Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Senior Expertise

[SRath]

I have a 74 year old neighbor who has been around here forever and is generally called Grandpa by everyone under age 50. He still works fulltime building handmade items in his woodworking shop. Though plagued by cataracts, which he is scheduled to have removed this spring, he recently traded a few of his guns at a gun show for a nice, lighter Browning o/u 20ga so he can enjoy trapshooting once again. He says he wants to compete in at least one more State Tournament.

He belongs to the same gun club I do, and is legendary for his prowess in days gone by. He is no slouch even now. That same gun club provides the home range for our high school team; three different teams actually.

Since the teams are growing fast, we volunteer coaches have our hands full keeping up. So I paid a visit to Bill's shop yesterday and asked him help us coach two of the teams. He has forgotten more about trapshooting than I will ever know, having even toured nationally as a pro during his over-half-a-century of competitive shooting. He loves working with young people and I think he will make a big difference. Staying active and involved is what keeps him young, so I hope it will be a win-win arrangement.

There are several long-time and retired club members who seem to gather there socially most every day, winter or summer, rain or snow or shine. They still shoot, and shoot well. Mostly, they enjoy each others' company.

At first, the invasion by all these high school kids and of some parents who felt the best way to support the club that supports the kids is to join it and pay dues was met with a slightly chilly undercurrent from some of these members. A few may still feel that way.

They tend to gather early on Saturday mornings when the high school teams get the range and just sit quietly in the clubhouse and watch. After the kids leave, they may shoot a round or two of skeet (mostly) or trap. A few of us parents, coaches, and kids stay late reloading the trap and cleaning up and to also shoot some skeet or trap.

It has taken awhile, over a year, but I am now pleased to enter the clubhouse and find a couple of the kids sitting at a table with these veteran club members respectfully listening and learning and laughing at some amazing story. The seniors are a wealth of information and stories; it just takes awhile for them to warm up to strangers, especially teenagers. The ice is slowly cracking as they get to know the fine young student-athletes a little better.

Having been raised by grandparents as a high schooler, I know full well what a mutually beneficial opportunity putting two widely separated generations together is. The kids are respectful and interested, and the seniors can find new purpose. Important purpose. These teenagers are the resurgence and future of the long-in-decline sport.

I'm just sure having Bill actively engaged in coaching will help bridge those generations and get more of the true Experts involved and willing to help.

 

[GHarman]

Right on the money!

SRath, Thats good to hear! I was raised by older folks, also. Most of them had lived through the Great Depression. My Grandfather was born in 1885 and he was tough! It was a contrast to the younger families. While the Younger folks were loading up on possessions and fun. I learned to fix fence with pieces of fencing that had laid on the ground, in a roll, since the turn of the century(1900). We lived on a subsistance farm, back in old West Virginia. We plowed, cultivated, mowed hay and raked with horse drawn equipment, till I was an early teen. My Grandmother, also born in 1885, remembered her Dad, casting round balls for the "home rifle" (Southern Mountain Rifle). I learned to shoot from my Uncle, who was a WW-2 Vet. We did alot of Groundhog hunting at very long distances with an accurized M-1 Garand/ with scope. When I got to where I was making some cash, I bought a custom . 243 with a heavy barrel and a 16X Unertl scope. We kept the groundhogs out of the hay fields for many years, making ridge to ridge shots that few people would believe, till they witnessed the shots. Old folks have alot to teach and add to the lives of the younger generation. " A student is not better than the teacher", so a student should strive to find many teachers. One cannot teach unless they have the knowledge and experience. One cannot learn unless they swallow their pride and seek wisdom! GregH

 

[SRath]

Those kids and veterans can talk guns and shooting and hunting non-stop. More than once, upon learning the high schooler's name, these seniors surprise everyone, including themselves, with "Why, I used to shoot trap/hunt/work/farm/this or that, with your grandpa/great grandpa/uncle/dad etc. "

Or "Are you the football player/basketball player/wrestler I read about in the paper? How's that team going to be next season?" I love watching the interaction and hope it continues. I would expect a few bumps in the road, but haven't found any yet, and they are finding common ground.

There have been absolutely zero disciplinary problems, nothing even close, and with 40+ teenagers, that's mighty good. As Coach Phil says "They know if there is a problem, we adults will take their ammo and guns away and make them stop shooting. " In my opinion, they simply aren't the type of kids that would ever make that necessary. Maybe some just "step up their game" to an adult level while participating in an adult sport and while being treated like adults, but I think it is just the way they naturally are and have been raised. Either way; its working.