DadOfThree
Member
I took my son (5) and two nephews (both 9) out for our 2nd annual guys camping weekend. A friend of mine has some wooded property that he lets us use. It comes complete with a range! We set up camp and then had about a 45 minute gun safety and range safety class and then it was off to the range. We went through about a brick of .22s. Last year (their first real time shooting) I only took .22s but this year we upgraded to a .38 revolver also. One of my nephews was really good with it. I was hanging clay pigeons up and we were shooting from about 7 yards. At one point one of my nephews went 4 for 5 with my 2" barrelled .38 S&W! I also brought my son's 25 lb pull bow, blow gun & darts, and a slingshot. I decided to introduce the older boys to what it was like to shoot a shotgun. The smallest thing I had was an old 16ga single shot. I took the lightest loads I could find. The boys were excited about shooting it. I showed them how to hold it, told them to pull it in tight and kind of lean forward. They both declined to shoot it a second time.
It was a great weekend. We saw some raccoons at dusk and the coyotes started in howling around 10:00. That made the boys a little nervous but I told them not to worry. The coyotes would never come in the tent after them. Unless of course their hands still had hot dog juice on them .................long pause....................... followed by "Uncle Mark, I need to go wash my hands" "Me too" "Me too" That sure backfired, now I have to crawl out of a nice comfy sleeping bag to stumble around in the dark looking for soap and water. We got up early in the morning and I took them down to the edge of a pasture field to watch the does graze. They were pretty impressed.
I also gave each of the boys a pocket knife. I told them it was time they learned how to sharpen one. If they keep sharpening them as much as they did this weekend, they'll end up being tooth picks in a couple of months.
Just wanted to share a great weekend with you guys.
P.S. The great thing about it is that the parents of my nephews are behind me 100% in teaching gun safety. They don't shoot but think everyone should know how to be safe. And I get to be the coolest uncle.
It was a great weekend. We saw some raccoons at dusk and the coyotes started in howling around 10:00. That made the boys a little nervous but I told them not to worry. The coyotes would never come in the tent after them. Unless of course their hands still had hot dog juice on them .................long pause....................... followed by "Uncle Mark, I need to go wash my hands" "Me too" "Me too" That sure backfired, now I have to crawl out of a nice comfy sleeping bag to stumble around in the dark looking for soap and water. We got up early in the morning and I took them down to the edge of a pasture field to watch the does graze. They were pretty impressed.
I also gave each of the boys a pocket knife. I told them it was time they learned how to sharpen one. If they keep sharpening them as much as they did this weekend, they'll end up being tooth picks in a couple of months.
Just wanted to share a great weekend with you guys.
P.S. The great thing about it is that the parents of my nephews are behind me 100% in teaching gun safety. They don't shoot but think everyone should know how to be safe. And I get to be the coolest uncle.