Did you have a gun-sports related hobby? Tell us about you and your hobby.

Gofirstclass

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,694
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
Given that there are a lot of us who are so far beyond puberty that we hardly remember it, I'd bet there are a lot of us that had a gun related hobby as we were growing up. Your hobby might have been upland bird hunting, big game hunting, competition pistol or rifle shooting or whatever it was.

Anyway, let's hear about your hobbies, how deeply you were into them, any records you held and if you're still actively engaged in shooting sports. Oh, and don't be bashful. :cool::cool:

Fire away, to use a bad pun!
 
Sorry, no gun related hobbies growing up. My first wife’s father was a cop and he got me interested in shooting.
 
I am an avid shooter, hunter, and reloader. I can't really ever remember not shooting, my father used to say he taught me at 5 but my mother seemed to think I was a little older, LOL.
I also am an amateur smithy and have built (assembled) all of my centerfire hunting rifles using custom components.
I have been reloading for over 40 years and all of my current rifles except for 2 have never had factory ammo fired in them. I have traveled and hunted 7 states and 2 provinces.
I also have done quite a bit of large caliber handgun and muzzleloader hunting. I am also a past member of Safari Club International.
I belong to a local sportsman's club and an active pistol range and rifle range officer. I have participated in both bullseye and combat competitive shooting leagues.
Both my wife and I have been unrestricted (NY speak for CCW) permit holders since 1985, and I hold a permit for PA so I can carry and handgun hunt there as PA does not reciprocate with NY.
I belong to S.C.O.P.E. (shooters committee on political education) and find it a good alternative to the NRA, which I was a member of my whole life until about 5 years ago.
My next project after getting the boat in the water is to start working up some hunting loads using lead free projectiles as the hand writing is on the wall that NY will be going in that direction sooner than later and I'm sure more states will follow as the evidence of lead poisoning continues to grow in non targeted animals of prey and scavengers.
IMG_0089.jpg


IMG_E1464.JPG


IMG_E1460.JPG


DSC_0640 (2).JPG


DSC_0631.JPG


Pheasants Sept 2007 010.jpg


IMG_2358.JPG
 
Not much to say GFC.
My ex father in law got me into the sport. Shot his rifles including a Ruger 10-22 and a .226??? He did his own reloading and also shot back powder rifle while deer hunting.
I’ve had a .380 pistol and a Ruger Security Six. Also shot my FIL Super Blackhawk 44 Mag.
Got out of it for a long time but got back into it last year. Acquired a Ruger 9mm pistol and reacquired another Security Six.
 
I wouldn’t call it a hobby, but my grandfather used to take us shooting over the summers we spent in western Mass. Then my step dad decided to build a musket. Went to my cousins farm, and he hit bullseye first shot. Unfortunately the communist state of IL took over and not much shooting available in the Chicago suburbs.

Took it back up a couple years ago with the acquisition of a Ruger PCC. Still dialing in the new optic. Now dealing with a gun ban, so thinking of getting a couple of actual weapons of war — a 1911 and a Beretta M9. :)
 
I've never been a hunter but have enjoyed shooting since my early 20's. I used to shoot steel plate on weekends with some coworkers, had a blast doing that for a while.

Just last year I bought my first shot gun and started shooting trap. I have really, really enjoyed shooting moving things!

I've shot most weeks since last June +/-. I started trap pretty consistently in the 15/16 range. Just last week I went 18-22-20 which is now about where I sit. I'm super pumped with the progress. Bucket list for this summer is to get my first 25!
 
What we have in this collection are…
1858 Remington Navy .36
1851 Colt Navy .36
1848 Colt Baby Dragoon .31
1830 Thompson Center Hawken Flintlock.50
1976 Ruger Single Six New Model.22
1974 Interarms Virginia Dragoon .44 Magnum (The Beast) will hurt you.
2023 Colt Defender BB pistol. All metal, heavy. Exact copy of the real one.
 
Took the Colt 36 and .31 to range yesterday. When these smoke blasters go off it gets everybody attention on the firing line.
Sooo much fun!
Not a preper, not NRA member, not 2nd Amendment lover. Love them as works of art.
 
