instead he brought out the .375. As always it was loaded ,i felt the weight,the coolness of the stock,the long barrel, the game it had taken and i new it was MY Time Too. He said " see that fence post at the left corner?" Yes my eagle eyes said. " Hit the knot in that post three times and you have passed your junior hunters accuracy exam. My heart raced, passing my junior accuracy exam (which i have never heard of before this) was the only thing that mattered at this place and time. I slid off the saftey pulled it into my shoulder, tightly, squeezed the shot, walked three paces backwards, WOW!!! Did i hit it Uncle Bob, my shaky voice said? "two more" is all he replied with somewhat of a grin on his face. The next one whent click and then my feet came back on the porch. "one more" he said.I could hear a chuckle ,but i was having my junior hunters accuracy test and this was serious stuff!!. I knew i had hit it spot on the first time, the second i thought was a test of my nerves,hunters need big ones to stand their ground you know. I chambered my last round and squueze the shot off, click it whentthud thud the sound of my boots hitting the porch. " Make sure the rifle is empty and clear as i have taught you. I have failed you this time becaus you cannot jump in the air and then pull the trigger, it makes for poor accuracy and wounded game. You make take the test again in 1 year. Most do not pass their very first time. You did better than expected, now go and have your Aunt look after that shoulder and have her do something with that bloody nose." I was not discouraged it was only 364 days until my next junior hunters accuracy exam. Charlie

Great Story.

You are very lucky to have been able to spend your time like that very young.

-Spencer