On Marksmanship
My Grandpa Leonard with with his hunting dog and shot gun.
Somewhere in my mom's house, there is a picture of a 16-year-old me, smiling with a rifle in one hand and a Deer's antlers in the other. One of many proud moments I had as a young man learning to hunt and fish. I can't honestly recall when a gun was first put in my hands but it was certainly a much earlier age than most of my peers would like to have kids learn about guns. But I do have a very early hunting memory; being out with my dad and brother in a blue and white Dodge pickup. My dad stopped the truck at the junction on a farm road; he got out of the truck and lined up a shot on a Doe in the middle of a field. At the last moment before his shot, a Fawn stood up and his shot killed the young deer rather than the adult. As we went out to look at it my brother began to cry and ask why my dad killed Bambi. That was the end of my dad using guns to kill animals.
For me, it began a very long journey to learn to hunt, to understand sportsmanship and to find my way in the world of marksmanship and competitive shooting. As I grew up, I begged my father to teach me to hunt and he would only allow me to shoot bow and arrow for the purposes of hunting. I did shoot guns with my cousins and I am sure I have some stories to tell about that but my few experiences with my father and guns were him trying to instill a proper fear and respect. I begged him to take me camping and hunting. One of the few things we shared in common was the desire to compete at archery and the first custom weapon I ever owned was a compound bow that was made just for me.
Hunting and competitive shooting was a tool that taught me a lot about myself and a huge respect for the animals that we consume as food. As my life moved away from the small town in North Dakota I was raised in, I never forgot my love of the outdoors or hunting but for many years it was hard to make it a part of my life in the same way. I recently read the book "The American Rifle" by Colonel Townsend Whelen and it made me want to pick up precision shooting and practical marksmanship again. Marksmanship or the skill of shooting with precision at a mark has always been a quality that I believed made you better in other areas of your life. It taught me to take dead aim, to understand what and why I was shooting at something and why we must all practice.
“ A good shot must necessarily be a good man since the essence of good marksmanship is self-control and self-control is the essential quality of a good man. ”
So I started this blog to document my journey back to making marksmanship a personal value. A virtue that should teach responsibility, the value of practice, citizenship, and conservation of our natural resources.