My grandfather taught me to shoot a shotgun when I was about 12 years old and he taught me well. I learned to shoot with both eyes open and head up, leading the bird. The gun was an old square back Model 11, 16 gauge. I busted up a lot of clay pigeons with that thing. Then when I turned 16 and could drive I did a lot of bird hunting with it. I still have it though I haven't shot it for many years.
images


When I joined the USAF I bought a Rem 1100 12 gauge with a full choke barrel and shot birds in FL, MS, LA, AK, NM and MI. One day when I was in the Exchange I spotted a S&W Mod 29 and fell in love with it. Before I was done I ended up with all barrel lengths in both blued and stainless. I used the 6" blued for a hunting gun and managed to bag a caribou with it. Fun gun to hunt with. I'm sorry to say I do not have photos of my hunting. These hunts took place in the early 70's, well before cell phones.

I did a fair amount of big game hunting in AK. The limit on caribou was 3 and I usually got 2 per year. I had a Rem 30-06 semi-auto as my go-to gun and got a nice mountain goat near Cooper Landing in addition to the caribou.

When I got out of the USAF I pretty much gave up hunting. I became a cop and became their firearms instructor and armorer. I also took up competitive PPC shooting and burned a lot of ammo doing that.

Between my competitive shooting, my time on the range as a firearms instructor and my own plinkin' I figure I burned about 100,000 round in my life, and all those rounds were free. From the looks of this target below, I still have a decent touch. This target was from last November--15 yards, 10 shots, rapid fire.

index.php


Mike
A P.S. to the above. My feeble old memory was joggled by something I read above. A friend I worked with and I used to duck hunting in a group of islands on the Columbia River. We cut a blind out of an area of tall brush for the blind and used to paddle out there in my canoe. We'd head out about 2 mornings a week about 5:00 in the a.m. to get our decoys set. Once all was good with the world we'd stow the canoe in the brush, open the jug of coffee and wait.

I got to be pretty decent with duck and goose calls and the best part of the hunt was when I would call birds in off the main part of the river. We didn't have a hunting dog so every time we got birds, we would pick them up using the canoe.

Ahh, blessed memories!

in
 

Attachments

  • Nov 9 target.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 444
  • Nov 9 target.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 40
I started with one Ithaca 16g and loved Dove hunting. I didn’t stop that until dad got so sick he couldn’t go.

Pirate, if you are ever interested in letting some f those Colts go, drop me a note
 
I'm guessing my father gave me my shotgun at age 12. We hunted grouse for the most part. I was a terrible shot so the birds were relatively safe around me. I never had the urge to deer hunt. Sit in the woods on a cold, snowy November morning. Umm...I'll pass. I still have the shotgun but it hasn't been fired since the early 1970's. I have no interest in wild game.
 
I was born and raised in West Virginia, where you're given a gun about the same time as a pacifier :) Grew up hunting deer and small game with my family. I now live in NC, but still have family and WV as well as a family hunting camp that I spend the week of Thanksgiving at every year deer hunting. Also filled my tag on a Colorado elk hunt last fall.

But what I'm most proud of is my kids interest in shooting. My son enjoys hunting and goes on several outings with me and/or each of his grandpa's. We have a family membership at a local shooting club and both my kids have gotten quite good with their .22's and a Beretta 20 shotgun we just got them for shooting clays. My kids' school actually has a marksmanship team, which my daughter is on. (my son will be old enough to try out next year) Last year her team was the Jr High state champions. This year they finished 2nd. My daughter finished 2nd individually in .22 this year, which got her an invite to nationals that we'll be taking her to this summer. We go to .22 matches at our gun club and it cracks me up to see peoples reactions to her before the match vs. after the match ;-) It's become an inside joke among us. Older guys will come up to us before the match with the attitude that it's "cute" that she's out there shooting, then after the scores are tallied, there jaws drop when she beats them soundly.
 
Never had guns growing up. At age 40, I purchased my first rifle for deer hunting. Now, at age 50, I've got 12 guns. From rifles, to ARs, to shotguns, to pistols and crossbows. I love to hunt. Nothing better than waking up with mother nature. I've been to Canada and Colorado along with Missouri to hunt. Nothing beats it!

Tim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,177
Messages
1,428,006
Members
61,088
Latest member
SGT LAT
Back
Top