Kids Are Better Hunters and Less Might Be More

Saw a post over on one of the other hunting forums that took me back about 35 years. Was a picture of two Daisy 880's and a nice bunch of squirrels, mostly head shot. Got me thinking that how  even with all the crap I've got available now , that I was a better hunter then. My brother and I killed more pest birds, rats,woodchucks,and rabbits with my Crosman 130 pistol and his Benji .22 pump than we both do now. Only had the Crosman super-pells for ammo , no preditors or JSB's. Just open sightsand the guns were box stock.  We shot all we could afford to. Although not much at formal targets. We got close, and knew our guns limitations. It's fun to mess with all this fancy stuff but you don't need it. Just aquired  a beater 1400 pump, and I am putting a old Mossberg peep on it I pulled from my junk. Going to try to go back for a bit this fall.

[Big_Bill]

Hey Bobber,

Yes we did harvest many more critters, but then we had all day to hunt ! Not to mention we had better eyesight too. hehe..he

Yea, those were the days. :)

I' reliving some of those good old times, I bought myself a Crosman 600, and boy it brings memories of those better days, of my Father and me shooting in the back yard, now I need a Crosman 140 pumper, and I can relive it even better ! Yep, Memories !

Bill

[Crock Pot]

I know what you are saying......The first animal I ever shot was a hare. I was as a kid and it was with an old Sheridan pump in .20 cal with a Williams peep.  I waited at my back fence every morning for a week and practiced during the day until one finally came within range.  I will never forget the magic of that morning and how my plan had payed off. I am a hunter, who over the past 22 Years has taken many animals with a bow and rifle and have some of the best fishing in the world available at my door step but that magic of that first animal!!! taken with my Airgun as a kid ,lives in my memory forever.  I just wish my other hunting held that same magic, where the world was full of wonder like that day did.  I think that quest is what got me to get an airgun as an adult....I am so glad I did.  I think the things that make a kid a good hunter is that for me at least that gun was all I had and I made the most of it, where as an adult with I have many things with all the bells and whistles to hunt with.  Airgun shooting  will be one of the first things I will introduce my kids to when they are old enough to look through some open sights and pull a trigger.

[VINNY]

I too took many birds with my Red Ryder as a kid.I would use some crazy things as targets!I lived 8 miles S. of Las Vegas, and roamed the desert for hours. So who hasnt scared the poo out of themselves after shooting an emptied 12 guage shell with a bb gun? It was kinda funny when my neighbor came running out of his house after hearing it go off, and seeing the look on his face when he saw the Daisy in my hand!After he realised what happened he just shook his head and walked back into the house.I never knew that my Daisy was very not as awesome as I thought it was! I could hit anything.I dont believe I will ever get as much pleasure out of any airgun I may ever have as I did with my p.o.s. Red Ryder! Young, ignorant, and happy as a clam!! Good memories....

[Gil]

You used to live in Henderson!? So did I (in fact im moving back) I remember going with my friend out in pabco desert for hours and hours hunting rabbits, catching lizards... it was so much fun.

[shadow]

Stilll have that Zen, sometimes it's not about what your shootin, forget the airgun for a moment, forget the worries, forget all the etc. etc. etc. about what you could be shootin. One will be surprized when that little ol airgun that your shootin surprizes you, why? cuz were all just shootin em with our heart -n -soul, not trying to overwelm the shooter but to flow with it.Just trying to find a common ground is half the battle, and what she want's and your there:)  and I still feel like a kid everytime I step out with my babies. Ed

[VINNY]

No , I lived just 1 block off of Las Vegas blvd. On Haven St.4 houses up from Cactus St.It has changed too much for me to want to go back.

[Crock Pot]

I remember watching a hunting friend in his seventies while out camping.  I saw him rummage through his bag and to my surprise produce a slingshot, I then watched him stalk up on a crow just like he was 8yrs old.  I remember thinking to myself, that's exactly what I want to be like at his age.

Only the other day I discovered the evidence of rats in my area, I have left some peanut butter out and it has been hit each night.  I am getting more excited about the prospect of some airgun hunting of rats with my 440 than pigs or buffalo with a .308 or bow.  the blokes at work think I have gone mad and my wife teases me and says "when are you going to grow up".......well I just think back to my elderly friend with that slingshot and the magic of my first airgun kill and say "hopefully never"