Braggin' on my boys...

I'm a gun guy. I love guns; the engineering; the lines; the precision; the fact that they go BOOM!

I have taken my sons shooting in the past and they have had a really good time.

Wisconsin law requires that you complete a Hunter's Safety course in order to buy any type of hunting license. I completed my course in 1976, and it was time for the boys to take theirs.

I hounded them about their homework, took them to their classes when I was free, and helped the study, teaching things myself along the way.

All three of them passed their written test, and all three passed their field test. I was pretty relieved. Don't think I could have gone through another class like that.

Now, when I say I'm a gun guy I really am, but I don't own any shotguns. I'm not much of a hunter, more of a shooter. Not much fun in shooting a 12 ga at a target, know what I mean? I'm a rifle and handgun guy.

So back to the field day. It was held at a local conservation club, and they allow shotguns only, so I could not bring a .22 for the boys to shoot. They had to shoot shotguns which were provided.

My oldest had no problem with it, except the first 20 ga he shot was a little long for him and hard to handle. He fared much better shooting trap with a youth sized firearm.

My middle one did OK too, but he shot the same long shotgun as his brother and had a little trouble getting it pointed at the target. He chose not to shoot any trap.

My youngest wasn't going to shoot at all, and I was getting ready to leave when he ran out and decided to give it a go. The gun was again to big for him, but he managed and took a couple of shots. He's not a big boy for his age, and was worried he might have trouble with the recoil from a shotgun, but he seemed unfazed.

So, all three will get there cards in the mail, and I'll feel a lot more comfortable about taking them to the range.