shootin'

"Shootin tomorrow 430ish weather permittin," reads the text from my brother...

While at previous moments in my life this might have been an absurd invitation, all I can say is never say never...  

I have very little experience with guns, or shooting them, but I got it in my head that I wanted to go duck hunting this year (duck sausage is what I have in mind).  While I am an intrepid DIYer who relies heavily on Google to guide me through most endeavors, this seemed to require a little more personal supervision.  

So I found myself here on an appropriately autumn evening.  It was my good fortune that it was a slow night at the sportsman's club.  We had the (mostly) undivided attention of the RO (range officer, if you didn't know -- I mean, I didn't).  I say mostly because he had recently taken up golf and when he wasn't releasing clays and coaching us, he was firing golf balls -- not really into the range -- but more in what seemed to be our general direction.  Strange irony to fear, not a stray gun shot, but an errant golf ball.  I need not have worried though.  He was impressively accurate with both a Remington and a five iron.

So first we shot some trap and after the first couple of shots, I was shooting much better than I thought I would ... and then some skeet, at which I was, to borrow a favorite expression, puke.  Still, I surprised myself by having a good time at it.  My tutors were patient and I received a good deal more information than I could process, but to recap the highlights, I have a "pretty swing" and, given the right circumstances, I might actually be able to hit a duck.

Some other revelations:

1.  I shoot right-handed, but am left eye dominant.  The simplest, if not most attractive way to remedy this is to wear a pair of shooting glasses with the left lense covered with duct tape.  So in addition to being mostly deaf (ear protection), I was also faced with the additional sensory impairment of being half blind.  Small wonder I hit anything.

2.  You have to get very close to a shotgun. It is not something you can do from a distance.  It's a strangely intimate act to rest one's cheek on the stock of a gun.  After shooting a couple of different guns, I can say I prefer a wood stock.  (Who am I?!!)

3.  Swinging a gun is not unlike swinging a golf club -- maybe that explains the RO's accuracy with the 5 iron.  

4.  While I didn't think I was much troubled by the recoil, the giant bruise at my shoulder suggests otherwise.

5.  If I am hunting, it seems that I might be a predator.  I initially bristled at this label and was inclined to disagree.  It certainly interferes with my romantic notions of duck hunting...

But as I consider the definition, it is not entirely inappropriate, especially as far as the duck is concerned. 

6.  And finally, it seems that I will be purchasing -- and wearing -- camo.